What to expect at Night of Worship & Prayer

1. Opening / Beginning. At the set time to gather, a leader will begin the prayer time by explaining the importance of gathering, how the time will be structured, and any other information needed. They will then open the time in a short prayer and into worship.

2. Worship. The worship team will lead the attendees in a time of worship and praise through singing. This can last anywhere from 20-30 minutes and will sporadically occur throughout the service. Unlike Sunday morning, this is a very informal gathering with a limited structure. People are free to move about as they feel led. It is not uncommon for some to sing, sit, stand, walk around the sanctuary, go into the corner to pray, dance, etc. You are free to interact as you feel led.

3. Prayer. As worship concludes, the floor is opened for "popcorn prayer." Popcorn prayer means that anyone can pray for anything at any time. This too, is informal. Some will choose to pray out loud from their seats in front of the entire congregation, some will feel led to move in front of everyone and speak, many will pray silently in their seats. No one is expected to pray out loud in front of others if they are not comfortable with doing so.

4. Prophetic Prayer Teams. There will be 2, 2 person prayer teams located in the corners by the stage. These folks have the gift of prophecy, that is, hearing from God on behalf of others. If you are interested in receiving a "word," simply approach them, they will lay hands on you, they will listen to what God wants to say to you and repeat it. It is important to note, this is not done in front of the entire gathering and is individual. These folks have been trainined, examined and vetted with a confidentiality agreement. Also, the leader will explain more about prophecy when the gathering time is begins.

5. Prayer people. If you desire to have someone pray over you, you can either come to the front by the stage or go find a "prayer warrior." Their job is simply to pray with and over people. Again, this is not done in front of the gathering.

6. Conclusion. There is no formal conclusion to the service. People are free to come in and out of the service as they feel led. Some stay an hour, some stay 3 hours. The service ends when it ends, usually after everyone has filtered out.

There is not a set time and you are free to leave whenever. The service is designed to be informal and free flowing meaning you can easily slip in and out of the service unnoticed. Typically it last about 2.5 hours but many begin filtering out after 45 - 60 minutes, with only those who love praise, worship and prayer sticking around until the end.

No. People are called to pray as they feel led. Some will pray out loud, some will pray quietly by themselves. Some will receive prayer from others, some will just be. The point is not to pray out loud but for the people of God to intentionally gather, collectively orient our hearts to God, wait on Him and see what happens. Simply doing that, and sacrificing our time to do so, is prayer.

Many of us, especially those who are early in our faith growth, may be anxious about gathering together for prayer. We may not know how to pray, do not pray regularly, feel fearful of praying out loud and if we are honest with ourselves, may not even believe prayer works. Some may hear others praying out loud with authority, feel that they cannot do the same and again, if we are honest with ourselves, begin to feel "not good enough." Who wants to be a part of that?

The objective of these gatherings is for the people of God to intentionally gather, collectively orient our hearts to God, wait on Him and see what happens. By simply doing this, and sacrificing our time to do so, IS prayer. It is submitting oneself to God and just the act of doing so invites His presence into our hearts and lives. So, just show up!