Group Prayer Ideas

Here are a few creative ideas for prayer in your group.  You could use several of them for an extended prayer time or use them individually to spice up your regular prayer times.

1. Use a map or globe to pray for different nations of the world.  If you have a globe, give it a spin and see which country your finger lands in when you stop the spin.  If you have a flat map, have people close their eyes and point to a spot on the map (or throw a dart at the map!).  Pray for the missionaries and the gospel to spread in whichever countries are "chosen".
2. Pray through the Bible.  One really fun way to pray is to read the Bible while you're praying.  Take a chunk of the Bible (ex. the Gospels, Gen-Deut, Prophets, Epistles, etc.) and people skim through it.  As a passage catches their attention, they pray their thoughts (praise, request, confession...whatever).  It works best for folks to take turns praying.  Don't worry about trying to cover every verse in your prayers.  Take about 5 minutes for each section.
3. Pray with your taste buds.  Gather a few items for people to taste (ex. ketchup packet, lemon slice, sugar cube, cilantro, salt, etc.).  As you taste the item, take a moment to silently reflect on how the taste reminds you of God.  Then have a time of prayer to express these things to God.  Sound crazy?  Read Psalm 34:8 before you toss this idea!
4. Prayer positions.  Utilize different physical positions to experience prayer differently.  Confession - lay prostrate on the floor or kneel.  Praise/Thanksgiving - raise your hands high.  Requests - hold your hands out with palms open and facing up.
5. Meditate on an image of the cross (make one out of sticks, draw one, put one on your computer screen, etc.).  After a time of reflection, express whatever thoughts have been on your heart related to the cross and Jesus' death for us.
6. Listen to a song and reflect on its meaning.  When the song is done, pray together about the focus of the song.

These are just a few ideas.  I know you have some great ideas of your own, so feel free to add a comment and share it with us!