Prayer Ministry at Wood's Edge Church in Houston

Last week, I had the privilege of being in Houston and getting to spend time with the staff at Wood's Edge Church in Houston, Texas.  First of all, let me say that the staff was so hospitable and went above and beyond what I had in mind. 

I spent about an hour talking logistics and history with their Prayer and Care Pastor, Carol.  It was so fun to hear their journey over the years of becoming a church that not just talks about prayer, but actually makes prayer a priority.  She shared lots of great resources and details about how they transitioned as a church and some of the obstacles along the way.

In addition, to a great visit with Carol, I was treated to an amazing supper with Carol as well as three of their elders and their wives.  Not only was the food amazing, but also was able to hear the heart of these leaders and how prayer had changed them and their church.  

After the meal, I was able to attend their Wednesday Evening Prayer Meeting.  It was a time of worship and prayer.  This evening, they focused on praying for the city of Houston as well as a prayer of blessing over their high school graduating seniors.  It was an amazing evening together.  Not to mention that about 200-300 people were in attendance to pray!

Here are a few takeaways from my time at Wood's Edge:

• Much of the transition in prayer started with the lead pastor.
• Two key changes the lead pastor made were to make staff and elder's meetings focus on prayer first and business second.  These changes are still in effect today.  He believes it is essential that the staff and leadership be praying for the church more than just make decisions for the church.
• One of the wives kept using the phrase (7-12) which was how many people were attending prayer prior to these changes.  Now, they see hundreds show up for prayer on Wednesday nights.
• Each Wednesday night they have a different theme to guide their prayer times: healing, prayer for children, prayer for Houston, etc.
• A key book that many of the leaders suggested was Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala
• Some of the obstacles they have faced are: people wanting to do other things on Wednesday nights and fear over what kind of church they are becoming (response to abuses others have seen in churches related to prayer, prophecy, and healing)

I was also blessed by several of the staff and elders praying over me and blessing me on the rest of my sabbatical prior to the Wednesday evening service.

You can find more information about their church at https://www.woodsedge.org/