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1. Take a temperature reading. Discuss what people feel about prayer. What do they know about it? How does it affect them? Does anyone have an experience to share? What part could prayer play in your group?

2. Study a passage of Scripture about prayer. Teaching about prayer is as important as doing it. Matthew 6:5-15, Mark 1:35-39, Luke 11:1-13, John 17 and Nehemiah 1 are just a few good examples of texts you could discuss. Some groups set aside a brief time every few weeks to study such passages in addition to their regular weekly Bible study.

3. Have a regular sharing time. Ask about struggles and answered prayers. Prayer is a great way to get to know one another better in your group.

4. Write a prayer or a Psalm together. Read a Psalm at the start of your meeting for several weeks to get a feel for this kind of prayer poetry. Then at one meeting, pass out paper and ask each member to write down a few lines of a Psalm- like prayer. Collect the papers into a stack and have someone read them out loud, each person's lines contributing to the longer whole. This can be both inspiring and delightfully humorous.

5. Introduce "2Plus." The idea of 2Plus is simply to pray regularly for two nonbelieving friends and to seek ways to serve them and to introduce the gospel to them. Take time to allow each person to pray for his or her two people.

6. Pair up to pray. Initiate prayer partners who can pray together during the week. This works especially well if you can establish discipling relationships in your group.

7. Discuss an article about prayer from Student Leadership journal. A few suggestions are "Learning the Language of Prayer," Fall 1991; "The Power of Praying in the Spirit," Winter 1991; and "Spending an Hour with God," Spring 1993. (These aren't yet on line; ask your staff worker for copies if you don't have these issues. We'll try to get them up soon.)