Begin by prayerfully asking God to identify some prospective team members. Then, listen and take notes about the people God is leading you to. Invite them to be a part of your team. Be clear about the role and function of the team. 

Team building tips to consider: 

• Resist adding this task to an existing team. You can encourage a group to do something new with God. Many of the current teams already have full work agendas and are busy.  
• Be mindful to invite people who accurately reflect the congregation and the neighborhood in which your church exists. Remember, only some team members need to be congregation members. 
• Consider inviting people who are new or have been visiting the church. This offers an excellent chance to have a fresh perspective to the team. They are not yet used to the church culture, norms, and systems.  
• Invite people experiencing a season of “holy discontent,” sensing or desiring something new or different for the church and, more importantly, for those in the community that are unchurched.
• Ask people to join based on their spiritual gifts, passion, and passionate discipleship journey. 
• Ensure that the people have the capacity and are committed to being present, participating, and giving witness to the team process and focus. 

Has the neighborhood around your church transformed quickly or slowly over time? Are their people from the community missing during ministry moments and worship? Is your congregation busy and constantly being used, but you know there is more to dream with God? Are you tired and do not know what to do next? Are you wondering where to start and what to do? You have come to the right place to join a powerful prayer movement with God. Breakthrough Prayer resources offer daily discipleship disciplines to dream new dreams and bold ministries in your life, congregation, community, and beyond.  

What is a breakthrough prayer initiative? It is a churchwide prayer practice of adding a brief daily breakthrough prayer. Who is it for? It is for everyone: all ages, staff and congregants, pastors and laypersons, ministry teams, committees, small groups, and classes. Congregations are already praying prayers of healing, protection, and comfort; a Breakthrough Prayer Initiative is a simple way for the entire church to learn to seek, ask, and knock in prayer boldly. It focuses on praying for God to break through with fresh ideas, new hopes, dreams, and God's preferred future for the church and community.  

How could we begin a breakthrough prayer initiative? Is the Holy Spirit stirring inside of you or your team? First, pastors and laypersons come together and form a breakthrough prayer team. Then, they unite in discerning and writing a breakthrough prayer for their congregation. Next, the congregation is invited to daily pray the same short, specific prayer at the same time every day for the duration of the initiative. For example, you could ask everyone to pray the breakthrough prayer every day at 10 a.m. or 10 p.m. for 40 days.  

Why would a congregation begin a breakthrough prayer initiative? Our communities and contexts are constantly in transition and transforming. However, one constant is that God is already at work in mission and ministry in our Holston communities.  

Instead of deciding on our own what it looks like to be in ministry with God in our context, it seems best to be still, pause, pray, listen, and seek God’s wisdom and revelation in moving forward in ministry. Then, we will know the next steps of joining God in ministry in our context. Chances are God will reveal new ministry opportunities that we might not dream of but will reach and transform people's lives. It is already happening in several Holston congregations.  

Does breakthrough prayer work? Yes! You can find many breakthrough prayer stories across the entire canon of scripture. One specific breakthrough prayer echoes across Holston Conference congregations every Sunday when we pray the Lord's Prayer together. We are asking for God’s will to be done (breakthrough) in our midst, just as it is in heaven. Breakthrough prayer initiatives have led to churches seeing transformation in their ministries and relationships with their communities. Breakthrough prayer is a natural way for congregations to experience renewal. 

God is working in ways beyond our imagination, and we have the opportunity to join in.