Specific Instructions
for Your Hour
"One might estimate the weight of the world, tell the size of the celestial city, count the stars of heaven, measure the speed of lightning, and tell the time of the rising and the setting of the sun-but you cannot estimate prayer-power. Prayer is as vast as God because He is behind it. Prayer is as mighty as God because He has committed Himself to answer it." Leonard Ravenhill
After you have been appointed to the Watchman Ministry and have been assigned your hour and your direction, you will be ready to prepare yourself for your ministry in prayer. Follow these simple preparatory steps.
1. Take your position a few minutes before your assigned watch. The Watchman before you should phone or e-mail and commend you to the Lord for your watch. However, if you do not receive a call, begin your watch on the assigned hour. If you fail to receive a call from the previous Watchman for two consecutive weeks, alert the office coordinating the prayer ministry so an inquiry can be made. (It's possible that no Watchman is filling the post before your hour. If that's the case, you'll likely not receive a call.)
2. As you begin your watch, use this checklist to make sure you are ready to pray.
o Are all sins confessed? (See Isaiah 59:1-2; 1 John 1:10.)
o Are relationships with all others right? (See Matt. 6:14-15.)
o Are you prepared to seek His will in all things? (See 1 John 5:14-15.)
o Are you willing to allow God to receive all glory? (See John 14:13-14.)
o Are you depending on the Holy Spirit's leadership for this watch on the wall?
(See Romans 8:26-27.)
o Are you trusting in God in spite of the circumstances? (See Provo 3:5-6.)
o Are you willing to praise the Lord in all things? (See Rom. 8:28; 1 Thess. 5:16-18.)
3. Follow the instructions in your electronic Watchman Prayer Alert and the Daily Prayer Priorities on the new Watchman interface.
4. Remember that you are charged with the watch for the entire hour.
Here's an easy way to pray for an entire hour. By clicking here, you'll go to a 60-minute "slide show" that allows you to pray for 60 different requests for one minute each. (You can increase the pace if you desire.) You can also pray by category, time frame or keyword.
5. Your last prayer before ending your hour on the wall should be for the watchman who is following you on the wall. Call the person by name and ask for the Lord's encouragement in his or her life.
6. As you finish your hour, phone the next watchman and remind him or her of the watch. Make your message simple and to the point. For example, greet the person and say: "I have completed the watch on the north wall, and now I commend you to the Lord for your watch. May God bless you as He has blessed me." If you cannot reach this watchman for two consecutive weeks, call the office coordinating the prayer ministry so an inquiry can be made.
7. Take a moment and record any thoughts, answered prayers, or claimed promises in the Watchman Journal section of this guide. A simple sentence with a date will give you and your family a point of reference later to remember what God has done in your lives.
8. If you have any questions or need to make any changes in your assigned hour on the wall, call the office coordinating the prayer ministry.
9. Remember that Satan will do all he can to keep you from your watch. You must be "strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might" (Eph. 6:10, NASB). Our authority is useless unless it is used!
"You cannot estimate prayer-power. Prayer is as vast as God because He is behind it."
