How to Pray

Guidance and Suggestions

Isaac re-opened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, … and he gave them the same names his father had given them. …
He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarrelled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” (Genesis 26:18 & 22, NIV)

The Europe’s Wells initiative comes from our heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and so all groups should follow the Holy Spirit’s leading for their meetings. Father God also wants there to be unity between us and a common theme so that we cry to him with one united voice. Therefore, on this page are guidelines for us all to follow on the three days of the Europe’s Wells weekend. If you are just meeting once then please cover all three themes together.

At the bottom are some other suggestions on how to prepare and how to pray, but these are optional. They are offered as helpful suggestions:

  • Proclamations
  • Other Suggestions for Prayer
  • Suggestions for How to Research and Pray in Advance
  • Suggestions for How to Prepare Yourselves
  • Suggestions to Finish

Each group can decide at what time to meet and for how long.

 

Guidance for Your Meetings on the Europe’s Wells Weekend

Begin each meeting with worship and proclamation of the lordship of Christ. This helps us break through to the presence of God and then we can pray with a true perspective and with authority.

Ask for the covering of the blood of the Lamb who was slain and pray protection and blessing over everyone involved in every Europe’s Wells group. We are a body so let us pray for each other.

 Friday 21st June 2019

  • CELEBRATE all that the Lord has done in Europe in almost two thousand years. See the history page and add to it your own research. See how many times He has brought new life and remind yourselves that he can do it again!
  • HONOUR those who were used by God in the past, for their vision, obedience, sacrifice and achievements. Some of them gave their lives for God’s kingdom. They are our spiritual fathers and mothers and God’s command is that we should honour them. (Exodus 20:12 – the fifth commandment) They are also part of the cloud of witnesses in heaven who are cheering us on! (Hebrews 12:1)
    Just as Isaac inherited blessing from Abraham, and Jacob inherited from Isaac, so we have inherited blessing from the previous generations of faith. We are not the first, we are not orphans, we are connected to a rich heritage from the past. So we honour them. Then we will receive the blessing “that all may go well with you”.
  • MOURN that Europe has turned away from God so much at the moment. This has happened more in the West than in the East but it is a trend in many of our countries.
  • MOURN that we have treated the Jewish people, our elder brother, badly. The church distanced itself from the Jewish people as early as the second century. We concluded that God had rejected them, we thought that we were His only chosen people, we expelled them from our countries, we persecuted them with pogroms, holocaust and discrimination. Even today anti-Semitism is increasing in Europe. Pray for the salvation of all Israel! (Romans 10:1 and 11:26)
  • BELIEVE in His forgiveness and thank him for his everlasting love. He has compassion on Europe and will take us back as part of his beautiful bride. (Isaiah 54:7-8)


Saturday 22nd June 2019

  • THANK the Lord for the spiritual life and revival that was here in the past at your well. Thank Him for His grace poured out on this place.
  • FORGIVE and ask for forgiveness in identification with the specific sins that put an end to the spiritual power of the well.
  • ASK Jesus to remove any spiritual force that is holding back the reopening. (1 John 3:8)
  • ASK God to reopen your well, so that His spiritual power will flow again, that many will be saved and the Kingdom of God will be built.
  • ASK Him to reopen all the wells of Europe – those that have a group worshiping at them today, those that have no group, and also the ‘unknown wells’ that have been forgotten, except to God. Ask Him to reopen them ALL!
  • PRAY for the countries that are not so well represented with worshiping groups this weekend, where maybe God did a powerful work a thousand years ago but the church is not strong today. The spiritual power, the life-giving water, is still there under the ground, so ask for it to BREAK OUT!!


Sunday 23rd June 2019

  • After reopening his father’s wells, Isaac then moved on to dig new wells. (Genesis 26:19-22) Today we ask God for NEW spiritual wells that have never been dug before. Having reopened the wells of our fathers and mothers, we now dig wells of our own. We need to go beyond what they did and build on the foundations that they laid – the next generation always needs to go further than the last one.
  • Pray for NEW REVIVAL!! Brand new outpourings today! Places that have never had spiritual refreshment to experience the awesome presence of the Holy Spirit. The driest places to receive the biggest spiritual soaking.
  • PRAY for all our technology, transport infrastructure, communication and media, the internet, social media etc., to serve God’s purposes today, to bring salvations, make disciples and grow His Kingdom in Europe.
  • PRAY for a move of God across our whole continent, not just one region but the whole of Europe, from the Ural Mountains in the East to the Atlantic Ocean in the West, and from the Arctic Sea in the North to the Mediterranean in the South. And of course, bless our neighbours in the other continents.
  • PRAY for the gospel to be preached to every people group and language in the world and then for Jesus to return, Amen!


The Facebook Group

If someone in your group has a Facebook account, then please search for “Europe’s Wells” and request to join the group. This will help us to feel that we are all one body across Europe.

On the weekend, please post a photo of your group, short testimonies or words from God, and any urgent prayer requests, with the name of your well.

We will be over fifty groups so don’t post too much! If you have a lot of information to give, then please send it via the Contact Page on this website.


Feedback Afterwards

We would love to hear how it went in your group! Please send your feedback afterwards to tell us how you prayed, what God said, testimonies, pictures, and any suggestions for the future. It does not have to be long so do it before you forget!

This will really help us to understand the significance of the Europe’s Wells initiative. It may be that God will give us something else to do afterwards! I will then write a short report to summarise what happened and what God said.


Suggested Proclamations (Optional)

  • Genesis 26:22 – He moved on from there and dug another well, and no-one quarrelled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” (NIV)
    => Proclaim that the Lord has blessed us and we will flourish!
  • Numbers 21:17a – Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well!” (NIV)
    => Proclaim that the waters of revival will rise up powerfully!
  • Revelation 21:6b – To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. (NIV)
    => Proclaim that God’s living water will come to all Europeans who are spiritually thirsty!
  • Proclaim that those who are spiritually thirsty will come to Jesus and drink, and that rivers of living water will flow from within them. (John 7:37-39; Isaiah 55:1)
  • In the same way that the Lord Jesus called Lazarus to come out when he had already been dead for four days, call out in prayer the redemptive gifts of this revival well, that the living water will flow again. (John 11:38-44) Think about the characteristics of your well that you discovered in the research phase.
    In faith, praise God for the revival of the original spiritual gifts, ministries, miracles and outpourings of the Spirit on this people and on this place.
  • Celebrate God’s victory, declaring that once again people will come and with joy draw waters of salvation from this well. (Isaiah 12:1-3)


Other Suggestions (Optional)

  • Celebrate the Lord’s Supper (bread and wine).
  • We recommend the six-point ‘Prayer for Europe’ written by Ortwin Schweitzer.
  • Also, see the other Bible Verses & Promises that have been received.
  • Ask God for the ‘Way of the Lord’ to be prepared so that a new revival can break out. (Isaiah 40:3-4)
  • Ask the Lord to send people to proclaim freedom to the captives, to bind the brokenhearted and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour once again. (Luke 4:18-19)
  • Pray over the faithful remnant of the local Christian community. Ask that they will experience this revival and fully receive it, and then will share it with others.


Suggestions for How to Research and Pray in Advance

  • Ask God to show you the important characteristics of the well. Research the history, both secular and Christian.
  • Was it a place, an event, a spiritual movement among a particular group of people, or an impact on a whole nation? Was it an awakening or revival with many new believers, a saint or powerful preacher who advanced the kingdom of God, a monastery or worship centre, a place of martyrdom, a healing and deliverance ministry, a mission-sending movement, etc.?
  • Discern the redemptive gift that was given: repentance and conviction of sin; salvation and holiness; healings, signs and wonders; the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; social changes and transformation; the birth of new ministries, evangelism or mission movements?
  • How did it start, how was it maintained, and how and why did it finish?
  • Ask God how this well can be reopened. Worship and thank God for the gift of this well in the past. Ask for forgiveness for the sins that caused it to be closed. Ask what kinds of prayers are needed and what actions should be done to reopen it. What needs to happen to see this redemptive gift functioning again in its fullness?


Suggestions for How to Prepare Yourselves

  • Ask God who should be involved and how to recruit them: a group leader with the burden to see this well reopened; worship leaders; people who were involved personally or their descendants if it was a recent revival; local intercessors and members of the local Christian community. Also, the presence or blessing of a local pastor or spiritual authority to give covering.
  • Prepare yourselves individually for the moment when you will gather together at the well.
  • Make sure that everyone in the group knows the results of your research and understands what you are doing.
  • Meet in advance to worship and pray together. Also, consider fasting to reinforce the prayer.

Here are some suggestions for these preparation meetings:

  1. Worship the Lord, to invite and establish his presence.
  2. Ask the Lord if there are any sins you need to confess to him, especially those sins that have to do with the reason why the revival ended at this place. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
  3. Silence the voice of the enemy. Submit your own thoughts and ideas to the Lord and ask for the voice and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
  4. Wait on the Lord in silence to hear anything he has to say about how the team should pray at the well. Share with each other what you have received.
  5. Pray about these subjects and keep a record, to develop them in prayer at the well.
  6. Cover each other and your families in prayer. Ask for unity in the team, and for the anointing of the Spirit and the release of His gifts in prophecy and revelation.
  7. Pray for everyone in the other groups meeting at the other wells. Ask for a spiritual covering over everyone taking part, that no one should be prevented from taking part through illness, accident, or other attack. Claim the protection of the Blood of Jesus on this whole project, that no one will be attacked, neither before, during or afterwards. Amen!


Suggestions To Finish (Optional)

  • Consider doing some kind of prophetic act. For example, go out and preach the gospel, do acts of service for the community, or a prophetic acting out of the coming revival.
  • Arrange follow-up prayer meetings and invite other local believers.
  • Ask the Lord if He wants you and other local believers to follow up on this act of reopening this well. What should be done from now onwards to bring new spiritual life in this place?

All Bible verses taken from the New International Version (NIV).
Thanks to Leopoldo & Renee Lobo for their helpful suggestions.
Also, some ideas taken from an article on “Re-digging Wells” by Rena Brand of Gateways International, 01 March 2011.