Prayer is the foundation of Church leadership, yet many leaders struggle to develop strong, effective prayer leadership. This resource draws from decades of experience, sharing the lessons learned—often the hard way—about leading prayer meetings that inspire, unite, and mobilise believers. It offers practical wisdom on moving beyond trial and error, learning from seasoned practitioners, and embracing a more excellent way of leading prayer that invites the Holy Spirit’s power.

After carrying Church leadership for almost 30 years at National, State and Local levels, I resigned.  I was now 60, and for the past 15 years my capacity in leadership had suffered continual erosion due to serious personal challenges. Challenges like the onslaught of melanoma that took the beautiful mother of my children into the arms of Jesus. During those many years of leadership, I had led many prayer meetings. I learned many keys for this vital aspect of Church leadership, but my lessons had been picked up haphazardly along the way.

If I had picked up on my own maxim, that self-learning is always the slowest kind of learning, I would have become better at my craft.

Rather than find an experienced practitioner to mentor me, it was all a bit hit and miss. Some prayer meetings worked, others didn’t. Some were inspiring and easy to be at, others were hard work.

It’s not that Great Holy Spirit didn’t move or take every opportunity to use those meetings for good, but I always felt that I was crying out to Him to help me understand what to do next. I was constantly working with the unknown. People who were there assure me they were powerful times, but when we relocated to Sydney and began attending David McDonald’s 6am prayer meetings, I immediately began putting all the missing pieces of my puzzle together. Like the Church at Corinth, I was being shown a “more excellent way.”