The Most Important Group Leader Activity

Many of you lead small groups. You invest in the lives of others to see a spiritual impact. Every week there is preparation, study, review of materials, member care, communication, etc. etc.  Yet research is showing certain actions produce more results, more fruit, than others.

In fact a recent study of almost 3,000 small group leaders showed that only one activity produced exceptional results. This may surprise you. Do you want in on the secret?

“The most important dimension of leading a group is your prayer life—your connection to God as a leader.”

That’s it. In a nutshell, leaders who pray for their group, it’s members, connectedness, outreach, and new leader growth have their prayers answered. And here we were spending hours in preparation on activities like: studying the 23 undeniable laws of small group leading, sourcing just the right bible study materials, training co-leaders, and formulating strategies for outreach. Isn’t it like our spirit God to bring more spiritual fruit from prayer that all our man-made effort? Somehow I can so easily forget that we are engaged in spiritual endeavors and expecting spiritual, supernatural results. I can often approach group meetings like a business presentation, or a get together with friends. In the study, the leaders who connected with God in prayer had healthier, faster growing groups. But, the biggest difference a strong prayer life made came in evangelistic effectiveness. In fact the distinction between leaders with a strong prayer life and a weak prayer life was astonishing.

“Eighty-three percent of leaders with a strong prayer life reported that at least one person had come to Jesus through the influence of their group (in the last nine months), whereas only 19 percent of leaders with a weak prayer life could say the same. It didn’t surprise us that leaders with a growing relationship with God had groups that were bringing more people to Christ, but it was shocking how much of a difference it makes. Leaders with a strong prayer life have groups that, on average, have more than four times the evangelistic impact as groups led by leaders with a weak prayer life.” I’d like to challenge you to try an experiment, recommended in the study, for the next three meetings. Take more time praying for your members and asking God to work in your meeting than you take preparing your lesson or discussion. Let me know how it goes. [1] Research conducted and article written by: Jim Egli, small-group leader and the Lead Small-Group Pastor at the Vineyard Church in Urbana, IL: http://www.smallgroups.com/articles/2010/sgleadersmostimportantjob.html.