Each year, the Assemblies of God devotes the first complete week of January to a heightened emphasis on prayer. You can find resources on prayer for personal and corporate use at weekofprayer.ag.org. In this article, I’ve curated five episodes of the Influence Podcast that address prayer from a variety of angles.

1. Setting Your Church’s Agenda with Prayer
Episode 204 of the Influence Podcast features a conversation with Pastor Scott Wilson of Oaks Church in Red Oak, Texas. In it, he talks about how to pray in the Spirit, with understanding, and in agreement. Wilson’s advice will help your church’s leadership team do more than start the agenda with prayer. It will teach you and your leaders how to set the agenda through prayer.

2. Leveling the Praying Field
In Episode 186 of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Rev. Donna Barrett about how to level the praying field so that everyone in your church can pray. Barrett is general secretary of the Assemblies of God (USA) and author of Leveling the Praying Field: Helping Every Person Talk to God and Hear from God.

3. Praying Through All the Seasons of Life
The Book of Psalms is the prayer book of the Church. It shows Christians all the ways to pray through all the seasons of life, the good and the bad, the high and the low. In Episode 170 of the Influence Podcast, I talk to Dr. George O. Wood, chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship (and my dad), about how to use Psalms personally and in ministry. Wood is author of A Psalm in Your Heart.

4. The Couple That Prays Together …
“What your marriage will become is determined by how you pray,” write Joel and Nina Schmidgall in their new book, Praying Circles Around Your Marriage. “Prayers for your marriage will allow you to claim God-given promises, fulfill God-given dreams for your family, and seize a God-ordained legacy for generations.”

In Episode 164 of the Influence Podcast, the Schmidgalls offer great advice about prayer, marriage, and family life. They serve on staff at National Community Church in Washington, D.C.

5. Three Dimensions of Prayer
In Episode 122 of the Influence Podcast, I talk with Dr. Jim Bradford about the personal, pastoral, and congregational dimensions of prayer. Bradford is pastor of Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, and author of Lead So Others Can Follow: 12 Practices and Principles for Ministry.

I hope these podcasts heighten your understanding and practice of prayer both this week and throughout the year!