Introducing Prayer Groups: Organize Your Community's Prayer Life
We're excited to introduce Prayer Groups—a new way to organize and share prayer requests within your faith community. Whether you're part of a small home group or a large multi-campus church, Prayer Groups helps you create focused spaces for prayer and support.
What Are Prayer Groups?
Prayer Groups are invite-only communities that help you organize and filter prayer requests. When you share a prayer request to a group, it still appears in the main public feed—but the group provides a focused view where members can see all prayers associated with that community in one place.
Think of it like tagging: prayers tagged to your group are visible to everyone, but only group members can access the group page to see all tagged prayers together.
Prayer Groups are perfect for:
- Small Groups / Life Groups: Track your group's prayer requests in one dedicated feed
- Ministry Teams: Worship team, children's ministry, or outreach teams can easily find each other's prayers
- Geographic Communities: Neighborhood groups or regional gatherings
- Special Interests: Men's groups, women's groups, young adults, couples, and more
Key Features
🏷️ Organized Prayer Feeds
Group members can access a dedicated feed showing all prayers shared with the group—making it easy to pray specifically for your community.
📧 Easy Invitations
Invite members via email or share an invite link. New members can join instantly after creating an account.
👥 Member Management
Group creators can view all members, see join activity, and remove members if needed.
🔗 Unique Group URLs
Each group has its own URL (e.g., prayerand.com/groups/grace-church-youth) making it easy to share and bookmark.
📱 Seamless Experience
Group prayers appear both in the main feed (visible to all) and in your group's dedicated feed, making it easy to find and follow your community's prayers.
🙈 Anonymous Prayers Stay Public
Note: Anonymous prayer requests cannot be associated with groups. This ensures that anonymous prayers remain truly anonymous and aren't linked to any specific community.
The Power of Organized Prayer
When prayer requests are organized into meaningful groups, something powerful happens:
- Deeper connections form as members pray specifically for each other
- Better follow-up occurs when you can easily find your community's requests in one place
- Increased focus as members can filter to see just their group's prayers
- Stronger accountability as group members check in on each other
- Wider reach since prayers still appear in the public feed, inviting the whole Prayer& community to pray alongside you
Whether you're leading a small home group or coordinating prayer across a multi-site church, Prayer Groups gives you the tools to organize and multiply your community's prayer life.
Best Practices: Naming Your Groups
One of the most important decisions when setting up Prayer Groups is choosing clear, consistent naming conventions. Since groups cannot be nested, your naming strategy becomes crucial for organization—especially for larger churches.
The Golden Rule: Start with Your Church Name
Always prefix your group slugs with your church name or abbreviation. This ensures:
- Your groups are easily identifiable across Prayer&
- Members can quickly find their church's groups
- No conflicts with other churches using similar group names
Small Churches (Under 100 members)
For smaller congregations, use your church name followed by the group type:
Recommended Format: [church]-[group-type]
Examples:
grace-chapel-mens-grouphopewell-womens-bible-studycornerstone-youthtrinity-prayer-warriorslifeway-leadership
Medium Churches (100-500 members)
As your church grows, you'll likely have multiple groups of the same type. Add distinguishing identifiers after your church name:
Recommended Format: [church]-[group-type]-[identifier]
Examples:
riverside-life-group-jones(Leader's name)calvary-life-group-tuesday(Meeting day)newlife-small-group-downtown(Location)crossroads-youth-middle-schoolbeacon-youth-high-schoolharvest-womens-thursday-amoasis-mens-saturday
Large Churches (500-2,000 members)
Larger churches often organize into zones, districts, or campuses. Include this hierarchy after your church name:
Recommended Format: [church]-[campus/zone]-[group-type]-[identifier]
Examples:
elevation-north-life-group-smithhillsong-downtown-young-adultssaddleback-east-zone-menswillow-south-district-couples-frinorthpoint-main-worship-teamlifepoint-online-community
Mega Churches (2,000+ members)
For very large churches with complex structures, use a comprehensive naming convention:
Recommended Format: [church]-[campus]-[region/zone]-[category]-[specific-group]
Examples:
lakewood-central-north-zone-life-group-hernandezfellowship-westside-region-2-youthgateway-downtown-a-young-marriedtransformation-satellite-east-womens-tuecelebration-main-zone-5-empty-nesters
Church Organization Models & Group Structures
Churches typically organize their small groups using one of several models. Here's how to structure your Prayer Groups for each:
The Cell Group Model (G12)
In this model, each leader disciples 12 members, who then become leaders themselves.
Naming Convention: [church]-[leader-name]-cell or [church]-[generation]-[leader]
yoido-pastor-kim-cellyfgc-g2-maria-cellicf-g3-james-cell
Geographic/Neighborhood Model
Groups are organized by where members live.
Naming Convention: [church]-[neighborhood/area]-group
redeemer-upper-west-sidemosaic-silverlake-neighborsreality-downtown-loftscity-church-westside-families
Affinity/Life-Stage Model
Groups form around shared life experiences or interests.
Naming Convention: [church]-[life-stage/interest]-[day/identifier]
journeycc-new-parentsthewell-college-studentsvine-empty-nesters-fridayrockharbor-single-professionalssummit-grief-support
Sermon-Based Small Groups
Groups study the weekly sermon together.
Naming Convention: [church]-[host-name]-home or [church]-[day]-[location]
grace-johnson-home-grouphope-wednesday-cafefaith-sunday-lunch-bunch
Ministry Team Model
Groups organized around serving areas.
Naming Convention: [church]-[ministry]-team
bethel-worship-teammercy-kids-ministryanchor-guest-servicesbridge-tech-productionsent-missions-committee
Tips for Success
1. Choose a Church Abbreviation
If your church name is long, pick a consistent abbreviation:
- "Grace Community Church" →
gcc - "First Baptist of Springfield" →
fbsorfirstbaptist - "New Life Christian Fellowship" →
nlcfornewlife
2. Be Consistent
Choose a naming convention and stick with it across all groups. This makes it easier for members to find and join the right group.
3. Keep Slugs Short but Descriptive
The URL should be easy to share verbally. gcc-youth is better than grace-community-church-high-school-youth-group-2024.
4. Use Lowercase and Hyphens
URLs like gcc-mens-tuesday are cleaner than GCCMensTuesday or gcc_mens_tuesday.
5. Plan for Growth
Even if you're small now, consider how your naming will scale. Starting with gcc-life-group-1 means you can easily add gcc-life-group-2 later.
6. Document Your Structure
Create a simple guide for group leaders explaining your naming conventions. This ensures consistency as new groups are created.
7. Review Regularly
As your church grows or reorganizes, update group names to reflect current structure.
Getting Started
Ready to create your first Prayer Group? Here's how:
- Sign in to Prayer& (or create an account)
- Click "My Groups" in the sidebar
- Click "Create Group" and enter your group name
- Customize your URL (slug) following the best practices above—remember to start with your church name!
- Invite members via email or share the invite link
Your group members will receive an invitation and can start sharing prayer requests immediately after joining.
We're Here to Help
Have questions about setting up Prayer Groups for your church? We'd love to help you find the best structure for your community. Reach out to us and let's build something meaningful together.
Thank you for being part of the Prayer& community. Together, we're transforming how believers support each other through prayer.