Church and meeting prayer policy

Protecting the Flock: Why We Have a Designated Prayer Team at Church

In the current spiritual climate, it is more important than ever for pastors to protect the flock. We absolutely believe in the power of prayer and that every believer should be a prayer warrior, interceding for others both inside and outside the church. However, in a church setting, we cannot allow prayer to become a free-for-all where anyone can lay hands on others without oversight.

Why? Because there are people—witches, Satanists, and others with nefarious agendas—who intentionally come to churches to infiltrate, sow confusion, and even curse the work of God. If we allow some people to freely pray over others, we would have to allow everyone, which opens the door for wolves to come in and lay hands on the sheep. This is why we have a designated prayer team—individuals we know, trust, and have vetted. These are the people who are allowed to pray at the altar in our church.

Over time, if you remain at the church, build relationships with the leadership, and demonstrate faithfulness and integrity in your walk with the Lord, there is no issue with you eventually being invited to pray for others. But that is something that must be done in order—one does not simply self-appoint themselves to an altar ministry.

We want to be clear: We desire all people—no matter their past—to come to church, experience the presence of God, and be saved, set free, healed, and delivered. We welcome those struggling with addiction, brokenness, or any other stronghold. But spiritual maturity and discernment take time, and it would be irresponsible for a pastor to allow just anyone to lay hands on others in prayer. The reality is that some people attending churches today are not there for the right reasons, and it is the shepherd’s responsibility to protect the sheep.

We are a house of prayer. We believe in prayer. But we also must be wise. The enemy is actively working to infiltrate churches, and we have seen firsthand how people can come in under false pretenses to disrupt what God is doing. That is why we establish order and structure in our prayer ministry.

If someone has a strong desire to pray for people, my advice is simple: Start your own ministry. Go out onto the streets, minister, and pray for those God sends to you. Let the anointing on your life gather people around you. But in the church, there must be order, and that order is set by the leadership God has placed over the house.

Hopefully, this makes sense. We love and encourage prayer, but we also stand on biblical wisdom to protect the body of Christ in this critical hour.