“If our battle is against ‘powers and principalities’, why don’t I know more about how to fight them?”
“What is the place of listening prayer and intercession in our ministry?”
“How can I recognize and respond to spiritual attack in my own life, my students, and my team?”
Ever asked these questions? Got more to ask?
Spiritual Conflict and Prayer
An online ISM training course for all InterVarsity staff, volunteers, and committed students
March-April 2018
REGISTER HERE by February 15. Space is limited.
Spiritual conflict is real, yet we often struggle to identify it and feel unprepared to respond appropriately. And sin and personal brokenness can derail discipleship, ministries...and ourselves. Join colleagues around the nation for this free, no-travel 8-week online course which will cover topics including strongholds in evangelism and discipling, listening and intercessory prayer, demonic oppression and deliverance, intimacy with God and generational influences. Specific attention will be given to ministry with international students, but the principles apply to all ministries.
Note: We use the term spiritual “conflict” in this course because “warfare,” like “crusade,” can give an inaccurate impression when seen by outsiders. As followers of Jesus our role is to spread God’s shalom: peace and well-being, and use of the word “warfare” might hinder that mission.
Cost: Free.
Travel: None required.
Outcomes: Participants will learn to...
- experience greater intimacy with God, with a focus on listening prayer,
- address areas of vulnerability in their own lives, students and teams that invite the enemy’s attack,
- recognize and respond to spiritual conflict in ministry, including demonic oppression in students and counseling new believers who have been involved in harmful spiritual practices,
- commit to deeper intercessory prayer, including praying into strongholds and barriers to growth using appropriate Scriptures, and gathering committed intercessors around their own ministries and for themselves.
Time commitment:
8 weeks @ 1.5-2hrs/week, March 1-April 23.
Content is divided into two units, each a discipleship cycle of reading assignments, online written reflection and discussion via Moodle, active response in your local community, and group debrief + lecture on Zoom.
Dates for 90min. Zoom calls: March 1, 22, 29, and April 23. Exact times will be determined later, in the window 12-5pm EST.
Course directors:
Katie Rawson is the ISM Senior Resource Developer, the author of Crossing Cultures with Jesus and a thirty- plus year veteran ISM staff. She has encountered spiritual conflict in a variety of forms and settings and learned through experience how to help people receive freedom from spiritual bondages.
Anonymous
The directors are eager to share from their own experiences and learn from those of others.
Course Overview
Schedule
UNIT 1
- Week 1, Mar 1-2: Zoom call* (3/1): webinar to introduce Unit 1
- Week 2, Mar 5-9: Unit 1 reading and online written response to reflection questions (due 3/9)
- Week 3, Mar 12-16: Complete active response step and report on it online (due 3/16)
- Week 4, Mar 19-23: Zoom call (3/22) to debrief Unit 1 material, including active response
UNIT 2
- Week 5, Mar 26-30: Zoom call (3/29): webinar to introduce Unit 2
- Week 6, Apr 2-6: Reading and written response to starred questions online (due 4/6)
- Week 7, Apr 9-13: Complete active response step and report on it online (due 4/13)
- Week 8+, Apr 16-20: No assignments. Finish any incomplete readings or assignments
- Week 9, Apr 23: Zoom call (Apr 23) to debrief Unit Two material, including active response, and entire course
*All Zoom calls will be recorded, so you can listen/ watch later if you have to miss one. Calls will be 90min. except the final call, which will last 2 hours.
Content
UNIT ONE
Introduction to spiritual conflict, patching holes in our spiritual armor, spiritual conflict in ISM, intimacy with God, listening prayer for individuals and groups
HEAR
- Zoom Call 1: webinar to introduce Unit 1 and course, with “Shalom and Spiritual Conflict” article as handout (Week 1)
- Read
- chapter 2 in Crossing Cultures with Jesus (CCWJ),
- “Spiritual Issues in ISM”
- “Shalom and Spiritual Conflict.”
- Do personal reflection question 1 on p. 37, CCWJ.
- Answer reflection questions on these readings and share your answers to starred questions with colleagues online. (Week 2)
RESPOND ACTIVELY
- Staff shares lessons learned about listening prayer, ISM and spiritual conflict with volunteer or student leader team and leads them in a time of listening prayer, following the instructions on p. 38, CCWJ:
- Discern any area of group vulnerability such as disunity, illness, or busyness.
- Ask the Lord how to pray for students and groups of students.
- Share about listening prayer experience with colleagues online. (Week 3). What happened? What questions came up or remain in your mind?
DEBRIEF
UNIT TWO
Spiritual strongholds in evangelism and discipling, intercessory prayer and fasting, demonic oppression and generational influences, prayer ministry and deliverance from demonic oppression
HEAR
- Zoom call 3: webinar to introduce unit content, with “Breaking Free” article as handout (Week 5)
- Read
- chapter 3 of CCWJ
- “Breaking Free”
- prayer ministry review article by Laura Thiel.
- Answer reflection questions on these readings and share your answers to starred questions with colleagues online. (Week 6)
RESPOND ACTIVELY
- Share material from chapter 3 of CCWJ, the prayer ministry review article and the “Breaking Free” article with your team and discuss how to respond to the material. Is there a need to go through the material in the “Breaking Free” article with team members and/or students?
- Do prayer ministry for each other so that team members will be in a good place when called on to pray for others. Deal with any personal or group “holes in the armor” discerned in the listening prayer time of week 3 if needed. (Week 7)
- Share about listening prayer experience with colleagues online. What happened? What questions came up or remain in your mind? (Week 7)
DEBRIEF
