Prayer Ministry

Intercessory Prayer Ministry Guidelines 

The tone for every service and activity at The Shepherd’s House is set by these three areas: 

1. Pastors Rich and Dorothy

2. The Shepherd’s House leadership, and ministries

3. The Praise and Worship Team

All these areas work in unison, submitted to Christ so that no one receives the glory or honor other than Jesus. The Intercessory Ministry team is here to seek the face of our Father, listen for the voice of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit be obedient to what we hear and communicate with leadership.

In order for us to be effective in our witness for Christ, we must believe in the Vision for The Shepherd’s House as given to Pastor Rich over 40 years ago. We must know our mission in attaining the fullness of the Vision and perform our roles in our mission with humility, in the Fear of the Lord and integrity.  

It is useful to have guidelines so you will know if you are called to the Intercessory Prayer Team.  Everyone is called to prayer but not everyone is called as an intercessor. We will follow these guidelines:

• No personal testimonies or personal prayer requests and no theology discussions, we are to pray only the Word of God. This small amount of time before the service is to focus on the three areas set out above. Personal testimonies and prayer requests can be accomplished in the sanctuary. We are also available for prayer after the service to meet these needs.

• Intercessors are by invitation only. Maria Storck and Jan Orange have been given authority to lead the team by Pastors Rich and Mike. If you come into the prayer room during this time, you are under their authority as they are submitted to the Holy Spirit.

• It is their responsibility to watch over the team and protect our time together. As such that means we need to come into the prayer room, on time, prayed up, and ready to flow.  What we mean by coming in prayed up I Timothy 2:1-3 says, “First of all, I urge that requests, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all the people, for kings and all who are in authority so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who wants all people to be saved.” It pleases Father God that we come prepared (prayed up) as prayer leaders. We do the “first of all” before we arrive.

• Before we make any requests to our Father, we need to just praise Him for Who He is.  We seek His face not His hands. We need to thank Jesus for what He has already done, what He is doing and what He is planning for us. We need to thank Holy Spirit that He provides all the power we need to accomplish the will of the Father and Son. We may pray in the Spirit, we may pray with understanding, we may sing in the Spirit or we may just sit quietly and marvel at His Majesty. Pat Allen called this a “holy hush”.

• We have called a fast for one day every week, Wednesday, for the whole year of 2026.  We are not just fasting one or more meals during that day, but we are praying to hear what the Father has planned for us, what Jesus is interceding for us and what Holy Spirit is empowering us to accomplish.  We need to be faithful in this weekly commitment to hearing from the Lord.  

• Pat and Ron Allen set a time to meet for an extended amount of time (10:00-12:00) every 4th Saturday of the month.  We intend to continue this practice and it is expected that intercessors make every effort to attend.  It is during this time we can:

  • sing praises and worship; linger in His Presence

  • set priorities for coming month

  • celebrate victories from previous month(s)

  • pray for other areas of concern not just TSH

  • physically walk the property, rooms, ministry areas for increase. Maybe assign an area for each intercessor to pray over during the month.

  • share what Holy Spirit is telling and showing you as you are listening to His voice.

Leadership has promised to share with us the needs of The Shepherd’s House so we can pray in agreement with them. There are major meetings taking place in our facilities and we want Jesus to be exalted in every meeting. There are ministry needs and always prayers for healing, resources and help. Jesus is exalted when needs are met. Pastor Mike has invited us to come into the sanctuary while the Praise and Worship team is practicing and pray over them.

When The Shepherd’s House becomes Kingdom focused instead of church culture focused, we will change our families, our cities and our state. Pray for discernment, humility, integrity and Fear of the Lord then we will change even the world.