General Introduction

This is the second of the two courses on prayer that I have created  under the Prayer Eleven banner. Whereas the first course, Prayer Eleven for Seekers, is intended for individuals or small groups to download and do on their own, Prayer Eleven for Explorers is designed to function in a class format with someone leading the course.  I also see this course as a progression from Prayer Eleven for Seekers. This does not mean that the person leading the course must be more knowledgeable on prayer than anyone doing it as all the notes, information and materials needed to lead it are available on these web pages, and can be downloaded for free.

Whilst the Prayer Eleven for Explorers course may be done by men or women (or a mix of both), my own experience has taught me that it was a good idea to produce a version of the course that is specifically tailored to men. The content of the lessons is exactly the same but there are some differences in how the two courses are done. The main difference is that the men do not meet for a weekly triplet. Instead they meet up with their course/group leader once every 2/3 weeks for some personal spiritual mentoring. However, anyone leading this course may do so in whatever way they think is best.

One thing I have wanted to address with the course is the issue of personality traits and how they fit in to the development of our prayer lives. Most books on prayer and Christian spirituality are written by introverts for introverts. I have tried to create a course that can be accessible to both introverts and extroverts, with options on exercises so that, as much as is possible, both personality types are catered for.

See comments made by people who have already done the course - Recommendations.

Four further notes:

1) All the art work for the course has been done by Alex Day, to whom I am very grateful.

2) The Bible passages quoted in the lesson plans all come from the TNIV Bible.

3) Inevitably students will miss a class during the course. This is why I have produced course notes for each class so that someone leading the course can email them to that person, giving them some idea as to what has been taught, and what they need to do for their homework exercises.

4) Whilst this course is entirely free to download and use, I would be very encouraged if you were to email me via the Contact Us page if you are planning to do the course, or have led it. I would also love to receive any comments you have on the course.

Promotional Word documents for the course:

Prayer Eleven for Explorers Course Overview

Prayer Eleven for Explorers Fact Sheet template

Prayer Eleven for Explorers Fact Sheet template (Men)

I have used as the course book Richard Foster’s Prayer – Finding the heart’s true home. Not everyone finds this book easy to read and so there is no reason why a different book could not be used as the course book. The aim of having a book is to encourage people to learn more about prayer than this course can teach them on its own. With my chosen course book, the students need to read two chapters of the book each week and discuss their reading at the following class. The chapters have been selected to match as near as possible the weekly subjects of the course.

All the lesson plans, course notes, handouts and PowerPoint presentation files have been loaded onto the pages linked below so that anyone may download them and lead the course at their own church if they wish to. In fact I hope you will, and I hope you will find my notes easy to use and follow. Please feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions for how the course can be improved in the future. Please also note that it is not necessary for you to use the PowerPoint files in order to lead the course. This option has been given for those who wish to use PowerPoint to enhance their presentation of the course.

Prayer Eleven for Explorers – course material

Prayer Eleven for Explorers – course material (PowerPoint Version)

Prayer Eleven for Explorers (Men) – course material

Prayer Eleven for Explorers (Men) – course material (PowerPoint Version)

Prayer Eleven for Explorers PowerPoint files

Previous course venues

“God’s acquaintance is not made hurriedly. He doesn’t bestow his gifts on the casual or hasty comer and goer. Spending time with him is the secret to knowing him, and having influence with him.” E. M. Bounds