The development, the life and the growth of a prayer group should be first of all the work of the Holy Spirit as much as is the prayer of Christ to his Father. Prayer, songs, texts from Scripture, exhortations, testimonies, charisms, etc. are inspired by the Holy Spirit and are simple, free and spontaneous signs of the presence of the resurrected Christ in the heart of the prayer group.

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

“Not only does Christ pray for us as our priest, but prays in us, as our head, at the same time that he is prayed through us as our God and as the members of his Body which we are.” Saint Augustine.

The prayer group is therefore a “privileged place”, but not the only one, where each one may experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The personal encounter with Christ and the movement of conversion which comes about opens the heart. Only then, for the first time or once again, can the Holy Spirit start his work of sanctification : growth of theologal virtues, development of the gifts of the Spirit, reception of charisms and their exercise. This experience of the outpouring of the Spirit normally produces a lasting renewal of Christian life. It is not reserved to Christians only : non-Christians may also experience it (Cf. John of Ephesus in the Acts of the Apostles). It is better, however, but not necessary, that this experience of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit be lived in the most formal way through the prayers of brothers and sisters of the prayer group, with or without the laying on of hands.

Charisms and their use

What differentiates a Charismatic prayer group from other types of prayer groups is that the spotlight is on the use of charisms.

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” 1 Cor. 12, 7

A charism is a gift of God, not only for the sanctification of the person but also for the building up of the Body of Christ and the coming of the Kingdom. The Second Vatican Council made strong mention of charisms in two documents (Lumen Gentium, # 12 ; Decree on the Lay Apostolic Life, # 3). As much as it is an institution, the Church is also charismatic in the unending flow of God’s grace and his sovereign freedom to give his gifts as he wishes and where he wants to. If charisms have always been exercised in the Church, a new consciousness of their existence, of their usefulness and even of their necessity, resurfaces most of the time within the prayer group. Therefore the authenticity of charisms (tongues, prophecies, healing, discernment of spirits and many others), and especially the virtue of charity, can all be tested and checked.

“The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Rom. 5, 5)

This experience of exercising extraordinary charisms during a prayer meeting will afterwards help each person in his or her own life, to exercise more ordinary charisms for the building up of the Church or the proclamation of the Gospel. Finally, charisms should not and cannot be opposed to ministries. They are complementary and necessary to each other.

A school of life in the Spirit

The prayer meeting is a real school of life in the Spirit :

• Where one learns or learns again how to pray, producing a better knowledge of God, a greater understanding of the faith and a deepening of one's personal, communitarian and liturgical prayer life.

• Where real catechesis, evangelisation through Scripture, exhortations, teachings or sharing in groups come about.
  
• Where one learns or learns once more to exercise charisms for the building up of the Church-community to use them in apostolic life.

• Where one learns to abandon oneself to Christ, to do the Father’s will through the Spirit, this attitude of abandonment being not only part of one's prayer life, but also one’s entire Christian life for a permanent conversion and a constant renewal to Christ and his Church.

“For we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groaning.” (Rom 8, 26).

A listening attitude is also very necessary. By being attentive to the Holy Spirit, it is this same Spirit who prays in us and who will build up the prayer of the group. At this moment, one can really receive this prayer for what primordially it is : a gift of God and a work of the Spirit who comes to say in us and to all : “Jesus is Lord” and “Abba, Father”.

By Pierre-Yves Champfort

Number 190, January 2003, Il est Vivant ! Magazine