Preaching will always play a vital role in a healthy church. We need people who can proclaim the gospel, teachers who can make sense of scripture, encouragers who are gifted at speaking to larger groups of people, and individuals who can passionately exhort the Body at large toward love and good works.  

But the apostle Paul’s words in I Corinthians 14 describe another dynamic found within the meetings of the early church:

“Pursue [this] love [with eagerness, make it your goal], yet earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual gifts [to be used by believers for the benefit of the church]…What then is the right course, believers? When you meet together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation (disclosure of special knowledge), a tongue, or an interpretation. Let everything be constructive and edifying and done for the good of all the church.” (14:1, 26 AMP)

From this passage we can see the part of the fellowship of Paul’s churches included time for mutual sharing. In modern times, some churches that have implemented meetings for this kind of mutual sharing call them “believers’ meetings”.

Contrary to when only one person preaches and the others passively listen, believers’ meetings allow for each person in the meeting to actively share the Lord with others. Mutual sharing is not limited to those who are in church leadership or those who have formal Bible education. Rather, sharing is open to everyone.

While the meetings are casual in nature, they are not times for visiting or chit-chat, but a time of focused worship where gatherers share the life of the Lord with one another and seek inspiration from the Holy Spirit—which includes the charismatic/prophetic gifts such as: words of wisdom and/or knowledge, inspired singing, prophetic contributions, teachings, revelations of scripture, and even sharing in the gift of tongues with interpretation. 

Although Paul’s reason for writing to the Corinthians on the subject of believers’ meetings was to correct the abuses that were taking place when they practiced spiritual gifts, Paul’s directive to continue and engage in these types of meetings was clear: yes, continue to pursue all the spiritual gifts so you can share with one another, but PLEASE do so in love so that everyone can gain a benefit.  

My wife and I have hosted many of these meetings and have been greatly blessed by the mutual strengthening, encouragement, and comfort that the Holy Spirit provides. Truly, God loves to make Himself known through various spiritual giftings using all the members that make up His body—from the least to the greatest. And more often than not, an evening of Spirit-led, mutual sharing forms a beautiful ministry web where all have had opportunity to participate, all have felt needed and used by God, and folks are excited for the next time to meet.

Of course, not every casual meeting where people gather to seek and practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit are filled with rainbows and fireworks; but, believers’ meetings do bring an entirely different, fully participatory, life-giving dimension to the Christian experience that cannot be experienced by Sunday preaching services alone.

If this sounds like an interesting type of meeting to host, then you might ask, “How does a person prepare and host a believers’ meeting?”

The following will be our best effort to prepare you for hosting open, fully participatory, Holy Spirit-led meetings. One thing to keep in mind is that the Holy Spirit is a person who has full freedom to dwell, move, and stir up the meeting as They see fit. Therefore, these are merely recommendations, not formulas to be followed precisely. All we can do is make our best effort to put Jesus at the center and head of the meeting and provide an atmosphere where Holy Spirit is uninhibited to minister.  

1. Start with “A Few Good Men”: No, not literally “men”, but the early 90’s movie title will prove to be helpful!

Find a few folks you know you can trust. Gather together people who would be comfortable stepping out to try new things, who would be willing to risk having some awkward moments, and who would be open to trying some different practices to seek deeper things of God—folks who are more concerned about reaching the heart of God and less concerned with needing to get the structure or mechanisms figured out right off the bat. You don’t need many people to start, maybe four to five people, or perhaps three couples. Think of it as a pilot group who is just going to try some practices out. 

Do not rush to put your believers’ meetings in a church bulletin and just “see who comes” unless you feel particularly led by the Lord to do so. Starting with a smaller, trusted group will help eliminate situations where people might abuse the gifts of the Holy Spirit (as some in the Corinthian’s church did) and/or strain out those with stronger personalities who may inadvertently dominate the meeting. Once a core group is established, and you’ve had some time to find some practices and flows that work, there will then be plenty of opportunity to invite others into the meeting.

2. Full of the Spirit: While the term “full of the Spirit” can mean different things to different people, in this context I mean it to suggest that when you start to form the core that you include some people with experience in operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit—including but not limited to: speaking in tongues, words of knowledge and/or revelation, prophetic singing or speaking, the practice of laying-on-of-hands and praying for the sick, deliverance ministry, and so on. Notice that whenever the Holy Spirit is at work in the Bible it is always an outward work. Therefore, fill your initial group/core with some folks who are outgoing in their relationship and practice in the intimacy and gifts of the Holy Spirit. This may not be a prerequisite, but it may help to avoid a Quaker-like meeting of total silence for an hour! Times of silence to listen and be with the Lord are good, and time can be made for that practice even in a believers’ meeting, but when the apostle Paul talked about everyone sharing a “psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, oran interpretation” in I Corinthians 14:26, he was obviously intending for there to be plenty of outward vocalizations and contributions. Having at least one or even a few folks who are not bashful in how they worship the Lord, and who are familiar with the gifts of the Spirit, can help break the ice and make others feel more comfortable to share and seek spiritual gifts. If this is not an option, then no worries, because the disciples in the upper room who were seeking God in Act 2 were in the same situation. God was totally able to meet them in a powerful way as they sought to be filled and experience more of the Holy Spirit. Seek, pray, believe, expect, rejoice, and repeat.                  

3. Come with a prepared heart: When you have your list of trusted folks, and you have selected a date for your believers’ meeting, ask the people to prepare themselves for the gathering. This can include having folks ask God if He has anything that He would like then to share with others for the meeting, or asking God to reveal if there is anything that they need to settle personally before the meeting (fears, broken relationships, unconfessed sin, family dynamics), or praying for the people who are going to attend, and so on.

Mutual sharing can flow much more easily when you are drawing out an abundance or overflowing of the heart, so spend some time on your own getting filled up with the love of God and sharing intimacy with Him beforehand. If you are not able to do so because there is some type of blockage, bring it to the Lord during the meeting with your friends and invite the Holy Spirit to clear out and heal whatever needs to be remedied. 

4. This is a Laboratory: Consider calling this meeting a “lab”. That will set the expectation and tone for what others can and should expect for the meeting. You will be experimenting in your meetings, seeing what works and what doesn’t, and trying new things. Create an atmosphere where everyone has permission to “go for it”, to fail, to be awkward, and even to look foolish. No one gets it right or bats a 1000% all the time, so let that attitude and approach be one of the distinguishing characteristics of the meeting. If you are the host, then you might need to model failure too! Assure one another that this is a no pressure zone. This is not a showcase or performance, nor an opportunity for showing off.

While it is true that hearing from the Holy Spirit takes time, practice, and discernment, what could be a better or more welcoming place to step out and try than among a small core of trusted friends who want to experience more of the Holy Spirit in their lives? If you think you have something to share but are unsure, err on the side of sharing. Doctors practice medicine, lawyers practice law, and they don’t get it right all the time. We too can also practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

5. Music—a wonderful Holy Spirit, social lubricant: Sometimes, just getting the meeting started can be awkward or rough. But, God has a built-in social lubricant for the church—MUSIC! Music helps foster a worshipful atmosphere that opens up the heart and mind to the deeper places of God. It helps focus our attention solely on God, it gets our mouths and bodies moving, and it can be a remarkable tool to stir up the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Songs about God and His attributes are good, but songs that talk directly to the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit are often better and help invite His holy presence into the meeting! Sing songs to God of His faithfulness, praise Jesus for His work on the cross and the love of the Father that His life reveals, and thank the Holy Spirit that He is present with you in and eager to minister to you even if you don’t feel Him with your five senses.

You can use a playlist or just have people suggest songs in between each selection. If you have a musician in your mix, then live music can be a wonderful bonus.   

If the only thing you end up doing during your laboratory is lavish your adoration, your love, your gratitude, and your thankfulness to the Risen Savior through song, then consider your evening a great success! At the center of God’s heart is pure love, and there is no greater experience than to receive the Father’s love and reflect it back to Him. Dancing is encouraged!

Music can also serve as a platform for people to create, visualize and meditate on imagery of adoration, praise and wholeness in God. During the singing, encourage others to raise their hands, bow, or lay prostrate in worship as they feel led. Encourage others to use and be creative with their imaginations as they sing or listen to the music, such as: picturing the glory of God in heaven, picturing finally seeing Jesus face-to-face, picturing watching the Lord wipe every tear from their loved ones’ eyes, or picturing having Jesus walk with you by a picturesque riverside and loving on you.

6. Inspired sharing can be simple: People can come ready with something to share, such as a testimony from the week, or a scripture verse they read that spoke to them, or a word of encouragement that they wanted to pass on. No doubt, the Holy Spirit gives us content in advance that He would like us to share with others. But equally important, believers’ meetings are an opportunity for you to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit might want to be speak afresh and impromptu that evening. Spontaneous sharing does not need to be a sermon or have any eloquence to it at all. It might look as simple as saying, “I’m really sensing the love of God for us right now. I think God wants to say to us that he really loves us unconditionally!”, or “I’m getting a picture in my mind that someone here is going through some heartbreak, and Jesus wants to let you know that He is here with you now”. Or, maybe you just feel an urge to start singing a song a cappella, or share something with the group that God just showed you in your mind or heart, or share a verse or a passage that has popped into your thoughts. Invite the Holy Spirit to come, welcome His presence, and ask Him to direct each person’s mind, heart, and thoughts. Then, feel the freedom to share in simplicity.

If you are uncertain or feel apprehensive about sharing something, then consider asking the Holy Spirit some of these questions: Did God give me this word for just me, or is it for everyone? Is this word personal to someone else?—And if so, would it be better if I told that person in private when the meeting is done? Another consideration to ask yourself, is your word going be short and still leave time for others to share, or will it take a longer chunk of time? Longer words might be valid and inspired, but give others the opportunity to share first. You can always send out a note or email if you run out of time.

Also, the Apostle Paul gives three simple criteria for sharing with the group. I Corinthians 14:3 says that when we speak to the group under the inspiration of the Holy Spirt it is for “strengthening, encouraging and comfort” (NIV). If you follow Paul’s three simple qualifiers for your sharing, then you will almost always be on the right track. Even after considering all these guidelines, you still might feel unsure about sharing. If so, then feel free to say, “I’m not sure if this is for group or not, but maybe you guys can help me figure that out as I share it.”   

Lastly, when someone shares, the rest of the group can help “cheer on” the sharing by saying, “Thank you Jesus!”, “Amen.”, “Woo hoo!”, and other spontaneous feedback that encourages the speaker and blesses the Lord for the inspired sharing.

7. Save the Discussion for Later: One ditch that we in the West often encounter when hosting or participating in believers’ meetings is the tendency for the meeting to dissolve into small talk, chit-chat, and side conversations. This is completely natural and bound to happen from time to time. Of course, visiting is a vital and much needed activity for the church and there is nothing wrong with visiting. But set the expectation that these meetings are specifically set aside for focusing on the Lord and Him only and making space for the Holy Spirit to flow. Save the visiting, the in-depth teachings and Bible studies, sermon reviews, or book clubs for another time.

To help stave off chatter, someone may need to be designated as the one there to help “keep the meeting on track” so that it doesn’t turn into a social event. A meeting can easily erode into general discussion. You don’t want to have a situation where an hour goes by and it’s only then, when time is up, that you realize that you guys never spent anytime basking in God’s presence or touching the hem of Jesus’s garment—and the Holy Spirit never got a word in edgewise either! Feel free to host a few talking sessions before you have your first “official” believers’ meeting to help get on the same page.

8. Awkward moments: The thing about a casual, unscripted, spontaneous, unplanned event is that there can be awkward moments! Maybe the cell phone goes off, or the dog barks, or the neighbor kid knocks on the door to play with your kid, or the Wi-Fi connection goes down when you try to share a song, or the Bluetooth speaker doesn’t want to connect. Or my personal favorite: when the up-tempo YouTube ad comes on blaring after you all have just shared a slow/quiet intimate song with the Lord. Or, maybe awkwardness comes up because no one is sharing, everyone is a little too quiet and reflective, and it seems like nothing is happening. This experience too is very normal. A few laughs, a joke, or a few minutes of chatter in between is okay and will not chase the Holy Spirit away.

As you meet more frequently the awkward moments with feel less awkward because you have learned to trust one another and realize that no one is being judged. One technique I like to employ when there is a technical glitch with electronics, awkward silence, or too much side conversation, is I gently offer up prayers of thankfulness and worship to God directly and out loud. This helps to refocus the group and put the attention back on the Lord and the original purpose of the meeting. Awkward moments are also a good time for people to share testimonies or other insights from God that they have saved up from the week. 

9. Concert Praying: Sometimes also referred to as “Korean praying”, concert praying is a wonderful way to involve the whole group with an activity that does not put any one person on the spot. Concert praying has also been a distinguishing characteristic of the many great revivals that have come to the church. During concert prayer, all pray to God out loud at the same time all at once. No one is being singled out and no one is eavesdropping on the others’ prayers. It can be done under your breath, with a little volume, or even quite lively! A section of time can be dedicated to this one practice or, as you get more comfortable with each other, the meeting can organically flow in and out of concert prayer as the group moves through different parts of the evening—e.g., concert prayer in between songs, to start out the meeting, when someone receives the laying-on-hands for healing, etc. If your group is extra brave you can add a little melody to your prayer and try concert singing.

The same type of concert praying also works with the gift of tongues. Worshiping and praying to God together using the gift of tongues can be a great way to stir up the charismatic and prophetic stew so that the Holy Spirit is active and flowing. This can be an especially fun tool to try when the group has nothing urging or pressing to share, or when the meeting seems dry. NOTE: Concert praying in tongues does not need to be interpreted because when we pray together, we are not talking to the group. Rather, as I Corinthians 14:2 says, “For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God”. Concert praying in tongues, then, is just prayer to God in a heavenly language. It is the same prayer dynamic as if you were concert praying in English to God.

Just as if you were attending a sporting event, concert prayer allows everyone to cheer on the team out loud together each in their own way, yet all together simultaneously without any one person being listened to more than the others. It is a quite joyful community experience to cheer on “team God”!

Often it is through the concert prayer process that people feel inspired words begin to well up. When this happens, the person inspired can speak at will. The others who are concert praying can either tone it down and pray quietly underneath or pause their prayers so that the inspired words can be heard and weighed. If someone feels that God has given them a message in tongues for the group, then that too can be shared with all. Either they or someone else in the group should interpret the tongues so that all can benefit. The message in tongues can seem very odd to those who are not familiar with this occurrence, but remember, we are all just practicing and trying things out.

10. Laying on of Hands and healing: Jesus’s ministry was highlighted by His willingness and readiness to heal. Physical, emotional, and mental healing is a part of our birthright as children born of God, and The Holy Spirit empowers us to pray for the sick. As the Holy Spirit is invited and released to minister Jesus’s love to the body during your meeting, someone may feel impressed to ask to be prayed over, or to offer to pray for those who may need healing. If someone is in need, or it is revealed to you by the Holy Spirit that someone may need the prayer of faith, ask if you can pray for them and if it is okay to gently lay your hand on them as you pray. It could be awkward for someone who has not had this type of prayer before, but if we are the body of Christ on Earth, the very hands and feet of Jesus, then offering God’s healing hand of touch could be just what the doctor ordered! 

11. Leading with Love: Sharing in a casual group setting is best when it is guided by one principle: whatever you share, let it all originate from a heart of love. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are meant to be a vehicle by which the love of God flows and is delivered: God loves us, therefore He loves to give us prophetic words to build up our faith. God loves us, therefore He gives us words of wisdom, knowledge, and revelation to guide our lives. God loves us, therefore He gives us a personal prayer language in tongues to express the overwhelming gratitude we have in knowing Him.

Everything is founded upon love in God’s kingdom. When sharing, even if the delivery of what you are inspired to say or do is off—because everyone gets it wrong sometimes—moving forward in love and humility goes a long way toward easing any tension, apprehension, or unintentional hurts .

12. Joy! Lastly, have FUN! Don’t be too serious. This is not a religious service or activity that needs to be solemn. This is a casual meeting to practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Joy is an experience that always accompanies the presence of God. Psalms 16:11 says, “In His presence is the fullness of joy.” God loves to have His children come to Him and experience all of his blessings and goodness. Kick those religious spirits out and invite the joy of the Lord in!

P.S.: Holy laughter is a real thing. If you open yourselves up to having God bless you, the Holy Spirit may surprise you and your group with joy unspeakable! 

These 12 points are not an order to follow, or something rigid to be adhered to. They are only guidelines that we have found useful when we have hosted our own casual believers’ meetings. Feel free to break the rules when the Spirit leads. Do your own thing. Keep Jesus at the center and give the Holy Spirit some space to minister and flow freely and have fun experimenting in your little laboratory with Jesus. God loves to reward those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), so be prepared for a heavenly reward as you step out and practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit!

*As always, I’d love to hear what’s on your mind so please drop your thoughts in the comment section below!