Roger Morneau outlines a comprehensive framework for a successful prayer ministry centered on the power of the Holy Spirit and the merits of Christ’s sacrifice. He organizes these principles into five fundamental steps and several practical strategies for intercession.
The Five Fundamental Steps of Prayer Ministry
1. A Closer Walk With Jesus: A successful ministry begins with a personal, daily commitment to Christ. Morneau recommends starting each day, even before getting out of bed, by asking for a fresh unction of His love and grace and for the merits of His blood to cover one's fallen nature.
2. Memorizing the Word of God: Filling the mind with Scripture creates a "solid foundation" for spiritual trust. This practice allows the Holy Spirit to bring specific verses to mind during times of crisis to provide hope and power against evil.
3. Boundless Compassionate Love: Morneau stresses that intercessors must pray for the same intensity of desire that Christ felt for humanity. He believes that a prayer ministry is most effective when the impulse to help others springs constantly from within.
4. Living Faith: Intercessors must maintain a high level of biblical faith, which consists of belief in God, trust in Him, and an immovable loyalty to Him.
5. The Priority of Forgiveness: One must never pray for others without first asking God for personal forgiveness. Morneau teaches that unconfessed sin or an unforgiving attitude toward others acts as an insulator that can block the way for God's blessings.
Core Intercessory Principles
• Pleading the Merits of Christ's Blood: Morneau views the shed blood of Christ as the "key that opens the way to salvation". Morneau warns against focusing on self-sanctification or works to gain God’s favor. He suggests reading Matthew 27:24-54 (the Crucifixion) daily to focus the mind on Calvary, where the power of redemption rests.
• A Perpetual Prayer List: Consistency is vital. Morneau advocates for maintaining a record book of individuals and their specific needs, bringing them before the Lord daily. He bases this on Exodus 28:29, asking Jesus to engrave these names on His heart just as Aaron bore the names of Israel.
• Specific and Unhurried Prayer: He abandoned generalities (like "Lord, please bless this person") in favor of specific requests. He found that unhurried, meaningful prayer produces much greater results than rushing.
• Praying for another's Forgiveness: Morneau believed Christians should do for others what they are unable to do for themselves: ask God to forgive their sins. He claims that when we plead for the forgiveness of another, it grants God the "legal right" in the sight of the universe to move into Satan's domain with power to rescue that person.
• Creating a Spiritual Atmosphere: He frequently petitioned God to surround his prayer subjects with a "divine atmosphere of light and peace". This serves to rebuke demonic forces and "unshackle" the individual's mind so they can exercise their free will to choose good.
• Let the Holy Spirit work on others: When praying for wayward loved ones, Morneau advises being pleasant and avoiding "preaching" to them. He suggests that parents should be a friend to their children and let the Holy Spirit handle the work of transformation.