Preparing for Your Small Group

If you are checking out this article, you probably have a small group that you need to prepare a Bible lesson for or you are serious about starting a small group to study the Bible. But before we jump into some practical steps, we want to encourage you with three reasons to commit the time and energy it will take to prepare for a Bible study.

Three Reasons to Prepare for Your Small Group Bible Study

1. Teaching others well is important to Jesus

Jesus’ final words on earth to us were a call to teach others about God and His ways (Matthew 28:18-20). Many times, the final words someone speaks are some of the most important things they have to say to us. Jesus cares deeply about his people being taught well. We need to care about that too and prepare well rather than just wing it each week.

2. Preparing well will help you point your group to Jesus

You are not simply helping people learn more Bible facts. It takes effort to understand your group and prepare a study that focuses on their next step toward Jesus. Sometimes people can study the Bible and miss Jesus!

In John 5:39 there was a group of religious people who had LOTS of Bible studies, but they missed the main thing! Jesus told them “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!” Preparing a Bible study can help you point your group to Jesus.

3. Preparing will give you time to see the beauty in the Bible

The Bible is filled with amazing things! Look at this prayer in Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.” Preparing a Bible study begins with this prayer and a deep dependence on God to open our eyes. You will be blessed personally when you invest the time and attention to study the Bible as the Lord opens your eyes and prepares you to teach God’s wonderful truths!

Make Your Study Learner-Centered

The Apostle Paul used two different words to describe knowledge:

One referred to intellectual knowledge (head knowledge). The other is referred to as experiential knowledge (heart knowledge).

A learner-centered approach to teaching will help you focus on both of these types of knowledge. Not only do we want our students to know the truth, but we also want to make sure they are experiencing the truth in their lives. That often will involve a variety of teaching methods. Experiential knowledge is best gained when we use all parts of our mind and senses to take it in. Research shows that we remember:

10% of what we read (e.g. a book).
20% of what we hear (e.g. a speaker).
30% of what we see (e.g. a poster ad).
40% of what we hear and see (e.g. a T.V. program).
70% of what we say (when we give a talk or are talking).
90% of what we say and do (where we are actively involved in the process).

Learner-centered teaching is where the learner is actively involved and discovers truths they can apply to their lives today and in the future. Now, let’s take a look at how to prepare for your study.

We often plateau at the level of our preparation.

Prepare Your Learner-Centered Study

1. Make a List of Your Student’s Challenges and Questions

What do you think is the next step for your students? Are your students getting the answers to the questions they have?

Our students are not here for us, we are here for them. So, before you plan all the lessons you think your students need to learn, ask them what questions they have or what challenges they are facing. Helping your students learn about these things will motivate them to show up, get involved, and stay engaged.

For example, you may have your heart set on a Bible study that focuses on the life of David but what if they really have questions about LGBTQ and what God thinks? Look for ways to engage your small group in the things your students care about.

Thrive Studies is a great resource that allows you to pick a lesson that might apply to the current needs of your small group. With over 75 topics from which to choose, there will likely be something there that will help answer your student’s questions.

If you are not sure what kind of questions your students have, take some time to get to know them. Ask questions like…

If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
What are some things you would like to learn about from the Bible?
What are the greatest issues facing teens today?
If you had five minutes to tell an adult audience anything, what would you say?
What comes to mind for the average teenager when they think about God?

These questions will open doors to your students’ hearts and inform what lessons you should lead. Let your students’ needs be your guide to what you study.

2. Go Through the Lesson Yourself

A few days before your study, go through the whole lesson yourself. Read the passages, answer the questions, and do the assignments. This preparation work will allow you to think about it, learn it yourself, and help you make it more learner-centered. You will need time to collect any materials or resources for your Bible lesson. If you have selected a lesson from Thrive Studies, you can look in the section called the “Idea Box,” where other leaders have shared creative ideas to help with this.

3. Look at the Big Idea and How It Relates to Your Group

Ask yourself, “What is the main point I want the group to learn from this study?” This will help you stay focused and ensure that you do not get too far off track. Find studies with big ideas that match what your students want to learn.

Each of the Thrive Studies lists the big idea in the leader’s guide. Glance through the studies and match your student’s needs to the Thrive big ideas. This will not take long, but it will help you deliver meaningful and relevant conversations to your students every week.

4. Decide What You Want Your Students to Get Out of the Lesson

As a leader, you can suggest a goal for the lesson. Here are some questions that might help:

What do you want your students to KNOW as a result of this Bible lesson?
What do you want your students to EXPERIENCE as a result of this Bible lesson?
What do you want your students to DO as a result of this Bible lesson?

If you can share any personal steps of faith you took during your own study, it may help encourage them in their faith steps. As you prepare to share a goal or application keep in mind the next step for one student may be different than that of another. Lead with grace and support as they each take their own steps of faith.

5. Begin With a Short Learning Activity or Question

You want to get them thinking about the central truth. You might do this through a skit, drawing, or game. Just be creative. This usually takes about 5-10 minutes. For example, you might want them to think about how God searches for lost people. Hide a small action figure somewhere and set it off, seeing who can find it first.

Thrive Studies has a starter question or activity for each study and an Idea Box that gives you other creative ideas to spice up your study.

6. Find the Best Time and Place to Meet

Another critical part of your preparation relates to where and when your group will meet. If your group is already meeting, you may want to ask if there is a better time and place. However, this is an area where you can follow the “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” motto. If your group is just starting, then you will want to plan ahead to decide when and where your group will meet. In this case, we suggest picking a spot in which your students would feel comfortable and gives you the ability to have a discussion that might be personal to your group.

7. Take the Lead in Communication

A lack of communication is often the first breakdown of a small group and often the reason students do not show up. About a million distractions will come at your students before the small group meets and you can take the lead to remind them. You might be discouraged at how easy it is for a student to forget about your small group, but remember the enemy of our Savior loves to distract us. Make sure everyone knows when and where you will meet and remember you may have to share this little detail several times.

8. Plan Out the Time Ahead of Time

You want to do your very best to start on time and end on time and guide everything that happens in between. Four out of five times you will run out of time. That is ok. You will still want to end on time. Some students will have other work and responsibilities, and when you do your best to end on time, it tells them you respect and value their time. So how do you organize your time?

Here’s a suggested flow for your 1 to 1.5-hour Bible study:

Refreshments (20 min) – This is a time for unhindered talking, sharing, and settling.
Bring the group together (5 min) – Think of a statement or learning activity to get their attention and introduce the theme.
Bible study (30 min) – Discover the central truth and apply it.
Prayer (10 min) – Pray conversationally if the students are willing.
Conclusion – Make announcements for upcoming meetings and plan any other activities. Give rides home to kids who need them.

This simple plan is an important part of your preparation, but it is only a suggestion. A good guideline for how to organize your time is to answer the question, “What does my group need?” If you spend too much time eating and socializing, you will not have enough time to dig into God’s Word. On the other hand, if you just study and do not allow the students to interact with each other, they may only see the study as an intellectual exercise and not something that applies to their lives right now.

God will be with you every step of the way as you prepare for your Bible study, and God wants you and your students to discover the wonderful things in His word. He wants us to experience a life with Jesus as we take the next steps in our faith. We hope your preparation for Bible study becomes something on which you never want to miss out.

Next Step

Use the steps above when you prepare your next Bible Study. For more training in creating a learning environment Tips for Leading a Better Small Group will provide additional help.

tips for leading a better small group

5 Key Features of the Claim Your Campus App

Pray Now:
This section is designed to lead any student through a daily 15-minute prayer time for their school. The format is simple: Listen, Thank, Ask. Each day students read a passage of scripture, thank God for something specific He is doing in their school, and ask Him for help at their school and schools across the country.

21-Day Challenge:
Habits take time to build. The 21-Day Challenge can help you and your students build the habit of praying together daily.

Share Your Story:
Students from all over the country are using Claim Your Campus at their schools. This video feature gives students one minute to capture what God is doing at their school and then share it.

Groups:
Use the Groups section to form your own prayer group and/or join other groups. Students praying together in community for their school(s) is the foundation of CYC. The group feature keeps students connected, motivated, and encouraged to keep pressing on!

Prayer Walk Your Campus:
This feature describes how to prayer walk a campus in three easy steps. Invite. Pray. Report. It includes a brief tutorial and a downloadable prayer walk guide.

Social Media:
Stay connected through Tik Tok, Instagram, and Youtube pages; News and Updates can also be found in the app.

Cast the Vision: Prayer Equals Change

Use these videos to get excited about how God could change your campus through prayer and how He could use you to build a prayer movement at your school.
General Promo video
Marion School video

Invite Students to Be One in the Million

Students download the app using the QR code graphic & claim their campus!

We encourage all campus movements to emphasize prayer and the Claim Your Campus app is a great way to engage students in prayer.

4 Different Ways Students Can Claim Their Campus

Start a Weekly Prayer Group. The CYC app provides prompts that change weekly.
Host a prayer walk around your campus. The CYC app features a Prayer Walk Guide.
Embed 5-10 minutes of Prayer into Your Weekly Cru Club Meeting. Build a CULTURE of prayer. CYC has done all the work for you. Click here for the Leader’s Guide and here for premade slides for up to 20 weeks. That is enough for an entire school year. CYC’s GRAB-N-GO resources make praying EASY.
Participate in Annual National Events such as SYATP.

Invite the adults in your community to support SYATP by signing up for The Prayer Walk Project. This project offers a way for caring adults to join hands in prayer on the Saturdays before and after SYATP.

Prayer is the real power in any campus movement. Make it a non-negotiable in your ministry to emphasize prayer with adults and students and see how God moves.

Next Step

Download the Claim Your Campus app and consider how you could use it on your campus today. Do you have a prayer strategy for your plans? If not, send the app to a few student leaders and invite them to start praying for their campus!

DOWNLOAD THE APP

4 Ways to Prepare for a Prayer Walk

Prepare Your Heart

Surrender the Prayer Walk to the Lord. Ask the Lord for one or two scriptures to help prepare your heart. Jot them down. If you like, use them to inspire the people you invite, or share them with your team the day you meet to prayer walk. Pray for:

Divine appointments with people.
Connections with insiders at the school who are like-minded and willing to help.
God to guide your steps.
Open eyes to see the spiritual needs of the campus.

Prepare Your Team

Pray for Names. Ask the Lord to bring to mind specific names of students, volunteers, parents, pastors, and/or faculty you can ask to join your prayer walk. Keep in mind, this is not about numbers. Even one prayer partner is enough. Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.”

Invite the People that He brought to mind. Decide what mode of communication is best: text? social media? phone call? Give them a brief description of what a prayer walk is and what they can expect that day. Share what has motivated you to gather a team to pray. Be sure to tell them the date, the start and end times, and the location. Give them an RSVP date.

Send them any final details on the day before. Remind your team what time you will begin and end and the location to meet. Let them know what to bring and any adjustments needed due to weather or other factors.

(During a Prayer Walk) Pray for: Divine appointments with people. Connections with insiders at the school who are like-minded and willing to help. God to guide your steps. Open eyes to see the spiritual needs of the campus.

Prepare Your Campus

Check with an Insider at Your School. Once you choose your campus and gather your team, you may want to check with an insider at the school to see if there is anyone you need to notify ahead of time. Most likely, it will not be an issue if you are prayer walking after school or over the weekend on the parts of the campus that are open to the public. Avoid prayer walking on campus during school hours without permission.

Prepare Your Details

“WHO” DETAILS: By now, you know WHO is coming. But here are some other “WHO” questions to think about if you have a larger group. Who will…

begin the prayer walk (introduce/explain it)?
end the prayer walk?
lead smaller groups (if your team is large)?

“WHAT TO BRING” DETAILS: You may want to bring copies of the Prayer Guide and the Leader Guide.

“WHERE/WHEN” DETAILS: Make sure everyone knows the date and time you will meet. Include starting point (address of meeting spot) and ending point (time and meeting spot).

“HOW” DETAILS: For your convenience, this Campus Prayer Walk Leader’s Guide provides a general flow and includes sample scripts of what to say from start to finish. If you can read it, you can lead it. But you may need to think through the unique needs of your prayer walk.

Would you like the prayer walk to be more casual or more organized? Do you have people who are comfortable prayer walking or more new people who may need more instruction?

You have prepared your part. Time to grab your walking shoes. Let’s do this!

Next Step

It is time to get on the campus to pray. Text one friend today and ask them if they would be willing to go to the school to prayer walk with you this week. Get your feet on the campus and pray together. Once you have done it yourself, it will be a lot easier to gather others to do it with you.

Prayer Walking

After the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert, God called Joshua to bring His people into the land He had promised them. The commander of the army of the Lord appeared to Joshua with instructions essentially for a prayer walk around the city of Jericho. And let’s just say the Israelites’ obedience to his words, made history. (If you are unfamiliar with this incredible story, you can read the whole story here.)

What is Prayer Walking?

Prayer walking is just what it sounds like—praying as you walk. And you can do it anywhere: around your neighborhood, through your city, or even on your daily commute. Invite others to join you! As you walk together, let the Spirit of God use what you see to guide your prayers. Then, trust God to respond in His perfect way and timing.

One of the most impactful places for a prayer walk is around a school campus that means something to you. It puts you right where the students are—like God’s boots on the ground—allowing you to connect your heart to that specific location as you pray. And who knows? It might even lead to a chance meeting with a key person on campus. Many ministries have started with a simple “Hey there!” to a student or administrator during a prayer walk. A casual stroll can open unexpected doors!

If you have never done this before, no worries! Joshua—the young leader from the Bible—had not done it before either. It was his willingness and availability to God that mattered most. And the same goes for you—no experience required!

Prayer walking is just what it sounds like—praying as you walk.

Prayer Walk in Three Easy Steps

Meet Up (5 minutes)

Grab a friend or two and meet on campus- ideally after school or on the weekend. Select and read a meaningful passage from the Bible together. Take a minute to pray a blessing over this time, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your prayers.

Walk & Pray (10-20 minutes)

Start walking the perimeter of the campus and let the Holy Spirit use who/what you see guide your prayers. Here are 5 ways you could begin praying:

Ask God to move by His Spirit on this campus and be glorified.
Pray people here would hunger and thirst for God.
Pray for the believers here to live wholeheartedly for Jesus and make others feel seen, known, and loved by God.
Pray for leaders in this school’s community (students, parents, administration, faculty, coaches, etc.)

Wrap It Up (5 minutes)

Select a spot to close your time together. Talk about how it went. Was there anything that stood out as significant or meaningful? Take a few minutes to thank God for this time. Express your love for Him and your confidence that He will respond to the prayers He heard today.

Other Prayer Walking Guides

If you would rather have a more specific guide to help you in your prayer walk, try one below:

CYC Prayer Walk Guide
Locations on Campus Prayer Walking Guide
The Launchbox Prayer Walking Guide
Make a list of prayer requests to pray about your specific campus
Just invite people to pray for things that come to mind as they walk

One of the most impactful places for a prayer walk is around a school campus that means something to you.

Why Do It?

Prayer Walking Knocks Down Walls

What effect did Joshua’s and the Israelites’ obedience have on the fortified and powerful ancient city of Jericho? Well, the God of the Universe infused their faith-filled feet with power, causing the otherwise insurmountable walls of the city to collapse. That’s how they fought and won the battle of Jericho—without ever throwing a punch!

Now, maybe you are not planning to tear down any physical walls around your school—in fact, let’s definitely avoid that! But in the spiritual realm, every school is a battlefield for souls. On every campus, there are barriers to the gospel that need to be broken down. Inside every person, there are walls that separate us from God or keep us from fully experiencing the abundant life He wants for us.

Looking for a more current example of a battle fought and won with prayer? Check out this powerful story of what happened when a group of students in Marion, Indiana consistently and prayerfully put feet to their faith and watched God win the battle for their campus. If you want to read about more victories won with praying feet, check out Exodus 14 and 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.

Some Other Great Reasons to Prayer Walk Your Campus

It is a place to gather other believers who have a heart for the campus.
It is a way to be on campus with a purpose.
Sometimes God uses these times to introduce us to key gatekeepers on campus.
It might surface some needs on the campus with which you could help.
It helps your team become more familiar with the campus and less fearful of going there.
It is better than doing nothing. Sometimes God moves when we take action.

Within the campus ministry of Cru, prayer walking has actually been shown to be the single most effective strategy in seeing new gospel movements started.
– Dan Allen, Director of Mission Expansion

The powerful presence of God always has and STILL does mix with our prayers and supernaturally connects us more deeply to God, ourselves, and others. Prayer breaks down barriers that lie between us and wins the battle for souls.

Prayer walking can be your lead foot on any campus. Ready to grab a friend and step into the unknown with Him? Prayer walking is something anyone can do.

Next Step

Plan 15 minutes this week to stop at your local high school, walk around, and pray for the school. Bring a friend or do it alone; just get your feet on the campus and pray. Ask God to show you what next steps He would like you to take.