A COMMUNITY BUILT ON PRAYER

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

DAILY PRAYER

Prayer isn’t simply talking to God but building intimacy with God.

Our biggest desire for our community is that we would be people who desire God more and pursue deeper intimacy with Him— and that starts with being people of prayer.

Through prayer, we build more depth to our faith and begin to have a better understanding of what it means to pause, reflect, listen and commune with God. 

This year, we want to build more of this depth together with a few different prayer initiatives.

We’re all at different spots! We understand that every one of us is at a different starting point with prayer and we want to take small consistent steps together. 

Next steps! Be committed and consistent— for your own daily rhythms and future rhythms as a community. We will continue to provide next steps to be involved. If something happens and you fall behind, its ok, just hop right back in!

365 DAYS OF PRAYER

  1. Choose a date (or dates) over the next year to pray and fast for 24 hours.

  2. Sign up! *you’ll be reminded 2 days before that it’s coming up

  3. Then, when your day arrives, you’ll pray and fast for those 24 hours

  • tip: eat dinner like you normally would the night before and fast until dinner on your chosen day.

365 DAYS OF PRAYER FAQs

  • Historically, prayer is connected to any movement of God big or small and when prayer becomes a concentrated effort of a community it brings resilience, wonder and maturity.

    Our 365 days of prayer is a challenge to ourselves as individuals and as a community to be mindful of how we experience Jesus, our reliance on him and trusting that when we as a community come together in trust and hope in God, we will experience more of him.

  • -We fast to feed our Spirit. In the Bible, the temptation in the Garden for Adam and Eve and then later the temptation of Jesus had a centering point around food. In our fast there’s a connection to seeing how we are sustained through the Spirit of God and don’t need the luxuries of this life to make us whole. (Genesis 3, Matthew 4)

    -We fast to create a deeper understanding of a need for boundaries and how consuming everything around us whenever we want strips us of authentic joy. (Nehemiah 1)

    -We fast to see more power in our prayers. For many of us there is no shortage of food but there is a shortage of power in our prayers. As we rely more on God we are stepping into a place where the desires of our hearts begin to change. As the desire of our hearts become more oriented towards the realities of who God is then our prayers begin to change from what we desire to what God desires. (Mark 9)

    -We fast to stand in solidarity with those in deep need. It is so easy for us to succumb to the pleasures of life and neglect the needs of the people around us. Fasting makes us reengage what we see on an everyday basis and become more in tune with the needs of our city. (Isaiah 58)

  • Helpful tips—

    • Choose a beginning and ending time

    • Focused prayer time is a must. When you feel the most hungry is also when you need to really dial in your prayer time!

    • Journal what you are experiencing over the fast

    • Predetermine what scripture you will read throughout the 24 hours

  • Think of whether or not there's a specific kind of food you would be able to fast from- like sugar!

    If the answer to that is "no," then pick something that is a sacrifice to give up that will drive you towards an awareness of prayer. Like fasting from social media, TV, gossip, etc.

  • No, it isn’t required to follow Jesus, but it does seem like Jesus expected his followers to do so (Matthew 6).

    Fasting is not about creating a legalistic way to view our faith. This is about helping grow a longing and desire for the presence of God.

PRAYER — 3 TIMES A DAY

Morning — The Shema
 
Afternoon — The Lord’s Prayer
 
Night — Prayer of Thanksgiving

How are your prayer rhythms? We are always looking for ways to connect with God throughout our day. So we decided to pick 3 prayers that can be worked into our daily rhythm every morning, afternoon and evening. We will pray through The Shema, The Lord’s Prayer and a Prayer of Thanksgiving together as a community, no matter where we are.

Prayer isn’t simply talking to God but building intimacy with God. It is through this consistent discipline that we build more depth to our faith and begin to have a better understanding of what it means to pause, reflect, listen and commune with God. Historically, prayer is connected to any movement of God big or small and when prayer becomes a concentrated effort of a community it brings resilience, wonder and maturity.

Your next steps for daily prayer— pick a time in the morning, afternoon and night to pray the following prayers. And as a community we will be praying throughout the day whether it be at home, work, in the car, on a run or playing with your kids. There’s a beauty to knowing that even if we’re not physically together, we are connected in prayer. *tip— set an alarm on your phone to go off daily at these times so you’re consistently reminded until it’s a habit!

rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks.

rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks.

Resources—