PRAYER
STATIONS
Prayer Stations launch Sunday, August 27! Download the MR App to learn more and visit the Prayer Stations around campus. We are so excited for this new tool to aid our congregation as we Explore Prayer together!
This video, as well as a booklet, are the resources you will need to plan your own spiritual retreat and set aside time to discover how you best connect with God in prayer. We are all different and we each need to find our own structure as we seek to grow in our prayer life. Click on the button above to get the pdf booklet of “Finding Your Prayer Personality” or pick one up at the church office!
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:7
WHY EXPLORE PRAYER?
“Lord, teach us to pray,” cried Jesus’ disciples. They, like us, were overwhelmed by
anxiety and the perils of life. But they observed that Jesus worked from a place of peace and power. His prayer life included detaching, pulling away over long nights, or boat rides across the sea of Galilee. As He prayed in different places and circumstances, Jesus showed the disciples the joy of understanding our position with a heavenly Father. So in this world, equally filled with burdens of concern, we cry out with the disciples,
“Lord, teach us to pray.”
“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything.”
​
– Tim Keller
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
​
- Philippians 4:6
SO, WHAT'S
THE PLAN?
In comparison with our Journey Through Scripture, this year of Exploring Prayer is offering options to engage our broad community at our various places in our prayer lives. Prayer is a deeply personal relationship with our Savior. So, the plan is for the church to provide resources and opportunities for each of us to grow and learn as we take a year to explore deepening our personal prayer lives. That will look different for each of us.
January - April 2023
January
- 11 part sermon series on prayer begins
- Congregation memorizes Psalm 1 together
​
February
- Official resources and overview provided
- Monthly Prayer Focus begins (linked near the bottom of the page)
- Sunday Elective: Barriers to Prayer with Neel Skelton
- Journey Groups & Women’s Bible studies begin with prayer focus
March
- Video — “Finding My Prayer Personality” premieres on YouTube
May - August 2023
- Monthly prayer focus continues
- Elective on Prayer
- Spiritual prayer retreat
- Women’s study on prayer
September - December 2023
- Monthly prayer focus continues
- Elective on Prayer
- Gathering with Prayer Stations
- Celebrating what God has done
“Prayer is taking a chance that against all odds and past history, we are loved and chosen, and do not have to get it together before we show up.”
​
– Anne Lamott
Take A Courageous Step!
This is an opportunity for us to take the time to consider how we can each take a step forward in our prayer lives. That will look different for each of us. Below are some ideas of steps you could take:
Tier
I’m curious and want to learn how to connect with God in prayer.
Consider praying 5 minutes a day, attending prayer elective, and
watching the “Finding My Prayer Personality” video.
Tier
I’m interested and want to explore deepening my prayer life.
Consider Tier 1 plus attending one spiritual prayer retreat this year.
Tier
I’m eager and ready to be challenged in having a life of prayer.
Consider Tiers 1 and 2 plus joining us for our prayer stations in the fall.
Adult
Journey Groups
All adult Journey Groups will read and discuss the book
A Praying Life by Paul Miller
this Spring.
Journey Groups meet at various time and locations around Greenville.
Women's
Studies
Women’s Bible Studies will be reading
On Bended Knee by Crickett Keeth and Five Things to Pray for Your Heart by Rachel Jones.
​
Wednesday AM (9:30–11:00am)
Wednesday PM (6:30-8:00pm)
​
Register at mitchellroad.org/events.
MR Kids & Youth
We hope to see our kids and youth grow in a deeper walk with the Lord through prayer this year as well! They will be memorizing Psalm 1 and discussing prayer throughout the year. Junior High night will be teaching through A Praying Life. (Our adult Journey Groups are also doing this book. We hope this creates some good family discussion!) Some high school Journey Groups and large group talks will also focus on prayer this year.
Resources Available
1. Download the YouVersion Bible App on your Apple, Android, or Kindle
​
2. Click on your profile over on the right side at the top
​
3. Click on “Prayer List” and click the “+” to add a prayer request and sub points.
​
4. To set a reminder to pray, on your profile click on the three dots in the top right corner, click “Notification Settings,” then “Push Notifications,” then “Remind me to pray” then “Remind me daily” and then pick a time that works for you!
​
5. On the home page within the app, you will see a 4-6 minute Guided Prayer that can walk you daily through some verses as well as your personal requests.
​
6. Explore and see what works for you on the app or with other resources.
The YouVersion Bible App
The Bible App that we used for our Journey Through Scripture in 2022 also has a simple guided prayer feature that leads you through a simple 4–6 minute prayer time. The app walks you through a Scripture verse, your own prayer needs (which you enter), a reminder that you set for a specific time daily, and even some background peaceful music you can set if desired! Many of you already have this app on your phone from last year. Of course, old fashioned paper and pen work fantastic as well.
Other Resources
A Praying Life by Paul Miller
Praying with the Psalms by Eugene Peterson
Prayer by Tim Keller
Praying through the Bible for your Kids by Nancy Guthrie—365-day guide
On Bended Knee by Crickett Keeth
Five Things to Pray for Your Heart by Rachel Jones
Rest: A Journal for Lament by Kristin Vanderlip
Well-Watered Women Co. Journals
Valley of Vision—Guided Puritan prayers
Handbook to Prayer by Kenneth Boa—Three-month daily guide
Stop by our prayer wall in the Commons Area to write a prayer request or take one that you are willing to commit to pray for.
​
A New Feature on Our Prayer Wall:
Prayer Scribbles
​
What is a Prayer Scribble?
Prayer Scribbles are your own words –
your short, heartfelt callouts to God.
​
What do we mean?
-
The words, sentences, or thoughts that mark your conversations with God at this season, whether your words reflect awe, praise, wonderment, hurt, help, bewilderment...
-
Some words you’ve said to God this week, this month...
-
Your own regular prayer for your life.
-
A heart prayer that God has placed on your heart.
The Prayer Scribbles-Board is a place for you to share these prayers so that others in the MR-community can be encouraged, heartened, or helped in their conversations with God.
Monthly Prayer Focus
Each Sunday we will focus on one of these prayers. (First Sunday, first bullet, Second Sunday, second bullet, etc.) Let’s join together and pray for these requests throughout the following week.
We love hearing stories about how God is at work! It is important for us to share with one another the ways that we see God growing our love for Him through prayer. If you would like to share with us what God is teaching you, email us at info@mitchellroad.org.
​
"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
Mark 11:24
“Prayer is a moment of incarnation - God with us.
God involved in the details of my life.”
– Paul Miller, A Praying Life
“Prayer is awe, intimacy, struggle—yet the way to reality. There is nothing more important, or harder, or richer, or more life-altering. There is absolutely nothing so great as prayer.”
– Tim Keller, Prayer
“When we approach God the Father in adoration and worship, it brings our worries and anxieties into perspective as we focus on God.”
​
- Crickett Keeth, On Bended Knee
