The Practice of Prayer

We concluded our section on the foundational practices by focusing on Prayer. Over the past weeks we’ve walked through Sabbath, Solitude, Fasting, Scripture, Generosity, Community, Service, and Witness and we closed with the practice that holds it all together: communion with God through prayer.

Romans 12 reminds us that the life of a follower of Jesus is a living sacrifice, not conformed to the patterns of this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds. Yet every day we face forces—the flesh, the enemy, and the world—that try to deform us through distraction, division, and hostility. Prayer is where transformation takes place. It slows us down, places us before the Father, and shapes us into people who respond not with anger or fear, but with Jesus’ heart.

In Acts 12, when Peter was imprisoned, the church didn’t retreat into hopelessness instead they prayed earnestly. God responded, chains fell, and Peter was set free. Prayer is a participation in God’s Kingdom breaking in. It is how we are formed into people who bless those who persecute, rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:14–16).

This is who we are becoming: a resilient community of resilient disciples, faithfully living out communion with God in a culture of distraction and escapism.

How can you step into this practice?

• Join others in prayer. Don’t carry it alone.
• Let prayer interrupt your patterns of distraction.
• Pray honestly, not just with words, but with your heart open before God.
• Remember that prayer forms you into the likeness of Jesus for your sake, and for the sake of the world.