20: Pray together regularly
Key Passage
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples
Luke 11:1
From the 20 Practices of Disciplemakers:
I should have put this first. It's that important! Pray together with your disciples. Every time you meet.
Modeling a rhythm of prayer and modeling how to pray is like a spiritual lifeline that you are weaving into your healthy discipleship practices.
Pray through Scripture together, like the prayers of Paul in Ephesians 1 & 3, Philippians 1 and Colossians 1. Paul models to us how he prays, and we can do the same.
Pray to impart the gifts of the Spirit.
Pray prophetically over your disciples to encourage them.
Pray over the people you are reaching out to by name, and ask the Father for their salvation.
Pray while you are walking with your eyes open to create prayer as a (super)natural occurrence of life.
Pray the Lord's Prayer.
Pray many, many prayers of thanksgiving.
We will never raise healthy disciples without much prayer.
Jesus only did what He heard His Father say. How much more should we be praying so that we can walk in the ways of our Saviour Jesus, listening to the words of life that come from the throne room of God?