Life in Community | Ancient//Future: Vision 2026 | Rich Kirby

Prayer 04: Being with God | Rich Kirby

We never mature beyond any of the four stages of prayer we are exploring in this Practice, but the further we progress in prayer, the more we desire to speak to God, to listen to God, and to just be with God. As a general rule, you can gauge the intimacy in a relationship by how comfortable you are being alone together in the silence. When applied to God, this type of wordless prayer has come to be called “contemplation,” based on 2 Corinthians 3:18. Prayer Prayer, at it's most basic, is the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. Over four weeks we'll learn how, in our busy and distracted lives, to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world.

Prayer 03: Listening to God | Rich Kirby

There comes a point in our relationship with God where we desire not just to speak to him, but to listen — to hear his voice. As Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” But how do we hear God’s voice? PrayerPrayer, at its most basic, is the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. Over four weeks we'll learn how, in our busy and distracted lives, to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world.

Prayer 02: Talking with God | Brian Dean

In week two of our Prayer Practice we begin to learn how to talk with God. Praying pre-made prayers is a beautiful way to pray. It’s where we start our prayer journey, and it’s a place we revisit all through our lives. But at some point in our life of prayer, we desire to pray our own words to God — to share what’s on our mind, our heart. Our pain, our joy, our hopes and fears. We can’t help but desire to interact with God in a more authentic, personalized way. Prayer Prayer, at its most basic, is the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. Over four weeks we'll learn how, in our busy and distracted lives, to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world.

Prayer 01: Talking to God | Rich Kirby

We begin our Prayer Practice by exploring the first stage of prayer: talking to God. When the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray,” in Luke 11, Jesus replied, “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name...’” He gave them a pre-made prayer to pray to God. Pre-made prayers can look like praying the Lord’s Prayer, singing through the Psalms or using a prayer app on your phone. This way of praying can be incredibly helpful in various seasons of our lives: when we’re learning to pray, when we’re exhausted or sick, when we’re traveling and find it hard to focus, or when we’re living with grief and doubt, searching for the right words to talk to God. “The prayers of the saints,” can carry us through. Prayer Prayer, at its most basic, is the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. Over four weeks we'll learn how, in our busy and distracted lives, to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world.

Life in Community | Ancient//Future: Vision 2026 | Rich Kirby

In one sense we are the most connected society that has ever walked the face of the planet. But that same technology which, at it's best, enables us to talk face-to-face with someone on the other side of the world, at it's worst, enables us to pretend that someone in the same room as us doesn't even exist. The connection that the online world claims to offer us is an illusion and it's a large factor in the growing "friendship recession" that is running rampant through the Western world. The Way of Jesus offers us a radical alternative to the loneliness of the modern, digital world — a way of living in community that fulfills the deep ache within us for meaningful connection with other human beings. Ancient//Future: Vision 2026 Just as looking to the past to innovate for the future has a rich history in the field of human achievement, so there is a growing movement within the Jesus' Church who are taking to heart God's words in Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." It's time to relearn the ancient truths of God's word and rethink how to communicate them in our present day; to rediscover ancient practices from the Way of Jesus and reimagining them for our modern age.