The Mentoring Manifesto, Vol. 44: Establishing Rhythms of Prayer

Every year, I keep a note with quotes and thoughts that inspire me. This year, a few of the ones I accumulated caused me to reconsider the consistency and structure of my prayer life. Let me know if any of these speak to you as well.

“God fixes our prayers on the way up. If He does not answer the prayer we made, He will answer the prayer we should have made. This is all anyone needs to know.” – J.I. Packer, Praying

“There is a cure for impatience in prayer, I have found: Keep praying.” – Philip Yancey, Grace Notes

“The essential task in prayer may not be to start a new conversation with God but rather to join the eternal conversation already happening within us. The Triune God is already having a conversation within us through the Holy Spirit. The contemplative life is about learning to join that conversation.” – A.J Sherrill, Being with God

And a couple of Scriptures for good measure…

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” (1 Peter 1:8)

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” (Ephesians 1:17)

Your mentees will bring various assumptions about prayer into the mentoring season, many of which will be unhelpful. Your role as a mentor is to teach them to pray and model how to listen to God, as Jesus did for His disciples. The resources included below were compiled to help you and those you mentor deepen your understanding of prayer and establish meaningful rhythms for practicing it.

THE RHYTHM OF PRAYER

In this sermon from Cross Point Church, pastor Kevin Queen talks about the what, why, how of prayer. It’s an excellent listen for anyone curious about prayer or wanting to go deeper in their prayer life. Give it a watch to expand your understanding of prayer or send it to your mentees to help deepen theirs.

Watch the sermon here.

GOD AT HIS TYPEWRITER

What happens when we pray, or someone prays for us? Does that prayer affect the outcome? In this post, Regi Campbell explores the timeless nature of God and why he thinks all prayers are heard and considered, that no prayer is ever wasted or irrelevant.

Read out the article here.

PRACTICING THE WAY: LISTENING PRAYER

Prayer is to be a conversation where both parties share openly and listen carefully to each other. Bridgetown Church compiled helpful resources and teachings on vital spiritual practices. The page on listening prayer guides those wanting to deeper explore this practice.

Check it out here.

PRAYER CARDS 101

This special episode of the Seeing Jesus podcast dives deep into prayer cards, as described in Paul Miller’s A Praying Life. They cover how to get started and why you should include them in your prayer practice. Many mentoring groups have adopted this practice to help them pray for each other.

Listen to the podcast here.