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Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us. Let our chief work as God's messengers be intercession; in it we secure the presence and power of God to go with us. - Andrew Murray

Pray 30

Pray 30 is a practical call and challenge to the church, to pray consistently for 30 minutes a day for 30 days. Our hope with Pray 30 is that we can recover our love for and dependency on prayer by creating gospel habits in our lives that will take root in our hearts. We need to breathe in the life giving power of prayer each day. Breathing together in prayer is what our churches need. Oh what God will do when we commit to seek Him in prayer!

We Pray Because

  • We pray because God has invited us to know Him and enjoy Him as our good and loving Father - this relationship made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

  • We pray because God has called us to do so.

  • We pray because we are completely dependent on God for all things.

  • We pray because we trust in God and His wisdom and providence.

  • We pray because God has promised to hear us and act on our behalf.

  • We pray to enjoy God and the love we have in Him.

And yet our lives, our families, our ministries, and our churches are marked by prayerlessness. Our problem isn’t that we don’t believe in prayer, or even that we don’t pray at all, but that we pray far too little. A dependence on prayer as a priority in life and ministry is lacking. We are far too insulated, comfortable, with trust and faith in anything and everything but God. Our prayer lives are also often marked with discouragement, where results are disconnected from requests and we are unsure of prayer’s effectiveness.

Together let’s rediscover prayer-filled living. Let’s redefine our source of life. Prayer is oxygen for the Christian - it sustains us. And so it follows that prayer must be a source of life to believers and the church at large.

How to Engage

  • Take part in the challenge! Commit to praying 30 minutes each day for 30 days in a row

  • Schedule when you will pray or everything else will schedule it out

  • Pray with confidence - Jesus has invited us to pray and has given us access to the Father

  • Share with others how God is moving in your heart and answering your prayers - use the hashtag #PorticoPray30

As you Pray

  • Pray during 2-3 times of the day (morning, mid-day, evening)

  • Pray with others such as a spouse, roommate, or friend

  • Pray through the Bible using the Psalms or the Lord’s Prayer

  • Pray through specific categories and needs: yours, others’, and the world’s

  • Pray for those who do not know Jesus

  • Pray for our church’s maturity in Christ, mission, and leaders

  • Pray through the Four-Fold Praise

prayer-Filled Living

While Pray 30 is a short term challenge for us, we anticipate God to create lasting habits and change in us. Here are some of the long term hopes:

  • A church-wide love and dependence on prayer

    • Seen in how we pray in worship services, in an active prayer ministry, in members being the family and committing to pray for requests and one another, in more openness and honesty regarding prayer needs

  • An individual love, joy, and commitment to prayer

  • Transformation of prayer gatherings

    • Engagement and attendance at Prayer and Worship and Friday Morning Prayer gatherings

    • Meaningful prayer times in Community Groups

    • Several informal prayer gatherings led and carried out in different cities/neighborhoods (Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, etc.)

  • Revival

    • A growing and discipled church

    • Sleepy Christians awakened again to the beauty of Christ and the Gospel

    • More people being saved and baptized

    • A powerful witness to the glory of God

    • Stability and strength in an uncertain time

Resources