‘Only a life of prayer and meditation will render a vessel ready for the Master’s use’ – George Muller

The journey of discipleship basically works like this: the more time you spend with Jesus, the more you love Jesus. The more you love Jesus, the more you want to learn about him. The more you learn about him, the more you want to become like him. The more you become like him, the more you do the things he did, which includes inviting others along the journey, who then begin to spend time with Jesus…(you get the picture).

From this it follows that the discipleship journey begins when a person begins to spend time with Jesus. There is a lovely story in the second chapter of John’s Gospel in which two followers of John the Baptist, at their teacher’s prompting, began to literally follow Jesus. Jesus turned around and asked them what they wanted. Awkwardly, they managed to get out the question, ‘Rabbi, where are you staying?’ Jesus replied, ‘Come and see.’ Then the two went along with Jesus to the place he was staying, and ‘spent the day with him.’ By the time that day was over, they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah (John 1:35-41).

We love that story because it illustrates that the way to become convinced of Jesus’ identity, love, and power is to spend time with him. Today, we don’t have the luxury of being able to literally follow his physical body on a beach (although someday we will!). But we can spend time with Jesus. Chief among the ways we can do so is through prayer.

‘Contemplative prayer, in my opinion, is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us’ – Teresa of Avila

Many books have been written about prayer. Some are very good. But in the final analysis, prayer is simply what happens when you spend time with God. Christian prayer is spending time with the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the God most clearly revealed to us in the person of Jesus. You can do this, that is, pray/spend time with God, in many ways. At Faith Journey Church, we emphasize teaching about these ways, and employ a variety of prayer practices to facilitate your journey into the presence of God, that you might experience his love, fall more in love with him, and mature into a fully formed disciple of Jesus.

You can learn these practices through participation in our services, discipleship groups, prayer room, prayer vigils, or other spiritual formation opportunities that emphasize the practice of the presence of God. We hope you will come and experience his presence with us.