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There's nothing that we can't bring to the table when it comes to prayer with God. This week, John Bailey and Mark Renfroe discuss what it means to be truly authentic in prayer and how important it is for our maturity as Christians. If we talk things out with God, we will not act out those hurts and problems with other people.

Key Points from the Podcast

  • Developing a discipline of prayer can be the bridge from praying merely from a sense of duty to delighting in prayer.

  • A hunger for relationship, fellowship, communion, and intimacy with God should be at the heart of your prayer life.

  • Be authentic in your prayers to God. He can handle your issues, questions, and doubts.

  • There is great benefit in talking with God and processing through issues before addressing them with others.

  • If you don’t know where to start with prayer, using the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9–15; Luke 11:2–4) can be a good guide.

  • There are different types of prayer: bringing your needs to God, pouring out your heart to him, praying for others, asking for direction, etc.

  • As a Christian, God is with you all the time. Take time throughout your day to talk with him and align your heart and thoughts with his.

  • We live in a world full of noise, but some of the richest times of prayer can be just sitting silently in God’s presence and allowing him to speak to the deep issues of your heart or give you direction.

  • The guilt and shame of “I need to pray more” are not good fuel for a fervent prayer life.

Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast

1 Thessalonians 5:17; Psalm 73:3; Matthew 6:9–15; Luke 11:2–4; Psalm 46:10; 2 Corinthians 10:4

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

About John Bailey

Pastor John Bailey serves as the Chief Operating Officer at World Challenge. John came to know Christ in jail after some difficult struggles as a young man, and God has done a powerful work of transformation since! Spending 13 years in Next Gen ministry, he excelled in discipleship and helping young leaders discover giftings to serve God. John was called next to serve as a missionary and pastor in Western Europe. John and his family then returned to plant the Springs Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Today, the church is a thriving body of believers excelling in outreach and missions. John has now brought his giftings and vision to World Challenge, accelerating the spread of the gospel in America and around the World.

About Mark Renfroe

Mark married his college sweetheart, Amy, with whom he has four adult children—one girl and three boys. The Renfroes have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. They served in the Arab community of San Francisco for four years before becoming foreign missionaries in 1995. Mark was asked to serve as the Area Director for Assemblies of God World Missions in 2007. As part of his role, he led missionaries and interfaced with national church leaders in the 18 countries of the Arab World. In 2017, Mark created Reaching Africa’s Muslims, an initiative to mobilize, equip, and deploy indigenous African missionaries to reach Muslims on the continent. Mark has graduate degrees in Intercultural Studies and Executive Leadership. He currently serves as the Chief Missions Officer for World Challenge in Colorado Springs.