Pray mhk

Encounter God's presence through prayer.

We’re proud to be part of Pray MHK, a collaborative prayer movement in Manhattan, KS. Check out more information on the Pray MHK website.

Virtual Prayer Room

Pause

This may be the only thing you get to during your time in the prayer room today, but it is the most important.

Until we can let go of our own agenda, placing it at the feet of Jesus, it can be easy to allow our humanness to warp our prayers.

When we let go, it is then that the Spirit can direct our thoughts, feelings, and words.

When you are ready, take a moment—as long as it takes—to pause.

1. What might you be carrying with you as you enter this space? A hectic day, an overwhelming list of to-do’s, any circumstances, frustrations, fears, expectations, etc.

2. Imagine yourself laying it down at the door. 

3. If it is hard to let go, trust that you are giving each item to your father in heaven. He has assured us that none of our concerns have been forgotten. 

   1. “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

4. One way we can take time to slow down and focus our minds is through a centering prayer. This could look something like:

   1. Breathe in: “Father in Heaven”

   2. Breath out: “Hallowed be thy name”

5. Repeat this prayer as you relax and breathe (take as long as you need)

6. As you move through the prayer room and find yourself picking up what you left at the door, take time to pause, returning to the Psalm: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Take as long as you need. Move forward when you are ready.

Studio 1

Studio 3

STUDIO 4

Studio 2

Studio 3 (complement)

sTUDIO 4 (Complement)

Inward

Studio 1

Mirrors

Look into the mirror and ask yourself:

How do I measure my worth?

How do I measure my appearance?

How do I measure my achievements?

How do I measure the approval of others?

How do I measure my affluence of wealth?

Look into the mirror a second time and pray: Jesus, show me how YOU value me.

Pause.

Write down what you felt Jesus saying to you.

Write down one of the following scriptures and put it on a mirror at home or in your car so that every day you will be reminded of your value and worth.

Studio 2

Dreams

On a blank sheet of paper, write a word or short phrase on it that represents one of your greatest hopes, dreams or a big goal you’re reaching toward. Something really important to you.

Say a short prayer inviting God to get involved in bringing it to pass in ways aligned with His will for you.

When you are finished, roll up your paper and place it somewhere for safe keeping.

Consider making a second copy and sharing it with a trusted friend to pray along with you.

Studio 3

Desperation

Blaise Pascal said that “all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their room.” The reason for this inability, he found, is “the natural poverty of our feeble and mortal condition, so miserable that nothing can comfort us when we think of it closely." 

When it comes to confronting the cause of human misery and wrongdoing, Silence and Solitude are widely regarded as the most profound spiritual practices. To be in solitude is to choose to do nothing, and just be silent in the presence of God, for until we enter stillness and quietness, the world still has its grip on us.

Read 1 Kings 19:1-19.

Frightened to the point of desperation, Elijah fled as far as he could. Despair drove him to seek God in prayerful solitude. Because of the chaos going on inside his head, he had to slow down. I can't help but think how disconcerted he must have been to be on the run because a single woman threatened to kill him after he had fought and defeated 400 prophets of Baal and done other miraculous things in obedience to God (1 Kings 18). I wonder if he ever doubted God, his faith, identity, his purpose in life and relationship with God. Whether or not he did, we can say with certainty that he was terrified and desperate and done, to the point of asking God to take him to Him.

“He ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day’s journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all—to just die: “Enough of this, God! Take my life—I’m ready to join my ancestors in the grave!” 

We dare to ask the deep, probing questions about our identity and calling, about the possibility of true spiritual transformation, about what lurks deep within the subterranean levels of our souls...  These are difficult questions, and giving them our attention will inevitably bring up feelings we've been trying to bury: anger over past or present pains and injustices that have buried deep wells of sadness; waves of confusion over things we once knew but no longer do; undercurrents of loneliness and a longing for more, even though we don't know what "more" is.

There aren't many alternatives to our desperate situation. We can either give in to the temptation of self-righteousness, which breaks our oneness with God, or we can stay with the weight of it and let desperation do its work, drawing us deeper into solitude and silence where the presence of God makes itself known and enough.

Desperation can actually be beneficial. It causes us to be open to radical alternatives and eager to take any risk in order to find what we seek. Desperate people search with all their might because they know their lives depend on it.

Studio 4

Forgiveness

People are broken. When you come into contact with the brokenness of others, there will be temptation to resent them, take offense, hold a grudge, get payback, or hate them.

Nelson Mendela said: “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” Choose to love them instead. Set them free. It’s yourself you’ll be saving.

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. —Colossians 3:13-14

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. —Matthew 6:14-15

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer,[a] that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. —1 John 4:20-21

Take some time to forgive:

Those you harbor any degree of offense or resentment towards.

Those you keep a running account of their failures or weaknesses.

Those you believe owe you something before you can forgive them.

Those who you see only or primarily through the lens of a past offense.

Those who seem to always bring out the worst in you.

Those you harbor disdain for because of their brokenness.

If you have any seltzer tablets around, drop one in glass of water and watch it dissolve. As it does, let the Lord dissolve your unforgiveness.

Studio 5

Solitude

Set your body in a comfortable position and take a couple of deep breaths, both in and out. As you breathe and become quiet within, allow that which is usually unknown and unnamed within you to surface. Notice the dynamics that are drawing you deeper into this moment of solitude and silence.

What is happening inside you and in your relationship with God right now that seems to be inviting you into this moment of solitude and silence?

Do the words desperation and desire capture what you are experiencing, or is there another word or phrase that more accurately expresses what is going on in your interior world?

Allow these inner experiences and dynamics to come to the surface; feel them, name them, sit with them, and express them to God if you wish.

Listen to them not as experiences to be avoided but as invitations to open yourself to God in new ways.

When you’re done, thank God for his presence with you during this time of noticing and solitude.

Write in a journal where you’re feeling desperation, and consider sharing it with a trusted friend, inviting them to pray with you and asking them how you can be praying over their own areas of desperation and desire.