21 DAYS OF PRAYER

DAY 1 - As we begin this journey of prayer, we  want to ask God through His Spirit to move our people’s hearts over these 21 days and the next year of Together to be completely surrendered to His desires for us and His call on us as a church. That starts, however, with each of us who are engaged in this season of prayer. WE must each come to that surrender, to write a “blank check” with our lives for God, to put our unequivocal “YES” on the table first and foremost.
Romans 12:1 tells us we must “present our bodies as living sacrifices,” and Galatians 2:20 reminds us we are to “crucified with Christ” so that He alone lives in us. These and so many other verses remind us we are “not our own, but have been bought with a price.” We are HIS, and so we must surrender wholly to all He would ask.
PRAYER : Examine your heart. Are you prepared with a grateful and joyful “yes” to all that God would ask? Pray that God would move your heart to that place or that He would keep you there in His grace. Pray that God by the work of His Spirit and the power of His Word would work in our entire church family, bringing us all to that place of ultimate surrender to God’s call, His commands, and His mission.

DAY 2 - The “Four For’s” of Together begin with our prayer that all our focus and all of our effort over this next year will be “for His glory.” John Piper writes that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” So our prayer today is that the Hills family will  find their highest satisfaction in God and His kingdom and His mission for us. God tells us, “you will seek me and you will find me, when you seek me with all your heart;” but to seek with all our heart requires (as Paul says) we “count everything as loss” next to knowing Jesus. Then, as we seek God with all our hearts, as we pursue Him as our highest possible source of true satisfaction, He will be glorified in our lives.
PRAYER: Pray that you and all of our church will continue to grow in the knowledge of God and Christ as our truest and highest satisfaction. Pray that the priority of all our plans, goals, and efforts over the next year will only be grounded in seeking God with all our hearts so that He will be glorified in us as His people.

DAY 3 - Paul wrote to the Philippians, “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” The unity of the body is about far more than everybody getting along in spite of all our own different priorities, agendas, and preferences. It is instead about all of us abandoning our different priorities, agendas, and preferences and submitting all to the singular mission and calling of God on our church. If we are to be successful to any degree during “Together,” it will be because we are of the “same mind” – which must be the mind of Christ – and we are “intent one purpose” – the pursuit of God’s glory through the proclamation of the gospel.
PRAYER: Pray today for an uncommon spirit of unity in our church as we pursue God’s desire for our church His vision for our future participation in His kingdom work. May we not be caught up in personal agendas or disputes over preferences, but may we be uniformly committed to a common mission that is not the product of our own thinking or effort or ingenuity. May we be guided by the Word and the Spirit of God to wholly embrace a God-sized and God-given purpose together in supernatural unity.

DAY 4 - Church growth can sometimes be a controversial, contested, or confusing idea. Is it just about numerical growth (increasing numbers and widening our reach to outsiders) or is it about spiritual growth (helping those who are “already in” deepen their faith)? We believe that the two are not mutually exclusive and that God calls us to both - it is not deep OR wide, it is deep AND wide. Strong trunks have both deep roots and many far-reaching branches. Jesus calls us to “go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled,” but Paul tells us that God has given the church gifts and leaders “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
PRAYER: Pray for the growth of our church – that we would grow both wide and deep. Pray that in our vision will never separate from our mission, so that all we plan or hope or dream will be based in the gospel word and the gospel work , doing all we can to reach the lost with the gospel in making disciples AND do all we can to teach, lead, and cultivate maturity and depth in all who are Christ’s disciples. Pray for yourself that you would be an extension of the church in your life, sharing the gospel in word and deed and living in gospel community where depth of faith is cultivated.

DAY 5 - Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” We’ve heard that verse many times, and maybe heard it merely as the finger-pointing, “you ought to be in church” verse (because implicitly that will make you a good person). It is true that the first part of “love, grow, send” is about grounding our mission in our love for God and each other, expressed in the corporate gathering of the church, but the writer of Hebrews reminds us it’s not just about the geographical location of your body on Sunday morning. It is about our participation in Christ’s body and with Christ’s body to strengthen and deepen and mature Christ’s body toward love and the good deeds that God has prepared for us as His body on mission in the world. We all together must play a role in that.
PRAYER: Pray that our church will embrace the value of gathering in a world where that value is increasingly less of a priority – even among those who claim to be followers of Christ. Pray that our church will grow in understanding that the gathering is both an opportunity to be fed by the Word, but also an opportunity to speak the Word into each other’s lives and encourage each other in the faith. Pray that we will fight the tendency to make church a spectator sport and embrace it as an opportunity to help bring our church body to the fullness of maturity as God’s people.

DAY 6 - Along with the priority of gathering and “loving God in corporate worship”, we also believe the path of discipleship includes “growing in gospel community.” The large group Sunday meeting is certainly of immense benefit, but we believe that our D-groups provide “life on life” opportunities for our people to grow more deeply in their faith. We desire our groups to be focused on 3 things : gospel, community, and mission – speaking the truth of the Word and the transforming power of the gospel into one another’s lives; finding true and authentic relationships in a tight knit community with shared joys and shared difficulties and shared prayers; and finding ways to make an impact in our community by living on mission together.
PRAYER: Pray for our the growth and development of our D-group ministry. Pray that more and more of our church would see the value of that kind of community and would rearrange busy schedules to make that a priority in their lives. Pray as we seek to add a Discipleship Pastor dedicated to our groups and the discipleship efforts of our church. We ask that God would provide the resources through our people, the right timing for the search, and wisdom and discernment for the right person who is a  fit for our team and a godly and gifted leader for that vital ministry.

DAY 7 - All throughout Scripture, God chooses and uses leaders to help guide and shepherd and care for His people. In Jeremiah 3:15, God  tells Israel, “I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill.” It is our prayer that God will continue to provide us with godly and gifted leaders for our ministry and missional needs. Additionally, we will be shifting some of our current staff into new and expanded roles in ways that we believe will be beneficial to the administration and structure of our church. Our staff development over the next year and as we move towards 2030 will, we believe, have a huge impact on how much of our vision  and mission we will be able to accomplish.  
PRAYER: Pray for the current staff of The Hills – for their strength, their spiritual health, their perseverance and faithfulness, their families, and their ongoing dependence on God for the demands of ministry. Pray that God that would increase the Spirit’s work in them so that their gifts are increased and their fruit cultivated and their ministry effectiveness is multiplied. Pray for Jason as he moves into the role of Campus Pastor for Corder Road and for Kris as he continues the transition into the Executive Pastor role. Pray for a successful search for a Children’s Ministry Director, Executive Assistant for Jacob and Kris, and a Discipleship Pastor to add to our staff in God’s provision and timing. Pray that our church will continue to grow in faithful giving so that we can fully fund our staffing needs.

DAY 8 - The decision of our church to become an elder-led body was a commitment to follow God’s Biblical structure for leading, guiding, and shepherding His flock. During this year of Together, we believe God is calling us to strengthen that structure of elder leadership by having two different roles for those chosen to be elders at The Hills – directional elders, who will lead in guiding vision and oversight for the church, and shepherding elders, who will implement vision and congregational care through direct ministry to and through our Discipleship groups. Peter wrote, “To the elders who are among you…Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be.” (1 Peter 5) Our success is choosing the right men for this role will make a major difference in the effectiveness our congregational ministries, our group discipleship, and ultimately our growth in depth and width.

PRAYER: Pray for our current lay elders – Scott Boyd, Mark Closson, and Jason Moll – as they continue to grow in and understand the role of Directional Elder at SHBC, seeking God’s direction for our future vision. Pray for the men who God will call to be Shepherding Elders. Pray that the Spirit will begin to prepare them for the role, that they will be know and surrender joyfully to God’s calling, and that they will lead and love our people with the shepherd heart of Jesus in truth and grace. Pray for our church’s response to these men, agreeing they are qualified, mature leaders and will submit to their spiritual leadership so that we can become a more closely-knit community of believers and a mission-focused church.

DAY 9 - “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 9:7) The Apostle Paul is never apologetic about asking the people of God to give sacrificially so that the ministry of the Gospel could flourish. Simply put, the generosity of God’s people fuels the prosperity of God’s mission. There is much that we can plan and prepare for our church to be on mission and pursue God’s vision as reflected in our ministry budget, but we will be limited in our efforts by the collective funding of our budget. It is not just a mission and vision for all to be interested in; it is for each and every one of us to be invested in it as well.

PRAYER: Pray for the hearts of our church to be continuously turned away from the world’s appeal and toward God’s purposes. Pray that our minds would be – as Paul says – “set on things above and not on earth.” Pray that we would each learn how to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” and trust God for His care and provision. Pray that our church family will be captured by the grace of God and the generosity of God that compels us to each respond with like generosity and grace so that our ministry vision can be fully funded to overflowing, resulting in unimagined effectiveness for God’s kingdom.

DAY 10 - Turning our hearts and prayers to the second of our “Four For’s,” we are calling our church away from the temptation to be “internal” in its thinking to the call to be “for the mission.” Paul tells the church at Corinth, “Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.” We are called to live as ambassadors of God and to declare collectively the gospel of Christ. Nothing else we do as a church is as important as transforming our community and world through the power of the Gospel and the spread of God’s kingdom.

PRAYER: Pray for The Hills that the “ministry of reconciliation” will always be a defining characteristic of our mission, our vision, our plans, our decisions, our ministries, and, not least, our people. May our desire to “make disciples who make disciples” never wane, and may it be true of us from the youngest to oldest members of our church family. Pray that with Paul we can say we are “not ashamed of the gospel” and God will keep our hearts and our message centered there, “for it is the power of God unto salvation.” (Romans 1:16) Pray that we will not become self-centered but centered only the call to be God’s ambassadors in Middle Georgia and beyond.

DAY 11 - There can be many obstacles to the work of God in and through His people, and we can certainly fall prey to any of them as we go through this year of Together. Maybe it is a scarcity mentality concerning resources that causes us to work from fear and not faith. Although Paul tells us God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we can ask or think,” we still can be captured by fear-based thoughts, consumer-mindsets, personal agendas, and even negative past experiences. Of course, anytime the church is fully engaging in the mission of God, spiritual warfare is always present. We will face many of these in the next year, and will need commitment and perseverance to the mission if we are to overcome.

PRAYER: Pray that God would remove obstacles in your heart and mind that may hinder your own faith about what our church can accomplish during this next year. Pray that our church will have ever-increasing faith – not in our own capabilities – but in the promises and provision of God to His people for His mission. Pray that we move boldly, knowing that “God has not given [us] a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” May our church grow this year so that we are continually characterized solely by the purposes of God, the mind of Christ, and the power of the Spirit so that we persevere over all obstacles to our mission as we experience God’s exceedingly abundant work in us.

DAY 12 - We believe that one driving factor in the life and growth of a church is in the number of people who serve in the ministries of our church. We also believe Christ exemplified a servant heart and giving of our time and energy in serving reflects a heart pursuing a likeness to Him. During the year of Together, we are praying that we at least double the number of our people who are serving, and we hope to create an “attend one/serve one” culture at our church so that we can set the table and open the front door each week to all who participate in our ministries, so that we become a “sticky church” people will call home and in which they also find the path to service.

PRAYER: Pray for our church to be dominated by a heart of service so that our ministries can function at highest capacity and effectiveness, but even more so that our church collectively moves toward greater spiritual maturity. Pray that our church family would escape a consumer mentality, coming to church solely to receive from our ministries instead of investing deeply and sacrificially in our ministries. Pray that God would move specifically for our Kids ministries so that the need for workers in those areas would be met in abundance by a church family that embraces the priority of teaching and training children in the Word.

DAY 13 - The mission of the church collectively extends to the mission of the church individually. What happens within the walls of our facilities on Sundays will be the product of what is happening outside of the walls as our church family engages our community with gospel-filled lives and words. The Great Commission is probably best translated, “AS YOU ARE GOING… make disciples,” reminding us that the commissioning should happen in the natural progression of our daily lives.” The neighborhoods in which we live, the places in which we work, and the activities in which we play are all part of the call of God on us to be faithful in kingdom-mindedness.

PRAYER: Pray that The Hills will go beyond “going to church” and fully adopt lives of “being the church.” Pray concerning our neighborhoods, workplaces, and even our recreation and leisure activities, that we will see them first and foremost as arenas that are ripe for the work of the gospel. Pray that we will have boldness to live missionally in all the areas of our life and that The Hills would collectively see the fruit of that commitment in the lives and efforts of our people.

DAY 14 - A major part of our overall mission strategy in the future will center around partnering and parenting new church plants. We believe the local church is God’s strategy and, therefore, the best option for seeing the gospel flourish in communities and places far beyond Warner Robins and Middle Georgia, and we want to join God in that work he is doing. During this year of Together, we will join in a collaborative effort with like-minded churches for supporting and sending well-equipped and trained leaders to plant Gospel-centered churches in North America and, eventually, all around the world.

PRAYER: Pray today that “we are sent” will never become just a ritual saying at the end of our services, but that it will always be at the center of our hearts and minds individually and corporately. Pray for our church and all the churches in this collaborative effort to remain steadfast in the gospel mission, to be blessed with generous people who want to invest in the mission, to see and develop future church planters/pastors or people who will “say yes” to moving to be part of a church planting effort. As Paul requests the Thessalonian church, “brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored” in all of the churches God already has in mind that will be the fruit of this collaborative effort.