What is a “Prayer Retreat”?
People, even non-Christians, often have a longing for intimacy with God. We have a sense of wanting to know Him, even if it is crowded out by entertaining distractions, struggles of life, or other “noises” that cause us to overlook that desire. If you still recognize that desire to know God, the question is, “what are you doing about it?” If you’re like most Christians, you aren’t doing much. The idea of an extended time of prayer may seem daunting, but (1) the experience will be a tremendous value to you and (2) you don’t have to start out with a full event - you can come and go as you desire.
I don’t have that much time…
Spending an entire day with the Lord may seem intimidating to you, but if you really want to get to know Him, what better way than to set aside a day for that purpose? If you’re like me, the issue is time, but I know this will be worthwhile to me and to others. So, we’ve set this up for flexibility expanding it to cover parts of two days to accommodate a variety of schedules and even allow for staying overnight if necessary.
If you simply can’t do the entire event, at least come for part of it. The schedule is built around six, 30-minute teaching sessions to provide helpful information and motivation for the 60-minute sessions of private prayer and seeking the Lord that follow each teaching segment. The content may change slightly from what is listed, but each teaching session will equip for a time of prayer and seeking the Lord.
Sunday - Monday format
We’ll start Sunday afternoon at 3:00 with some basic instructions and our first video teaching session, followed by our first time of prayer. Session two teaching should end by 5:00 p.m. (around sunset) allowing folks who live close to leave before dark if they need to. Our official end time will be at 6:00 p.m., so we’ll pray the day out.
We’ll start again Monday morning at 7:00 (just after sunrise) with a brief welcome and video teaching, session three. This will allow us to wrap up by 3:00 p.m., 24 hours after we started.
It’s FREE? Can I stay overnight?
This is a FREE event (donations welcome) unless you want to reserve a place to stay overnight. The cabin is available for rent on a first come, first serve basis through Air BnB. Other accommodations are available for a nominal fee by contacting us.
For the sake of those who will be adding the element of fasting, no food will be served. You will need to bring your own food if you plan to eat.
For those in ministry, church leadership, pastoring, etc., this time is ideal for you to get away from the demands of serving the Lord just to seek Him.
Can I participate from somewhere else?
Maybe you live too far away to benefit from getting away to this location, or have some other factor that would prevent you from physically coming; but you would like to participate in a time of retreat with the Lord from some other location. Maybe you would like to use our format to host a retreat of your own. Indicate that on the form below and we will contact you about how to accommodate you.
Pre-register
We ask guests to pre-register (below) so that we have an idea of how many to expect and when - even if you can’t stay for the entire event. This helps us prepare material and space for participants.
Schedule
Sun., 3:00 p.m. SESSION ONE – Why We Pray
What to expect.
VIDEO, SESSION ONE – Why We Pray
3:30 Prayer on your own
4:30 SESSION TWO – It All Starts with the Father
5:00 Prayer on your own
6:00 Dismiss for the evening
Mon., 7:00 a.m. WELCOME
What to expect.
Prayer on your own
8:30 VIDEO, SESSION THREE– It’s About Saying Yes!
9:00 Prayer on your own
10:00 SESSION FOUR – How to Eat Daily Bread
10:30 Prayer on your own
11:30 SESSION FIVE – Time to Cancel the Debt
12:00 p.m. Prayer on your own
1:00 SESSION SIX – Does Prayer Change Anything?
1:30 Prayer on your own
2:30 Closing session. Opportunities to share how we experienced God, and discuss what was helpful/not helpful about the day.