Into the Prayer Life of Jesus : "Your Kingdom Come"

This is our Sunday teaching from Senior Pastor, Tom Thompson. Recorded live at our service in Harris Academy Purley, Croydon on Sunday 28th September, 2025. Below you can find the full talk audio, and a summary article.

Want to lead a Connect Group session on this teaching? The notes are here!

Talk Summary - Into the Prayer Life of Jesus - Your Kingdom Come

When the disciples looked at Jesus, they didn’t ask Him to teach them how to preach, heal or lead. They asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” They could see that His prayer life was the fountainhead of everything He did. If prayer was the “secret source” of Jesus’ strength, it can be ours too.

For some of us, prayer feels natural; for others it feels awkward or guilt-laden. But Jesus offers prayer as a gift, not a burden. In just three short years He healed thousands, launched a movement that still shapes the world, and endured crushing opposition. How? Through a life saturated in prayer. Luke’s Gospel keeps repeating, “He prayed… He prayed…” as if to say: this is how He lived.

At its heart, prayer is not a list of demands but a place of formation. Jesus invites us into His rhythm: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” Those words aren’t just a line in a prayer; they describe a posture of life—discerning God’s will and then contending for it. In a noisy world full of competing kingdoms—our own ambitions, social media pressures, even spiritual opposition—prayer becomes a fortress and a fountain. It anchors us and refreshes us.

You can picture it like a spin class at the gym. You step into the room, trust the instructor, and do things you wouldn’t choose on your own because you know it’s making you stronger. In prayer we say, “God, You decide. Train me. Shape me.” Over time people begin to notice - not just that you “go to prayer” but that prayer has gone into you.

The good news is you don’t have to start perfectly. Begin where you are - on your commute, before bed, over breakfast. Pray the simplest prayer: “Jesus, I believe; help my unbelief.” Little by little, prayer becomes not a duty but a source of life. Like Jesus, we can live from a place of intimacy with the Father—formed, sustained and sent into the world by the quiet strength of prayer.