Students Are Immersed in a Culture of Prayer at GFA’s School of Discipleship

Gospel for Asia (GFA) News, Wills Point, Texas

Many young people come to Gospel for Asia School of Discipleship to see their relationship with Jesus significantly deepen. What they find is that prayer is the vehicle that takes them there.

A Culture of Prayer

Students at School of Discipleship are quickly immersed in a culture of prayer when they join GFA for a year. That’s because prayer is the very fabric the GFA community is woven from. More than 30 years ago, Gospel for Asia was born from a prayer meeting in Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan’s living room, and that weekly prayer meeting continues to this day.

Now students are an integral part of them, too! They engage in prayer side by side with GFA staff, crying out to God for people, things and circumstances both locally and abroad. They even participate in sharing prayer requests.

Students also learn to cultivate their private prayer life. They engage with the Lord in times of personal devotions and prayer walks and in times of silence and solitude. They learn how to be in God’s presence in both the meaningful and mundane.

In the Classroom

While students practice prayer, they also learn more about prayer in the classroom. They go through a curriculum that includes great resources like How to Pray by R.A. Torry, Learning to Pray by K.P. Yohannan and, of course, God’s Word. The classroom is a great opportunity for instruction and discussion.

It’s also a place where students can tackle their fears and hindrances about prayer head on. Comments like: “It’s hard to pray in front of people,” “I’m so distracted when I pray,” “I don’t know what to say,” “I can’t seem to consistently make time for prayer” no longer become excuses as God works in the students and helps them grow. Inadequacies fade as they read and talk through God’s Word and inspiring material, as they observe the example of those around them, and most of all, as they take advantage of the many opportunities to practice!

Fred, a GFA staff and curriculum instructor observes: “It’s exciting to watch young people really growing in prayer. They get beyond just the asking of God and get to know God. They are seeing that prayer is something that sustains them moment by moment, day by day.”

Students Grow

Being immersed in a culture of prayer helps students experience that deepening of their relationship with Jesus that they desire. It helps fill them with faith and a desire to be in God’s presence. Emily, a SD alum and GFA staff, affirms this. She says, “It’s not like other schools. You get to see what you have learned lived out [by the community], and you get to practice it as well. I am so thankful the Lord called me to be here. It has changed my life.”

Students of School of Discipleship are immersed in a culture that takes prayer seriously and practices the discipline of prayer with faith and fervor. This is the way to a deeper relationship with the Lord. As Leanne, another SD alum says, “I have been changed to more diligently pursue the Lord, to love Him and make Him number one in my life.”

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