They've Been With Jesus: Prayer - 30 Days | Pastor Tyler Johnson | 05.31.26

May 31, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Resurrection: Cornerstone or Crumbling Foundation?

The resurrection of Jesus isn’t a negotiable add-on to faith—it’s the bedrock. Without it, Christianity collapses into empty philosophy. Paul confronts a church tempted to dismiss resurrection as “too weird,” warning that cutting this cornerstone leaves faith powerless. To edit the Bible’s miracles is to build a house on sand. Either Christ conquered death, transforming everything, or our prayers and service are meaningless. [36:42]

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you subtly doubted or downplayed the resurrection’s power? How would your prayers change if you fully believed nothing is beyond Christ’s victory?

Day 2: Gas Station Sushi and Confidence in the Flesh

Choosing gas station sushi over a meal prepared with care mirrors how we often prefer self-reliance over God’s presence. The enemy counterfeits prayer with distractions—podcasts, independence, even busyness—that leave souls malnourished. A life without prayer is like a house without running water: functional until the drought hits. Paul warns against trusting the flesh—a mattress on the roadside, a bald barber, or our own striving. [37:09]

“For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.” (Philippians 3:3, NLT)

Reflection: What “gas station sushi” have you settled for this week instead of seeking God’s presence? Name one practical step to prioritize prayer over self-sufficiency.

Day 3: Shameless Audacity at Midnight’s Door

Prayer isn’t polite knocking—it’s pounding until palms bruise. Jesus’ parable of the persistent friend reveals God’s desire for bold, relentless asking. The disciples scattered after the crucifixion because they stopped seeking; Don James’ 30-day prayer challenge transformed Pittsburgh because he refused to quit. Audacity isn’t arrogance—it’s childlike trust that the Father wants to open the door. [57:29]

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10, NIV)

Reflection: What prayer have you stopped bringing to God because the answer felt delayed? How can you “keep knocking” this week with holy stubbornness?

Day 4: Thirteen Months of Stitches: Prayer as Surgery

Forgiveness isn’t a one-time prayer but daily surgery on the soul. Like the pastor who prayed 13 months to heal his father-wounds, persistent prayer stitches torn places into scars. Psalms calls God’s Word “health to the flesh”—not a quick fix but a slow, deep mending. Avoiding this process leaves infections of bitterness; showing up daily lets grace do its careful work. [01:07:38]

“He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” (Psalm 107:20, NIV)

Reflection: What wound have you bandaged instead of letting God heal it through persistent prayer? What’s one sentence you can pray daily over it this month?

Day 5: Pittsburgh Steel and Bay Area Revival

Sam Shoemaker’s prayer turned a steel city into a spiritual epicenter. The Bay Area won’t be transformed by tech breakthroughs but by saints kneeling—praying for revival louder than venture capital’s noise. This isn’t about changing God’s mind but aligning ours with His heart for the lost. Your city isn’t a mission field; it’s your inheritance. [01:12:46]

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV)

Reflection: What specific street, school, or neighbor can you “paint with prayer” this week? How might audacious faith shift your view of the Bay Area’s spiritual future?

Sermon Summary

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 tears down a shaky foundation that lets “shoppers” pick and choose doctrines. The resurrection stands at the center. If Christ has not been raised, then faith is useless, sin still sticks, and church should close up shop. The enemy does not counterfeit small things. He will whisper confidence in the flesh, trade prayer for hustle, and swap the Word for clever wisdom. So the text demands that God’s people stop trusting the bald barber and the gas station sushi equivalents of the soul and put real confidence in the risen Christ.

The resurrection then reframes everything. If he did rise, every gift, every prayer, every act of service matters. Either Scripture stands over the church or the church stands over Scripture. Thomas Jefferson’s scissors become a warning. The Word will cut the reader or the reader will cut the Word. Buffet Christianity builds a paper house.

Prayer moves from accessory to utility. A broken dishwasher and a house without running water picture the absurdity of a prayerless week. “Don’t you dare live this week without Jesus” becomes the pastoral charge. John Piper’s rebuke lands. Nonbelievers often ask for help in crisis, but Jesus’ disciples pray, “Hallowed be your name.” The Bay Area’s drive to make a name gets traded for a life that makes his name great. The Word becomes medicine to the soul, not a suggestion box.

Jesus in Luke 11 gives a template, not a 15 second script. Father, hallowed, bread, forgiveness, deliverance. Each line holds enough to chew on for half an hour. Then Jesus gives a parable that is not an allegory about God’s reluctance but a bellringer for shameless audacity. Ask, seek, knock, and keep doing it. Triple repetition signals nonnegotiable priority.

The disciples’ weekend after the cross warns modern disciples. Jesus had promised resurrection again and again, yet grief sent them home. God still moved. They just did not witness it. Persistent prayer does not force God’s hand. It keeps the disciple in the front row when the stone rolls.

Sam Shoemaker’s Pittsburgh Experiment dares a city into thirty days of prayer. Don James’ enemy prayers change him before they change his boss. A personal story of forgiving a father for thirteen months turns stitches into a scar and hatred into shepherding love. Finally, the skyline becomes a sanctuary. As Sam once said of steel, the call now says of tech. Let this region become more famous for God than for innovation. That is an audacious prayer worth praying for decades.

Key Takeaways

1. The resurrection holds the whole house. [40:39] The text refuses a Christianity of good advice without a living Christ. If Jesus stayed in the grave, prayer is empty air and sin still runs the table. But if he rose, every hidden prayer and unnoticed act sits inside a kingdom that is going somewhere. The church either lives off borrowed fumes or resurrection power. [40:39]
2. Prayer, not flesh, powers the week. [40:05] Confidence in the flesh looks efficient until the day caves in. Prayer refuses the lie that gifting and grind can carry the soul. Starting and ending in the presence of God reorders desire, not just schedules. A prayer-soaked week becomes less about managing outcomes and more about being carried by a Person. [40:05]
3. Let Scripture stand over the soul. [43:34] Jefferson’s scissors live quietly in respectable hearts that buffet the Bible. Either the Word edits the reader or the reader edits the Word. Submitting to hard pages is how God heals hard places. The cutting that hurts is the cutting that heals. [43:34]
4. Shameless, persistent prayer moves doors. [57:29] Jesus blesses audacity, not politeness, in the closet. Ask, seek, knock is not a one-and-done but a posture that outlasts delay and disappointment. Persistence keeps the disciple at the tomb when Sunday comes. The door may not open quickly, but it will open. [57:29]
5. Pray audaciously over this city. [01:12:46] Sam Shoemaker’s dare still fits. A region can become more famous for God than for its industry. Big prayers pull believers out of small, self-referential lists and into intercession that rewrites skylines. The Spirit loves to answer when cities get named before the throne. [72:46]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[34:58] - Foundations: They’ve Been With Jesus
[36:22] - Paul defends the resurrection
[37:59] - Confidence in the flesh mocked
[39:48] - Don’t live prayerless this week
[41:44] - Jefferson’s scissors and buffet faith
[45:07] - Praying “Hallowed be Your name”
[47:28] - Dishwasher breaks and spiritual utilities
[51:12] - Jesus’ template for prayer
[57:29] - Shameless audacity: ask, seek, knock
[59:28] - God moves; will they witness?
[61:22] - The Pittsburgh Experiment story
[64:44] - Thirty-day prayer challenge
[67:38] - Forgiveness stitched into a scar
[70:41] - Pray the Bay famous for God

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (ESV)
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Luke 11:9-10 (ESV)
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Observation Questions

In 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, what does Paul say are the consequences if Christ was not resurrected?
The sermon compares misplaced confidence to "gas station sushi" and a "bald barber" [37:59]. What do these examples illustrate about trusting human effort over God?
In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus repeats three actions: ask, seek, knock. What does the repetition emphasize about prayer?
The sermon mentions the disciples’ failure to witness the resurrection despite Jesus’ promises [59:28]. What does this reveal about their response to hardship?

Interpretation Questions

Why does Paul argue that the resurrection is the foundation of faith (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)? How does removing this truth destabilize Christianity?
The sermon warns against "buffet Christianity" where people pick doctrines they like [43:34]. How does this mindset contradict the authority of Scripture over believers?
In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus tells a parable about shameless persistence. How does this contrast with cultural ideas of polite or transactional prayer?
The story of Don James praying for his boss changed him first [01:03:50]. Why might persistent prayer transform the pray-er more than the circumstances?

Application Questions

What areas of your life do you default to "confidence in the flesh" (e.g., hustle, talent, plans) instead of prayer? [40:05] How could you reorient those areas this week?
The sermon challenges believers to pray "Hallowed be Your name" daily [45:07]. What would it look like to prioritize God’s glory over personal requests in your prayers?
The Pittsburgh Experiment involved 30 days of bold prayer [01:04:44]. What specific person, relationship, or situation in your life needs persistent, daily prayer for the next month?
The sermon urges praying for the Bay Area to be "famous for God" [01:12:46]. What one audacious prayer could you start praying for your city or community?
How might forgiving someone (like the 13-month forgiveness journey [01:07:38]) shift your spiritual health, even if the other person never changes?
The parable in Luke 11 compares prayer to knocking until a door opens. Where have you stopped "knocking" because of disappointment? How can you renew persistence?

Sermon Clips

39s

#WordTransformsLives

“You'll change the word of God, or it will change you. The word of God will cut you, or you will cut it. God cannot be kind of right, and that's kind of right. Either God will be true and every man a liar, or man will be true and God found a liar. To quote Paul from first Corinthians again, if Christ has not been raised, then none of this matters. But if Christ has been raised, then all of this stuff matters. Yeah. Every gift, every prayer, every time you serve, every time you show up to church, every time you tithe, every time you lift your hands in prayer, if he did raise, all of that matters.”

41s

#BayAreaForGod

“Let's pray that it becomes more famous for God than it does for tech. Let me let me let me read you something real quick. Years ago, someone looked at the Pittsburgh and said, let's pray that Pittsburgh will one day become famous for God as it was for steel. Mission church, let's play the same thing for the Bay Area. Let's pray that it's more famous for revival than it is for venture capital, more famous for prayer than it is for innovation, more famous for churches being planted than companies being launched, and more famous for the presence of God than the wealth of man. Let's pray that Bay Area will be famous for God and not for tech. It's an audacious prayer.”

33s

#ChoosePrayerNotPhilosophy

“Hear me. The enemy is not gonna counterfeit $1 bills. It's a lot of energy. Counterfeits the big things. You don't need prayer. Put confidence in the flesh. You don't need the Word of God, you got enough wisdom. You don't need community, you got podcasts. And so he'll counterfeit the real things. And I'm here to tell you, epistle after epistle, fancy word from letters to the church in the Bible. If you read them, you'll see this. Paul is always tearing down empty philosophy. He's saying you're putting confidence in the wrong things.”

38s

#ForJesusName

“He's saying, like, when's the last time you prayed this? May my life be made and used for your glory. May may you use my life to make your name great, not my name, but your name great. When you look at the Old Testament, you what you'll see is you'll see the the brokenness of humanity. You'll see humanity trying to build things in their own strength for their own glory, and they try to do it over and over again, and they fail. And I'm here to tell you, a lot of people move here to make their name great. That's when the spirits of the Bay Area. But you come to church, start following Jesus, you realize it's all about making one name great, and his name is Jesus.”

42s

#PrioritizeHisPresence

“But if it's not an if. If you call me your shepherd and you're about to go live this week without the power of God and without prayer, starting every day and finishing and and just bathing stop. Don't you dare live this week without Jesus. Don't you dare live without the power of God, the presence of God, the wisdom of God. Don't you dare just pray a little bit this week. You better pray a lot. Do not put any confidence in the flesh. Don't pick the flesh this week. Pick the presence of God. Prioritize God. And so Paul is tearing down an empty philosophy.”

42s

#PrayAndTransform

“And so for two weeks, he's praying every day about the things that Sam wrote down for him to pray about. And by week three, he gets called into his his boss's office, and his boss says, Sam, what happened? You're different. You've changed. And they they he tells them what he's been doing and and they have this reconciled conversation, and and Don starts to realize he comes to Sam. He goes, the whole time I was praying for my boss to change, it was actually changing me. He's like, you tricked me, Sam. He's like, yes, I did. Don gives his life to the Lord, and he becomes a follower of Jesus and actually ends up being a minister of Jesus.”

27s

#ThirtyDaysOfPrayer

“Don James was an ex marine. He was a man who had no faith in God. He was angry at the world. He had a saying all his friends would say that he would say all the time, if I can't eat it, drink it, or sleep with it, I'm not interested. This is a man who was far from God. Comes to church one day, and Sam Shoemaker is teaching on prayer and the power of prayer and talks about the thirty day thing. And in the middle of the sermon, Don James says, this is bull poo.”

28s

#WitnessRevival

“And Don and Sam get coffee that week, and Don goes on to tell him the reason why he's so angry at God is he hates his life, hates his boss, hates his job. And and Sam knew that Don was a marine, so he he dared him like a marine. He goes, I dare you, marine, for thirty days to pray about the big things in your life and to pray for your boss and see what happens. Because Don was one of those people, he couldn't say no to a dare. He said, you're on. And he started to prove him wrong that it wouldn't do anything to him.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Mission Church This sermon · AI assistant

Why is the resurrection foundational to faith?

What prayer template does Jesus teach disciples?

What kind of person prevails in prayer?

They've Been With Jesus: Prayer - 30 Days | Pastor Tyler Johnson | 05.31.26

Devotional

Day 1: The Resurrection: Cornerstone or Crumbling Foundation?

Day 2: Gas Station Sushi and Confidence in the Flesh

Day 3: Shameless Audacity at Midnight’s Door

Day 4: Thirteen Months of Stitches: Prayer as Surgery

Day 5: Pittsburgh Steel and Bay Area Revival

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

They've Been With Jesus: Prayer - 30 Days | Pastor Tyler Johnson | 05.31.26

Share