The KC Underground Podcast

In this episode of Teach Us to Pray, Brian and Cory sit down with Kansas City Underground Hub Leader Lori Roy to talk about her journey of learning to pray, and what she’s seen God do through years of persistent prayer.

Lori shares how she came to faith after moving to Kansas City, how praying Scripture became a lifeline as she prayed for her husband and family, and how her understanding of prayer grew into listening to and responding to the Holy Spirit. We explore the importance of giving people permission to be clumsy in prayer, modeling simple prayer for new disciples, and creating spaces where everyday people can learn to hear from God.

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian interviews Olivia Williamson, director of Claim Your Campus, about what it looks like when young people learn to pray for the places where God has already planted them. Olivia shares how prayer became part of the fabric of her own life, the story of students gathering to pray for change in their schools, and the vision of seeing student-led prayer in every middle and high school across the country. From simple prayer gatherings to students praying by name for friends who do not know Jesus, Olivia reflects on how prayer shapes young people to become more attentive to God and the people around them.

In this episode of Teach Us to Pray, Brian sits down with Jon Shirley to explore a life shaped by prayer from early encounters that awakened a hunger for God to learning how to build communities that begin with waiting on him.

Together, they talk about the challenge of prayer in a culture of constant noise and distraction, the need to recover our capacity to sit in silence, and what it means to find refuge in God when our souls feel overwhelmed. Jon also shares why prayer is something we often begin with and then unintentionally replace with activity and why the invitation is always to return.

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian and Cory interview Rob Wegner with a conversation about what it looks like to enter a new neighborhood with open eyes, open hands, and a prayerful imagination. Rob shares the story of moving across Kansas City with Michelle, learning the rhythms of a new place, and resisting the pressure to make something happen too quickly. From daily walks with their dog to neighborhood cleanups, front-yard conversations, parties, and unexpected friendships, Rob reflects on how prayer has helped them notice where Jesus is already at work.

We explore prayer as a way of becoming present: awake to beauty and brokenness, attentive to people, and available to the invitations God places in front of us. Rob talks about people of peace, the difference between intentionality and agenda, the importance of solitude and silence, and the simple practices that help ordinary disciples see their own neighborhoods with fresh eyes. It is an encouraging reminder that mission does not begin with a strategy or a checklist, but with learning to be with Jesus and joining him in the places where he has already gone ahead of us.

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian and Cory are joined by Jack Price, disciple-maker and global coach with Novo, for a conversation about cultivating a life of prayer that naturally overflows into disciple-making. As part of the Teach Us to Pray series, Jack reflects on growing up in a family where prayer, listening to God, and making disciples were woven into everyday life. From prayer walking school hallways and leading Discovery Bible Studies as a teenager to seeing God move across college campuses and among unreached communities around the world, Jack shares how learning to hear God's voice has shaped every season of his journey.

This episode explores what it means to become the kind of person who expects God to speak and is willing to respond with simple obedience. Jack, Brian, and Cory discuss listening prayer, prayer walking, spiritual discernment, and the patient work of partnering with the Holy Spirit over months and even years. Through stories of transformation, healing, and disciple-making, this episode offers a vision of prayer not as preparation for mission, but as the very way we discover where Jesus is already at work and faithfully join Him in the harvest.

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian and Cory are joined by Todd Kangas, disciple-maker and prayer practitioner, for a conversation about healing prayer, hearing God's voice, and the courage to step into the mission of Jesus. As part of the Teach Us to Pray series, Todd reflects on a lifetime of learning to pray with expectancy—from his own conversion during the Jesus Movement to decades of praying for healing in workplaces, gyms, neighborhoods, and everyday conversations. Along the way, he shares stories of God's faithfulness while honestly wrestling with the mystery of unanswered prayers and the reality of suffering.

This episode explores how prayer flows from a deep confidence in God's love and an identity rooted in Christ. Todd, Brian, and Cory discuss listening prayer, overcoming the fear of man, and the simple obedience of joining the Holy Spirit wherever He is already at work.

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian and Cory are joined by Tim Schuck, director of Novo’s Activating Prayer Cohort and host of the Called Beyond podcast, for a conversation about prayer as a lived relationship with God. As part of the Teach Us to Pray series, Tim shares his own unexpected story of how a skeptical homebuilder encountered Jesus through a simple listening prayer exercise—an experience that reshaped his understanding of God's voice and ultimately redirected the course of his life and ministry.

More than a conversation about prayer techniques, this episode explores what happens when ordinary followers of Jesus begin to embrace their identity as sons and daughters of God who are invited to hear His voice and join His mission. Tim, Brian, and Cory reflect on listening prayer, spiritual authority, identity, and the everyday practice of partnering with the Holy Spirit beyond the walls of the church. Through stories of awakening, disciple-making, and faithful obedience, this episode offers an invitation to move beyond simply believing that God speaks and into the adventure of listening, responding, and discovering the unique calling He has placed on every life.

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian and Cory are joined by Zach Duke, disciple-maker and movement leader, for a conversation that weaves together prayer, obedience, and an unexpected journey onto the soccer field. As part of the Teach Us to Pray series, Zach shares the remarkable story of how a simple prompting from Jesus led him from years of illness and discouragement into a season of radical obedience—one that eventually opened doors to professional soccer, international competition, and disciple-making opportunities around the world.

More than a story about sports, this conversation explores what happens when ordinary people learn to listen for the voice of God and respond with simple faithfulness. Zach reflects on lessons learned through prayer, the practice of hearing God's voice, and the power of priestly prayer to bless, protect, and intercede for others. Through stories of transformation, disciple-making, and unexpected encounters with God, this episode offers a vision of a life shaped by prayerful dependence and courageous obedience.

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian and Cory are joined by Lissa Hinman, a disciple-making leader with Phoenix Underground and New Generations, whose life and ministry have been shaped by a growing passion for movement prayer. Together, they continue the Teach Us to Pray series by exploring the connection between prayer, spiritual formation, and the advancement of God’s kingdom. Lissa shares from her own journey of helping catalyze prayer across North America, offering insight into what it means to move beyond viewing prayer as a secondary practice and instead see it as the starting point—the spearhead—of everything God is doing.

This conversation invites us to consider prayer not only as a personal discipline, but as participation in a spiritual battle where disciples are formed and movements begin. Lissa emphasizes the importance of starting with our own lives—learning to discern distractions, walk in obedience, and engage God with simple, faithful steps. As the conversation unfolds, the invitation becomes clear: prayer is not reserved for the experienced or the equipped, but for anyone willing to step into relationship with Jesus and join Him in what He is already doing.

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian and Cory are joined by David Hinman, a disciple-making leader with New Generations and Phoenix Underground, whose journey has been shaped by both movement strategy and a deepening hunger for the presence of God. Together, they continue the conversation on extraordinary prayer by exploring what distinguishes prayer that fuels movements from what many of us have experienced in the West. David shares from his own story of hitting a wall—moving from activity and ambition into a growing awareness that fruitfulness flows from abiding union with Jesus.

This conversation invites us to examine the gap between talking about prayer and becoming people of prayer. Drawing on global movement contexts, David helps reframe prayer not as a supporting practice, but as the environment where disciple-making is born, sustained, and multiplied. What if the invitation is not simply to pray more, but to be formed differently, to live from intimacy, dependence, and a shared longing for God’s kingdom to take root in real people and places?