As we look ahead to another year of serving in New Orleans, we are full of gratitude and expectation. Each year, God shapes MissionLab through a central theme that guides our teaching, devotionals, and spiritual focus. For 2026, the LORD has clearly set before us a emphasis that is urgent, simple and deeply transformative.

Our theme this year is drawn from the words Jesus taught His disciples to pray:

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

This prayer is not merely something we recite. It is a request that reshapes our hearts, reorients our desires, and draws us into the active work of God in the world.

Prayer is not an accessory to the Christian life. Throughout Scripture, prayer is portrayed as the ordinary means by which God’s people commune with Him, depend on Him, and participate in His purposes. Jesus Himself prayed constantly, often withdrawing to quiet places, not because He lacked power, but because He delighted in dependence on the Father.

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He did not begin with personal needs or daily concerns. He began with God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. Prayer, at its core, is not about bending God’s will toward ours, but about aligning our hearts with His.

To pray “on earth as it is in heaven” is to ask God to make visible here what is already true there. Heaven is the place where God’s will is perfectly obeyed, His glory fully revealed, and His reign joyfully embraced. This prayer is an invitation for that heavenly reality to break into our ordinary lives, our neighborhoods, our relationships, and our work.

This year at MissionLab, we want to slow down and learn to pray with greater intention and faithfulness. That means asking honest questions together.

• Why do we pray?
• How does prayer actually change us?
• What does it look like to pray not only for God to act, but for God to shape our obedience?

As we pray, God exposes misplaced priorities, reshapes our loves, and teaches us to see people and places through His eyes. Prayer trains us to listen before we speak and to depend before we act.

For many of us, prayer can feel rushed, fragmented, or reactive. This year, we want to recover prayer as a steady rhythm of life with God. Not as a performance, and not as a last resort, but as daily dependence on the Father who delights to give good gifts to His children.

MissionLab exists to serve alongside local ministry partners and neighborhoods in New Orleans. This city bears beauty, resilience, joy, and deep brokenness all at once. It is a place where the need for the kingdom of God is not abstract, but visible and pressing.

To pray “on earth as it is in heaven” while serving here means we come with humility, not heroism. We come asking God to show us where His kingdom is already at work and how we might faithfully join Him.

This prayer guards us from seeing mission work as something we accomplish for God. Instead, it reminds us that we are invited into what God is already doing. Our acts of service, compassion, and love flow out of a life anchored in prayer.