KCU Podcast

Discover how to live as everyday disciple-makers in Kansas City and beyond. Through real stories, practical tools, and inspiring conversations, we equip you to Get to Know KCU, Train as Missionaries, and Multiply Disciple-Makers. Join us as we explore what it means to bring the beauty, justice, and Good News of Jesus to where you live, work, learn, and play.

Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson

Teach Us to Pray with Todd Kangas

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.

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Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson

Teach Us to Pray with Zach Duke

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.

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Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson

Teach Us to Pray with Lissa Hinman

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.

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Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson

Teach Us to Pray with David Hinman

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?

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Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson Prayer & Spiritual Formation Brian Johnson

Teach Us to Pray with Stephen Castellow

In this episode of the KC Underground podcast, Brian and Cory are joined by Stephen Castellow, a disciple-making practitioner who lives at the intersection of movement and prayer. Together, they continue the conversation on extraordinary prayer. We feel the tension that we talk about prayer, we teach it, we even build structures around it, but still wonder if we’re actually becoming people of prayer. Stephen invites us to consider moving beyond tools and strategies into a life of abiding, where prayer is not something we perform, but the place we are formed.

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