24-7 Prayer is Coming HomeCarla Harding - 1 Nov 2011

As 2012 dawns 24-7 Prayer is launching an epic year of prayer and mission that will unite the Church across United Kingdom and Ireland. ‘Kingdom Come 2012’ will be an unprecedented explosion of prayer as the UK welcomes the world for the 2012 Olympics.  As churches and groups start booking a week or more to be part of the unbroken chain of 24-7 Prayer Rooms, one church in particular is gearing up to welcome the New Year with a bang…

Revelation Church is praying 24-7 from New Years day!

For those of you who’ve read Red Moon Rising, the story capturing some of the birth of this movement, the name Revelation Church will sound familiar. Revelation is the humble community in a rather small but picturesque city on the south coast of England, that began the first ever 24-7 Prayer Room.  Over 12 years ago this community prayed creatively and persistently for three months, responding to God’s call and being changed by His presence.  As Kingdom Come 2012 launches at the start of a New Year, 24-7 Prayer is coming home.

I was one of the students in the first ever prayer room and was entirely daunted by the prospect of learning to pray creatively and persistently.  I swore I’d never set foot in the prayer room and did a good job of avoiding it for the first few weeks of our 3-month marathon.  It wasn’t until a good friend asked me to join her for her hour and leave when I wanted that I first ventured into that holy, messy, smelly, beautiful place.  Like many others, for me that first prayer room redefined my understanding of prayer, exploded my faith and affected the course of my life and community.  As the ripples of what God did with us began to spread and others caught hold of the 24-7 vision temporary, creative tabernacles of night and day prayer, where Jesus and His people meet, sprang up across the globe.

Twelve years on God’s call to Revelation Church is still the same. Come spend time with me.  Learn what it means that you can pray “Our Father…”, know my love, tell me what’s on your mind, listen to my ideas… and… importantly for 2012, learn how to pray:

Your Kingdom come, your will be done in the United Kingdom and Ireland as it is in Heaven.

It’s an honour to begin the next year with a prayer room right where this adventure began.  As we plan and spread the word among our community there’s a sense that this could be part of a new birth of prayer in our midst.  I wonder what God will do with us this time?