New 24-7 Book Inspires Upper Rooms across the British Isles - 26 Mar 2005
---'upper rooms' all over the land---
 |
Just over a year ago, in a meeting with Rev. Steve Chalke of Faithworks, a crazy idea popped into our little minds... how about mobilising loads of British churches to set up 24-7prayer rooms during the week before Pentecost Sunday - 8th-15th May 2005? |
Like the 'upper room' in Acts (where the first disciples gathered to pray and seek God until the Holy Spirit fell like a firey hurricane, prop-elling them out into the streets). With UK elections likely just days before Pentecost Sunday, followed by the G8 summit, not to mention a massive 24-7prayer week across Parliament and Whitehall later in June, and an unprecedented year-of-prayer being called by the Methodists... this seems like a good time to gather in our own 'upper rooms' and cry out for God's Spirit to come like a firey hurricane on us? And propel *us* out into our streets with signs and wonders. (It felt like an inspired idea as we talked, and it still does... don't you think?!)So... how about it? How about getting together with your friends, with your church leaders, and working towards the 8th-15th May week - especially those who have run 24-7prayer weeks before? If you're up for it, please get your church/group to register your week on the website (HERE) - because (a) it will mean that you'll pop up on our radar, and you'll then get friendly anything-I-can-do-to-help calls from Phil Baldwin, from the UK 24-7 Base (it also helps us to gather and share the stories that emerge from the prayer rooms), and (b) it will pop you through to the resources section of the website (see below).
---a *NEW* 24-7prayer book!---
To help kick-start this pre-Pentecost week-of-prayer we've written a *new* book (along with Faithworks) called Prayer Works (published by Authentic) - it will be available from Spring Harvest, from our web-shop and from Christian bookstores soon, so watch for it. The book is split into three main sections;- Stories and suggestions for setting up a 24-7prayer rooms (written by 24-7 UK Base leader Phil Togwell), drawing on a lot of the themes from our 24-7prayer Manual.
- an all-new eight-day menu, packed full of ideas, quotes, resources and 'triggers' for praying through the week, built around a series of themes. e.g. the family, excluded people-groups, law and politics and working life.
- a 'what-next' section, with suggestions for ways to move 24-7 prayer into action in our local communities.
In the introduction to the new book, Phil Togwell writes;
 Phil Togwell co-author of new 24-7 title Prayerworks |
"As we read the Pentecost story, the day when God's people around the world remember the extraordinary outpouring of Holy Spirit 'on all flesh', and the birth of the Church, we find that this 'all flesh' is flesh just like ours."
"The week of night and day, 24 hour prayer for which this book has been designed echoes that story. It encourages us to make time for seeking God, for asking God some honest questions and listening carefully for God's direction; time to defy the acceleration of our busy lives and wait on God, time for intimacy with the |
Father and time to be energised once again by Holy Spirit, to respond to God's call to be involved, to be passionately engaged in our communities and our world."
8-15 May 2005... come on!