Thanking God for a Great '08, by Pete GreigPete Greig - 3 Mar 2009

Come, let’s tell the good news! Jeremiah 51:10

Back in January someone told me he didn’t know a single person who’d had a ‘great 2008’. Not one! Well, if you’re a regular visitor to this website, you’ll know that there have been many great answers to prayer in 2008.

Last year there were more than one thousand 24-7 Prayer Rooms. (Actually, these are just the ones registered here on the website. We reckon the total is more like 3,000). We also reached our 91st nation (Papua New Guinea). Perhaps even more exciting than such breadth is the depth: more and more 24-7 groups are now praying night-and-day for months or even years at a time.

Touched by God in Bagdhad

Of all the thousands of emails we received last year, one was particularly poignant: “Greetings from Baghdad… I thank God who has enabled me to start a 24-7 Prayer here. We had one of the most anointed prayer times this morning… touched by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Miracles in UK

I guess we tend to expect miracles to happen in places like Africa, so this report from a UK prayer room blows my mind: “We have recently seen a lady get out of a wheel chair, and another throw away her crutches. Another had an inoperable cancer disappear.  All verified by the medical people and in direct relationship to 24-7 prayer.”

Tears in the Jungle

Deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea last year, believers encountered Christ powerfully in a 24-7 Prayer ‘Hut’ specially constructed from bamboo and old tyres, with hibiscus flowers and a cross made from palm leaves adorning the door. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, “many were touched by the presence of God. Some would even start to cry as they knocked on the door to be let in… Half a year later, our 24-7 Prayer is still going.”

Impact in America

It’s this combination of geographical breadth with spiritual depth that makes 24-7 so exciting. In January our Campus America team gathered in Kansas City and reported that prayer rooms have now been established on more than 450 American university and college campuses – bringing almost a quarter of the total student population of America into close proximity with the presence of God!

Salvation in Uganda

Every story from every prayer room is remarkable. But perhaps my favourite report of 2008 came from Uganda and reads like something from the pages of the New Testament: “In our prayers the Lord revealed to us an island without the church, and yesterday the island was found and fifty people got saved and church is planted because of prayer...”

There is so much else I’d love to share with you… I haven’t even mentioned the thrilling developments in North Africa, Sweden, and Mexico, nor the new training initiatives, the growth of Boiler Rooms, the re-design of this website, the exciting possibilities with Alpha in London, the growing vision for social justice…

Time to Reap

If you’re ever tempted to wonder what difference 24-7 Prayer is making, let me tell you: churches are being planted, diseases are being healed, good news is lifting the poor, and countless lives are being changed in thousands of prayer rooms.

Looking back on such great answers to prayer in 2008, we have a sense of urgency and expectation for 2009. With church attendance increasing in many of the areas worst-hit by recession and redundancy, and with many more people crying out to God for help, the challenge for 2009 must surely be to reap, to leap forward, and not to retreat. As Jesus said: “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (John 4: 35)

In 2009 the world needs the power, the presence and the perspective of prayer more than ever. Please help us to answer that global heart-cry, with a gift to 24-7 for the year ahead.  To support all that God is doing through 24-7, click on the button to the left and follow the instructions on the webpage provided.

Thank you!

Pete Greig