24-7 prayer started by accident in September 1999, with a bunch of young people in England who got the crazy idea of trying to pray non-stop for a month. God turned up and they couldn’t stop till Christmas!
From there the prayer meeting has spread into many nations, denominations and age groups. Hundreds of non-stop prayer meetings now link up here on the web to form a unique chain of prayer.
Participating groups pledge to pray 24 hours a day for a week or more in a dedicated prayer room. They then “carry the baton of prayer” for that period. The prayer passes from location to location in a never-ending flow linked up by the Worldwide Web. We are a virtual community praying in real locations. Right now someone, somewhere is praying 24-7.
WHY DO YOU NEED A PRAYER ROOM?
“A Prayer Room is to the church what the heart is to the body.” (The Praying Church Source Book)
Locating the prayer season in a specific location seems to be one of the keys to the effectiveness of 24-7. Why?
- The Holy Spirit can fill a place as well as a person (Acts 2.2, 16.16). There’s often a strong sense of God’s presence in such a place of prayer, even experienced by non-Christians.
- Time often goes quicker! Many have reported that “in the prayer room one hour feels like 10 minutes.”
- Evangelistically the prayer room is excellent. Non-Christians have often sat in such places to pray; some have said that they can feel God’s presence. People who don’t want to be preached at still like to be prayed for.
- The prayer room enables people to pray non-verbally, by posting artwork, poetry and graffiti on the wall. The environment can be artistically designed to stimulate and direct prayer.
- The room provides accountability – a place where people have to turn up, and this ensures a constant flow as one prayer shift hands the baton onto the next. Visiting the room is like a mini-pilgrimage.
- A shared location provides a strong sense of being part of a community carrying each others’ burdens, celebrating the breakthroughs together and ministering to one another. You are more than a link in a prayer chain.
- Prayer rooms have been opened in all kinds of weird and wonderful locations:
*** a barn in the English countryside,
*** a skate park in Switzerland,
*** a bus in the slums of Delhi,
*** a police station in London,
*** an office in Tulsa Oklahoma,
*** the U.S. Naval Academy,
*** a brewery in Missouri,
*** in tents,
*** in student basements,
*** campus chapels and…
*** Oh yes, church buildings!
“A Prayer Room helps a church look beyond itself, motivating it to unleash prayer power for the unsaved, the community, the nation, the church’s missionaries, and the world.” (The Praying Church Source Book)
Because bold, persistent prayer is effective. First, it changes us. Then it changes the world. Jesus told stories to encourage us to “cry out day and night” (Lk 18) and to persist in prayer.
- Pentecost came to a prayer room.
- Paul urged the Thessalonians to “pray constantly.”
- The early church “joined together constantly in prayer.” (Acts 1-14)
- Celtic Monks at Bangor Abbey in Ireland prayed continually for 200 years. A young Celt called Ciaran formed a community in Clonmacnoise near Dublin back in 547AD. Sadly, Ciaran died after just seven months but the community prayed for about 1,000 years and sent out missionaries all over the world!
- The pope decreed continual prayer in certain locations in the 15th century.
- In the 18th century, a small community of Moravians began a 24-7 prayer meeting that lasted for over a hundred years, mobilized 3,000 missionaries and converted John Wesley! (check out ‘Stuff’ / Zinzendorf)
- Many revival centers today see 24-hour prayer as a necessity.
“I HAVE POSTED WATCHMEN ON YOUR WALLS O JERUSALEM; THEY WILL NEVER BE SILENT DAY OR NIGHT. YOU WHO CALL ON THE LORD GIVE YOURSELVES NO REST, AND GIVE HIM NO REST TILL HE ESTABLISHES JERUSALEM AND MAKES HER THE PRAISE OF THE EARTH,” ISAIAH 62:6-7
Are we big enough to pray non-stop?
Good question! It only takes 24 people to pledge an hour a day to fill a week. If you feel your group isn’t big enough, you can join with other groups or Churches in your area to fill the week together. If you truly feel you are not big enough to fill a week, then try a day or weekend to give people a taster of non-stop prayer. If you register with us, we will still send you all the resources. Many groups realize that continual prayer is a challenge, but it’s in rising to the challenge that they push themselves and discover a new hunger for time with God!
Who can organize 24-7?
A 24-7 Prayer Room can be organized by anyone with a heart and passion to see people meeting with God. We do recommend though that it be organized with the approval of your Church/youth group/CU leadership. If you are not in leadership, meet with the appropriate people, share the vision and offer to make it happen!
Why do we need a Prayer Room?
A Prayer Room helps build a sense of community and ownership throughout your week(s) of prayer. It also provides a built-in accountability as people need to turn up on time to “pick up the baton” from the person praying before them. Having a specific room kitted out with arts materials and suggestions for prayer creates a very conducive and creative environment. As the room begins to fill with people’s prayers and heart cries, it can reveal what God is doing in the lives of your group.
Wouldn’t we be better to build up to this gradually?
There’s something about the extreme challenge of 24-7 Prayer that makes it work! Water down that challenge and you lose the dynamic. There are always a million good reasons to put it off and no one ever feels truly prepared to go for it the first time, but the sheer nature of continual prayer means you have to depend on God from the onset. If your group is particularly small, then you can register for two or three days with your first room, but think seriously about whether you want to take on the challenge of a week!
How long do we pray for?
When working out how long you want to run your 24-hour prayer room, please consider:
The size of your group. If 35 people commit to pray for an hour a day, you’ll easily fill a week. Some will prefer to pray in pairs, while others will want the room to themselves. The strength of your community. Often what makes a Prayer Room work is not the number of people you have, but the sense of community within your group. Some large Churches have struggled to pray for a week because their members aren’t used to attending anything other than a Sunday meeting. One group of 20 students in Belfast found that they couldn’t stop after their week of prayer and a Church of 100 in London prayed for an incredible 15 weeks!
The rhythm of prayer. Many groups find that a week is not long enough, and often continue to pray for longer. Though it is fantastic to flow with what God is doing, we do recommend that wherever possible, new groups aim for a week for their first Prayer Room. A week is long enough to be a challenge but short enough to be an achievable goal for most groups. Wherever possible, we recommend that groups don’t continue to pray unless they are confident they can fill any additional time. It is better to end a week on a high with a hunger for more time with God, than to continue and burn everyone out.
What if it doesn’t work?
No worries! Just stop, relax and realize that even though you didn’t reach your target, you’ve probably just mobilized the most prayer there’s been in your area in ages!!!
MISSION:
To connect and serve Pastors and Leaders in the One Body of Christ in Kansas City to seek the heart of God TOGETHER in friendship, prayer, and mission.
OUR STRATEGY – CITYWIDE VILLAGE FIRES:
A Village Fire is composed of pastors, ministry leaders, and business leaders who meet regularly in different geographic regions of Kansas City to connect, pray, and partner in mission in their community.
- CONNECTING IN KINGDOM FRIENDSHIPS
The Kingdom of God is advancing in Kansas City through authentic friendship in the Body of Christ. Paul prayed in Philippians 1:9 that “love would abound more and more.” A lifestyle of abounding love is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings humility and builds trust and restores health in the Body of Christ.
- UNITING IN PERSISTENT PRAYER
Unless the LORD builds the house, we build in vain. (Psalm127:1) Desperate, persistent prayer is cultivated and sustained through a deepening love with Jesus. As pastors and leaders dwell in the presence of the Lord together, the Holy Spirit builds His House in Kansas City bringing revelation and empowerment for the Kingdom work through the One Body of Christ.
- PARTNERING IN MISSION—BEAUTIFUL CITY
Beautiful City is a transformation compassion-based partnering network of Kansas City Village Fires. Contextual united mission in the Village Fire is discovered where the desires of God’s heart, the dream and vision of the city leaders, and the combined resources of the Village Fire converge.
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- Prayer—Seeking God personally and corporately through prayer connects us with the desires of God’s heart and provides strategic revelation.
- Care—Inviting city leaders to share the dream in their heart for the community helps identify where God is working and how to help.
- Share—Applying combined resources of churches and businesses, as we serve together, allows us to demonstrate the love of God in oneness as we meet tangible needs and share the eternal hope of Jesus Christ.
CORE VALUES:
- PERSONAL INTIMACY WITH GOD
Psalm 91:1, Psalm 16:11
- UNITED PERSISTENT PRAYER
Acts 1:14; 4:31; 6:4
- HUMILITY
Philippians 2 “Trust Account”
- FRIENDSHIP AND HONOR
Romans 12:10; 1 Peter 1:22
- SERVICE
Matthew 20:26-28
- UNITY and PARTNERSHIP
John 17:23; Psalm 133; Ephesians 2 & 4
House of Prayer Weekends
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Many congregations are seeking to revive a culture of prayer as seen in the book of Acts. Through these weekends pastors and their leadership teams are inspired to cultivate a vibrant prayer life and to help their congregations to integrate worship based prayer into every aspect of church life. Hundreds of people are encountering the presence of God on these weekends.
Training and equipping is designed to help pastors and their leadership to develop creative and contextual houses of prayer integrating worship-based prayer into every aspect of congregational life.
“It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer…” Matthew 21:13
For more information contact Executive Director, Pastor Gary Schmitz – revivalkc@yahoo.com
Pastoral Staff and Leadership Gathering
- Awakening a Sense of Urgency
- The Role of Leadership in the Praying Church Culture
- The House of Prayer: Our Core Identity
- Five Basic Ingredients of the Praying Church
Sunday Morning – Awakening Thirst for God
- An Invitation: The Praying Church Culture
- 24-7 Prayer: A Global Movement
- Connecting Intercessory Prayer and Missional Outreach
Sunday Evening – Workshops for the Congregation
- The Life that Attracts the Presence of God
- Cultivating a Life of Prayer
Fresh Encounter Concert of Prayer
- A Concluding Evening of Church-wide Worship Based Prayer Highlighting 24/7
- A Delightful Hour with God