Excited?
We're delighted that you're considering hosting a 24-7 prayer season in your locality. As such, you are part of a growing movement of people determined to 'pray like it all depends on God and live like it all depends on us'.
Confused?
24-7 is a prayer meeting spread across many nations and lasting many months without a break. You can be a vital link in the international 24-7 chain for anything between a week and a month. 24-7 is for churches who are bad at prayer. 24-7 takes normal, excitable, disorganised young people and teaches them to pray... by praying.
We believe passionately that 24-7 is part of a movement - beginning right now - which could turn the tide of youth culture back to Jesus. There is an awesome sense of being caught up in something God is doing in our generation. He is gathering an army and bringing us to our knees. He has started it. He will make it happen. History makers must learn to pray - "to move man, through God, by prayer alone." (Hudson Taylor).
Scared? Not sure?
Whatever you do, don't get too complex (or 'sensible') about it. Star Trek's captain Spock would never approve of 24-7 - it is entirely ridiculous at every level! All you need to do is find a room with a kettle, mobilise the troops and start to pray. Hopefully this article will make the 24-7 undertaking a little easier. It is really practical and informative and tries to answer many of the issues we have encountered in praying 24-7. And the thing about us, is that we are bad at praying! Terrible in fact. We still can't get more than a handful of people to normal prayer gatherings.
It was with a certain amount of nervousness that we began praying on 5th September 1999, planning to see if we could keep going for a month. We had little idea what we were doing, except that God was calling us to pray. The first 24 hour period seemed like an enormous undertaking, requiring as many as 48 people to pray for an hour each, right through the busy day and the long, winter night. I was worried. What had I committed us to? But the momentum grew as people met with God in that room. Prayers were answered, some saw angels, non-Christian visitors sat in wonder, unsigned graffiti crept across the walls glorifying Jesus, married couples slipped out in the night to pray together and even new Christians assumed it normal to pray for an hour.
Our 24-7 season was extended again and again and spread to other churches. People were sad when we finally stopped for Christmas 1999 and couldn't wait for our next season of prayer. If we can do it, anyone can! If you have any further questions, no matter how detailed, please don't hesitate to get in touch with the 24-7 office in the country nearest you.
For the gospel
Pete Greig
24-7 Prayer International
