we be church

Prayer as Mission

Photo by Ben Askew

So the church I attend as a student (City Church Newcastle) is just finished a series on prayer. At the last service we looked at Praying Together as a Church Family with the example of the early church in Acts 4:23-31.
What I love is that they are told not to speak about Jesus and then when released they decide that they need to pray together and ask for the exact opposite, boldness to speak. They had faith which caused them to be spiritually stubborn for Jesus. The place where they pray is shaken and the Holy Spirit arrives. They then do what they prayed for, went out and again spoke with boldness, they were open to God to deliver their prayers in them stepping out.

I just want to illustrate this. I came across this video of 24/7 Prayer in Ibiza the party capital of the world. There is a load of prayer going on but notice it is mixed with action/mission. You will have to watch it on YouTube as it can’t be embedded here.
Also of inspiration is my pal Clair Francis talking on prayer at Kings Church in Wellington New Zealand. Go Clair!

24/7 Prayer – What on Earth is all the Fuss?

So what is the 24/7 Prayer movement, how did it start? Do people really pray for 24 hours straight?! This documentary on 24/7 Prayer was originally made as part of a university dissertation and reveals how it is impacting people world wide since it’s humble beginnings (filmed in 2006).

There is a story behind the filming of the documentary. One of the student film makers producing the documentary found himself so impacted by the prayer room goings-on (combined with ‘Alpha’ and a little book called Purpose Driven Life bought by Jim) he decided to become a Christian, pretty much while on shoot. The last two scenes you see are of the moment Tom becomes a Christian, and the wonderful aftermath… Booyakasha!

I have seen for myself the outcomes of 12/7 Prayer in a Church community. It’s fantastic to see people who want to spend time with God and who want others to know about how awesome He is. Conversing, listening and loving God (prayer) really does rock socks as it helps us be who we were made to be, worshipers of Christ! To be totally honest a church without prayer is like a hamburger without the meat. It’s also possible that prayer without a truth guzzling Church becomes very wishy washy with no firm hunky holding.

In the UK alone 75% of the population apparently admit to praying at least once – many of whom don’t consider them selves followers of Jesus.