AIM

To provide some suggestions for what to do if you want to take part in the 24-7 prayer event.

You can also download this page in pdf format
Download 24 7 prayer how to do it.pdf

 

INTRODUCTION

So you want to take part in 24-7 prayer but are wondering what to do. This short list of suggestions has been written to get you started. You don’t have to do it like these or to do all of these things but hopefully this list will help you to plan you participation in the 24-7 prayer event.

 

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR 24-7 PRAYER

• Talk to other people in your church and agree together which hour you will sign up for
• Make sure you get the Elders, Minister and other key people on board
• Get together a small group of other people who are keen on doing this
• See if anyone already has any experience of 24-7 prayer to offer
• Decide where you’re going to pray - in church (worship area, hall or small room), in someone’s home or another place
• Make sure the space is warm and comfortable – with a variety of places to sit
• Provide a simple focal point - a cross, a candle, an open Bible, a bowl of water and towel
• Bring a CD and player with some gentle background music – instrumental works better than music with words
• Reassure people they don’t have to fill every minute with spoken prayer – individual, silent prayer is powerful too
• Provide some written prayers for people to pray individually or together – there are plenty on the website, or there’s a Vision4Life prayer in the booklet and reproduced below.
• Help people to get through what may seem a long time by suggesting you all pray together at points during the hour – perhaps praying the Lord’s Prayer out loud together
• Close the hour by inviting people into a circle, holding hands if it seems appropriate
• Ask God together to bless the time you’ve shared and the prayers you’ve offered

Prayer

You may want to end you time together with the Vision4life prayer from the booklet.

A Vision4Life prayer

Life-giving God, creator of all,

you spoke the world into being

and saw that it was good.

Help us to see the world through your eyes –

messy yet full of potential,

incomplete yet perfect in parts.

When our view is distorted

may we refocus it through your lens of love.

Generous God,
give us vision for life.
Jesus Christ, saviour of all,

you live alongside us and show us

life in all its fullness.

Help us to look with you for hidden possibilities –

tiny mustard seeds of new growth,

grains of yeast that activate change.

As we identify signs of hope give us your energy

to keep searching for more.

Generous God,
give us vision for life.
God, the Holy Spirit, new life of all,

you blow away our excuses

and overcome our defensiveness.

Help us to keep in tune with your promptings –

glimpses of what could be,

hints of new outcomes we didn’t expect.

Generous God,
give us vision for life.

 

Feedback

We would love to hear of your experiences of being a part of Prayer Year and especially your 24-7 event, whether you are joining in for an hour or a day. Please send your feedback with stories and examples of what happened, how you did it and materials you used, along with perhaps comments from your 24-7 prayer journal. We would also like to receive photos and perhaps short 30 second videos of what happened. We hope to place some of these on the website as encouragement and support for other churches. Email admin@urc.org.uk