Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Spreading 24/7 Prayer Worldwide

“If Christians prayed as Christians ought - with strong commanding faith, with earnestness and sincerity - men, God-called men, God-empowered men everywhere, would be burning to go and spread the Gospel worldwide. The Word of the Lord would run and be glorified as never known heretofore. The God-influenced men, the God-inspired men, the God-commissioned men, would go and kindle the flame of sacred fire for Christ, salvation, and heaven, everywhere in all nations. Soon all men would hear the glad tidings of salvation and have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.” E. M. Bounds

There is no doubt about it. Day and night prayer ignites the power of God to release the fire of the Gospel throughout the earth. Every nation, every city, every people group, every neighborhood cannot miss the tremendous influence of the atmosphere of prayer released from the 24/7 prayer room. There is something deep and far-reaching that happens when God’s people give themselves to 24/7 prayer and intercession in a given location. It cannot be measured by human means, but its’ dynamic power can set the fire of God loose in a nation in a way that is beyond comprehension.

I have heard of evangelists going to a region, locking themselves in a hotel room, praying unceasingly for days, and then going out and sharing the Gospel with incredible results. If one man can see that happen, imagine the effect when the Church worldwide gives itself to prayer and actually makes prayer its primary business. Then we shall surely see things happen! None of us have gotten there yet, but it certainly should be our highest ambition and shall take a primary role as we see the end-time scenario unfold before us.

Perhaps one of the greatest prayer warriors in all of history was Praying Hyde of northern India who lived from 1865-1912. He would miss meals and would bow down or lie on the ground because of intense travail, and cry out to the Lord daily for souls. He was burning within for the salvation of the lost. Finally with an agonizing passion for those without Christ, he began to pray that God would let him win a soul to Jesus every day that year. At the end of the year, four hundred souls had been won through his daily witness. The next year Hyde cried out to the Lord for two souls a day! That year about eight hundred had responded to Christ through Hyde. But his heart grew in intense desperation, and he began to plead to God for four souls a day. That year he led four souls a day to Christ. He would first travail for the lost, and then go out and speak to men and women about how to find eternal life through Christ. He first prayed, and then he witnessed. After praying, the Holy Spirit would lead him to the right individuals. Multitudes came to Christ through this praying man. What a fantastic method of evangelism!

The ministry of Anna is increasing across the earth. God is raising up individuals who give themselves to day and night prayer as she and Praying Hyde did. Anna in the Bible, even though extremely old, worshiped God night and day almost all her life. We read in Luke 2:36b-37, “She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.” God is raising-up intercessory missionaries who pray night and day. The urgency of the hour and the present emphasis on prayer makes 24/7 prayer a possibility in this generation. We cannot do without intercession and individuals who give themselves to prayer like Anna. The need is too great.

Catch and Spread the Vision for 24/7 Prayer


"Prayer is the key to reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus. The greatest forces of power in the universe are mobilized, and history is made when we pray. God is looking for men who will stand in the gap on behalf of the land” (Ezekiel 22:30, Isaiah 59:16, 63:5). E. M. Bounds


24/7 Houses of Prayer are spreading all over the world. Prayer rooms are also being established in churches throughout the world. Not only are churches starting them, denominations and Christian organizations have started prayer watches. The Salvation Army in Australia and in England started praying 24/7 for a week in 52 of their branches with immediate results! YWAM, with 16 bases in Western Europe, set aside an entire year where each base took responsibility for a week and filled the whole year with 24/7 prayer. In 2005, thirteen denominations and Christian organizations in England alone started filling the whole year with 24/7 prayer. Several prisons in Argentina have established 24/7, 365-day prayer watches where the inmates pray for their families, communities, their country, fellow inmates, and the world! Inmates are converted and change their lifestyle. Breakthroughs are happening in the prisons. Here’s how you can catch and spread the vision:

• Rejoice that God is awakening the watchmen –
Watch the Awaken “Awaken the Watchmen” video to find out how the 24-7 prayer movement is spreading worldwide! This is a powerful video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMircbzC6w

• Daily pray that a 24/7 House of Prayer starts in every city in every nation -
Keep on praying for your own city to catch the vision for 24/7 prayer.

• Register your prayer watch -
www.global24-7.org is a website with the purpose of registering and encouraging prayer watches from all over the world. This will support what God is doing worldwide and help to link 24/7 prayer in different regions of the world.

• Start a one-month 24-7 House of Prayer in your city -
If you desire to start a one-month 24-7 House of Prayer in your city, join the Intercessors Arise International Network for encouragement and networking with others with the same vision for their city. If you haven’t yet received an invitation, write to me at deb@intercessorsarise.org.

Start a one-week House of Prayer in your church - Use my book Intercessors Arise: Personal Prayer that Changes the Word on prayer to help encourage your church in intercession and train people in prayer.

• Learn from other 24/7 Houses of Prayer -
Notice how they are functioning, what they teach and emphasize. Observe the creativity in each one. Here are a few House of Prayer websites to encourage your heart in how the 24/7 prayer movement is spreading worldwide, but there are dozens of websites.

24/7 Prayer internationally - www.ihop.org
24/7 Prayer in Israel - www.jerusalempraise.com
24/7 Prayer in Washington D.C. for justice - www.justicehouseofprayer.com
24/7 Prayer internationally among the youth - www.24-7prayer.com
24/7 Prayer in Hollywood for the media - www.unitedprayerforhollywood.org
24/7 Prayer in Canada - www.nationalhouseofprayer.com

I highly recommend the book Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts. This book gives the amazing story of how the 24/7 Prayer Movement is spreading worldwide among the youth. They have 24/7 prayer rooms that have grown into 24/7 prayer houses called “Boiler Rooms” and are modeled after the ancient Celtic monasteries. These Boiler Rooms are mission-focused and are places of disciplined prayer and outreach to the poor. They pursue missions, justice, hospitality, and prayer. As the world gets darker, they are spreading all over the world at an incredible rate and the vision is catching fire. Here is their incredible testimony:

“A movement to encourage churches to make room for nonstop prayer has spread to 63 nations in the last seven years and is especially multiplying in the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa. ‘We don’t have a fixed number of prayer rooms because they can take off so quickly,’ said Pete Greig, 37, who founded the 24/7 prayer movement in 1999 in Chichester, England. Named for its nonstop concert of prayer, 24/7 has meeting places as diverse as a bus in the slums of Delhi, India, and a brewery in Missouri. Volunteers pray, usually alone, in one-hour shifts, round the clock, seven days a week for global issues and requests they receive from their international website or from their local communities. Visitors are free to drop in, pray and talk. 24/7 also has planted itself in places where there is a crisis, such as Lebanon during the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, and in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Teams also live long-term in needy communities in Mexico, where intercessors can be found ministering among pimps and prostitutes. ‘In a squatter’s camp in Soweto, South Africa, we’ve seen 64 prayer tents spring up in just two years,’ Greig said. ‘The local man who spearheads them said 80 percent of new converts in the camp are maintaining their salvation, and the local police chief says crime has dropped by 20 percent.’ Greig said the movement is being fueled by young people who are passionate about prayer, justice and missions.”

This is only a small taste of what is happening worldwide in the area of prayer. Our God is creative, and we see the unique ways he initiates 24/7 prayer in different nations. Day and night prayer will lead to the final gathering of the worldwide harvest. Let’s jump on board and prepare for this harvest and the salvation of millions of souls. Let’s learn from the outstanding example of Praying Hyde and as we pray, let’s expect to see many souls saved. It is time for the Gospel to advance.

“If men would pray as they ought to pray, the marvels of the past would be more than reproduced. The Gospel would advance with a facility and power it has never known. Doors would be thrown open to the Gospel, and the Word of God would have a conquering force rarely if ever known before.” E. M. Bounds

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