Part of the 24-7 Prayer vision is to be a blessing to the body of Christ, the Church, in the UK. Our desire is to do this through encouraging groups and churches to host prayer rooms, and by encouraging all Christians, especially small groups of friends, to develop daily rhythms of prayer. Prayer rooms are at the heart of what we do, and anyone can join in with them, and host their own. All it takes is a room (you’d be surprised at what ‘rooms’ can and have become prayer rooms!), a bunch of people, a little bit of creativity, and a desire to pray (desire and availability are far more important that ‘expertise’… there are no prayer experts).
In the UK, prayer rooms have sprung up in schools, prisons, homes, University campuses, in the Houses of Parliament, even on double-decker buses! For children, young people and the not-so-young, for the extroverts and the introverts, for the contemplatives, the Catholics and the charismatics, for believers of any church denomination in fact, a prayer room can provide a context where people can talk to God and hear from God. Prayer rooms are simple spaces, but they have the potential to enable groups and churches to pray more and to pray more deeply… and they have perhaps a unique ability to bring people together in the heart of local communities, and to create space for God’s presence.
Having experienced prayer rooms, many people discover a new passion for prayer, and begin searching for ways to continue prayer beyond their week of 24-7 Prayer. We’re learning, along with saints throughout Christian history, that daily prayer is the heart of a healthy spiritual rhythm of life, which can also include rhythms of hospitality and mission, justice and creativity, learning and prayer (to name a few). Our hope is that Holy Spirit will inhabit our lives more fully through these daily disciplines. These ‘4 R’s’ are not simply a ladder to climb, or a defined path to take – they simply describe a pattern that we’ve observed and that we continue to encourage. However, groups and churches often enjoy hosting prayer rooms so much that they simply include a regular prayer room into their annual cycle of life, rather than progress onto other ‘R’s… and we want to support this too.