Continuous & 24 Hour Prayer

Your Upper Room could run for the full 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come, or you could try the challenge of running 24 hours of prayer non-stop with your friends or small group!

YOUR 5 STEP GUIDE TO RUNNING AN UPPER ROOM

1. DECIDE ON A VIRTUAL OR PHYSICAL SPACE

Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic people have run Virtual Prayer Rooms and Physical Prayer Rooms  in different parts of the world- some people have even run both alongside one another!

To help you decide which option is best, check out our resources, think about who you’d like to gather to pray, and consider any local Coronavirus restrictions.

2. GATHER A GROUP

The strength of community - people committing to God together – is the most important thing when starting any period of continuous prayer.

Ask God who you might be able to pray with -  is it your home group; Church;  friends, or perhaps even people across different nations?

Gather your group, share your vision, and get started. 

3.  GET EQUIPPED

We have a range of new resources for 2022

24-7 Prayer also offer support and resources that will help you to run a prayer room wherever you are. Start by registering your prayer room for free, and get access to downloadable resources that will help from start to finish. 

We’re also really excited to be launching a Thy Kingdom Come mini-series on 24-7 Prayer’s Lectio 365 app! Download the app for free, and join us from 13 May for inspiring content to encourage you as you pray.

4. THINK CREATIVELY

Embrace creativity when thinking about what to put in your Upper Room prayer room – we’ve got a guide to help you think of new ways to pray!

5.  GET PRAYING!

Break your time of non-stop prayer into one-hour slots, and ask people to join in: by registering your prayer room you’ll receive an online tool or sign up sheet to keep track!

Join in! Get started:

REGISTER YOUR UPPER ROOM PRAYER ROOM 

For more practical prayer room tips, check out our 24-7 Prayer Room FAQs and Tips

Guide taken from: https://www.24-7prayer.com/blog/2894/run-an-upper-room-thy-kingdom-come-2021 

The Virtual Upper Room: Case Studies from May 2020

Last year, we teamed up with 24-7 Prayer, to provide virtual prayer rooms for churches who would normally gather their congregations for continuous prayer in person. Inspired by the upper room experience in the book of Acts, where the early disciples gathered to pray, this timely resource reimagined continuous prayer in a digital space, enabling deeper periods of prayer – drawing on the richness of this historic tradition. Churches that had previously planned Beacon or continuous prayer events used the Virtual Upper Room to facilitate ecumenical, citywide, corporate continuous prayer events which happened in places such as Oxford and Manchester, UK. Many reported seeing more people involved and from further afield as a result of going online. Here are just two examples:

MANCHESTER CASE STUDY:

‘Whilst our plans for a public gathering in St Ann's Square had to be changed, we hosted an online prayer sign up for people to cover every hour of the full 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come in prayer. With more people signed up than hours in each of those days, across Greater Manchester we co-ordinated 330 hours of prayer. May we continue to #pray4five throughout the year to come.’

Graham Baker Ecumenical Facilitator Greater Manchester Churches Together

OXFORD CASE STUDY:

‘We felt that this was an important time for Christians across Oxford to gather together online to pray for the city. Working with churches leaders from all denominations, and inspired by the TKC national initiative, we set up a virtual upper room for the city. We were thrilled and encouraged to have over 200 people from at least 27 churches/congregations across Oxford join for prayer for 245 hours. Praise God!’

Reverend James Dwyer, Curate, St Andrews, and coordinator of the Upper Room, Oxford