Everything you wanted to know about 24/7 prayer at Open Door, but were afraid to . . . oh, you get the idea!

Pictured above - Count Zinzendorf

Our week of non-stop prayer for 2009, or “24/7” as we call it, is coming up soon! It has been such an amazing and beautiful time for our body the last two years, and yet there are many at Open Door who have never been, and probably are not really sure what it even is or entails. And, there are probably others of us, who although we have participated, still have some questions. The next few posts will give some background as we move forward towards this years’ week of prayer.

The idea of God’s people praying together, one after another, hour by hour, is nothing new. Here is a link to a brief historical overview – it’s worth taking a quick look at, especially the info on Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians: http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000013642 This link is from the website of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO, where there has been non-stop worship and prayer, yes, NON-STOP, 24/7/365, ever since September 19th, 1999.

Ironically, during the same month that year, God was doing something very similar and yet unique in England, where, as the http://www.24-7prayer.com/ website tells it, for them, “24-7 prayer started by accident in September 1999, with a bunch of young people in England who got the crazy idea of trying to pray non-stop for a month. God turned up and they couldn't stop til Christmas!” It goes on to say: “From there the prayer meeting has spread into many nations, denominations and age-groups. Hundreds of non-stop prayer meetings now link up here on the web to form a unique chain of prayer. “ The story of this modern day movements’ origins is told in founder Pete Greig’s compelling book, Red Moon Rising. It is well worth reading; also check out the 24-7prayer.com website for a broader view of the global 24/7 movement among youth around the world in our day.

So how did it get to Open Door? Read the next post above . . .