24-hour Prayer Vigil … Hour 1

So the faith community I serve is engaging in a 24-hour prayer vigil which began about 24 minutes ago (6pm on Friday, August 31). My wife is praying for the first hour. I am on a 6-hour stretch of being the “prayer attendant” before spending my hour in prayer.

When I talked about this with our vision ministry team, there was excitement, surprise, wonder. But I could tell they were thinking exactly what I was thinking: “Can we get 24 people to sign up and commit to an hour … and then actually pray for an hour?”

(By the way: Heather has just reached the 30-minute mark so I think she’ll come through!)

I was delighted. The hours between midnight and 6am were the first to fill up. It’s daunting for many … what do we pray about for an hour?

We produced a guide with some suggestions on what and how to pray for an hour. Here’s a few of the items:

Prepare Yourself–
Begin with a period of silence, acknowledging the presence of the Holy Spirit. You may want to repeat phrases such as: “Lord, thank you for inviting me to be here. Help me to hear what you want me to know about You and what Your purposes are for me.� Calm your spirit and center on God’s love for all people. Still your soul by focusing on a point of reference (cross, candle).

Beginning Thoughts–
“O God, You have declared me perfect in Your eyes: You have always cared for me in my distress; I know You hear me as I call again. Have mercy on me. Hear my prayer.�

I’ll post some more of how it goes and suggestions for prayer (and my personal experience) as it unfolds. Right now, a coastal storm is blowing through. Wonder if that will deter anyone from making their hour of commitment? We have taken the understanding that all prayer is offering our entire selves to the will of God and letting ourselves be aligned with Christ. So, here’s to offering up!

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
Have you ever prayed for an hour straight? What was it like for you?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

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Category: Christianity, Prayer, The Church One comment »

One Response to “24-hour Prayer Vigil … Hour 1”

  1. Heather Niece
    September 1st, 2007 at 6:11 pm

    When Brian came in to let me know that my hour was up, I realized that even an hour didn’t seem long enough to spend in prayer. I spent the first half hour focusing myself and praying through Scripture, as well as giving adoration, confession and thanksgiving. The other half hour was spent in supplication. The needs are too numerous to count in that time span. But on the same hand, my praise and thanksgiving to be offered to such an incredible God are too numerous to send in just 30 minutes. It was a wonderful time to escape and center on God and His purpose for my life.

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