East Belfast Mission Day of Prayer

East Belfast Mission has just completed its fourth "Day of Prayer" and once again God met with each person as they gave up time to come to the prayer room in the church for 30 minutes of prayer.

Tell us about how your church got involved in 24-7 prayer and why you decided to pray this way?

Prayer Tree
Click on the photo for a closer view

We really wanted to make prayer a greater priority and focus for the congregation and full time staff connected with East Belfast Mission but did not feel that we had the man power to effectively run the prayer room 24-7. For this reason we decided to hold a Day of Prayer (9am-9pm) every few months and ask people to sign up for 30 minutes slots. This has proved the easiest way to slowly introduce people to the concept of 24-7 prayer and the many creative ways we can use the church's prayer room. The prayer stations then remain in the prayer room for a few weeks to allow the staff and visitors to the mission to use the room when they have the opportunity.

How did your church respond? Any challenges and blessings?

The feedback received within East Belfast Mission about the prayer room and the specific days of prayer has been extremely positive. Many people have commented on how it forces us to take time away from the business of life and to focus our minds completely on God for that time. People found this particularly precious when we set up the prayer room last year for the week before Christmas. People cannot believe how it seems to be easier to focus on God for the time they are there and often leave saying they would be returning to complete the prayer stations they had been unable to reach. Other people have been challenged to take more time away from their usual routine to spend more time alone with God. Most importantly people have been praying and spending more time with their Father.