21 Days of Prayer
How it all started
It was two years ago in 2021 when we began 21 Days of Prayer as a church family. COVID lockdown was still going on; we were not able to meet in person. There was a hunger for God and a hunger to see each other. I believe it was the Spirit who planted an idea in us to pray together for 21 days as we begin a new year. Since we had gotten used to meeting via zoom by the first year of COVID in 2020, we decided to pray together in the morning via Zoom. On the first day, I remember seeing so many faces and names on my computer screen. If I remember correctly there were well over 40 of us gathered via Zoom to pray together. Even though we were not physically together, we were somehow connecting spiritually. The Holy Spirit was definitely at work in our midst via Zoom throughout the whole 21 days.
Shortly after the 21 Days of Prayer, we had 40 Days of Prayer that year during the Lent season. Again, lots of people showed up during the 40 Days and as it came to an end, one of our leaders shared how it was so good to pray together in the morning and asked if we could continue. So a handful of us started to gather every morning to do what we did together during 21 days and 40 days of prayer. It went on for weeks, and then for months…and now for years.
Praying culture at New Hope
Praying together became a movement and has now become a culture at New Hope. Praise God! We are blessed to have the opportunity to come and pray together every day as a church family.
As long as you have the desire to pray together, you can come and join our prayer meetings any day of the week.
For those of you who are relatively new to our church, and for those of you who have not yet participated in our morning or evening prayers, here is why we do it and how we do it
Why do we pray together?
1. Prayer is a privilege. We have the access to the throne of grace and we have the ears of God who will answer our prayers.
2. Prayer is a means of grace. We experience God’s grace and encounter the living God through prayer.
3. Praying is an expression of our faith. We pray because we depend on God for our lives and in all that we do. We expect great things from God who will do mighty work that is impossible for us to do.
4. Praying together empowers the church through the Spirit of God for the mission of God. We seek God to enable us and empower us to do all that he has called us to do. We cannot do ministry or mission without the Spirit of God. Without being empowered by the Spirit through prayer there is no ministry or mission that brings glory to God or does good to people.
5. Praying together in the Spirit unites the church. When the early church devoted themselves to prayer with one mind, the Spirit came upon them. And the coming of the Spirit led to greater unity for the church.
So brothers and sisters, let's pray together!
How do we pray together?
1. We meet via zoom in the mornings (from 6:30 to 7 AM during weekdays and 8 to 9 AM on Saturdays). Meeting ID: 856 9852 8439, Passcode: “nhf”
2. Each day we read together the day’s portion of our Bible Reading Plan. (This year we are reading and praying with the Old Testament readings).
3. We are given about 10-15 minutes of our own personal meditation and prayer time.
4. We spend the last 10 minutes together to have a few people share their meditation and pray for one another and for the church.
Praying with the Bible
If you want to read a short explanation about praying with the Bible, please check out my column, “Reading, Meditating and Praying with God’s Word.” And I encourage you to take my next “Praying with the Bible” workshop. Now the best way to find out how we pray is to simply join one morning and see how we pray together. The best way to learn how to pray is to hear other people praying, for prayer is more caught than taught.
Those of you who may feel intimidated to show up in a prayer meeting, please be assured that you will not be asked to pray aloud. You can even have your camera off in the morning and just hear others' prayers and be blessed and encouraged.
Here is how you can participate in 21 Days of Prayer:
1. You can commit to participating for the whole 21 Days. We have had about 30 people who have been participating in the first of the 21 days of prayer. It’s been good to gather in the morning and pray together. Now even if you miss a day or two here and there, do not worry. You can always restart the next day.
2. You can commit to participating partially. If you did not get to join the first week of 21 days of prayer, you can still join us next week! You may want to commit three days a week or every Monday or every Saturday. However you choose to commit, it will be wise to set your mind and carve out your schedule to commit to it throughout the 21 days.
3. You can commit on your own, or you can commit together with others—whether it be your spouse or your friend or your Life Group. Doing it together is always better than doing it alone. It keeps you accountable and encouraged to keep on keeping on with prayers. I encourage you to consider having a partner or a group of friends who can encourage you to “strive together with them in their prayer to God.”
Wednesday night devo
For those of you who are not able to join the morning prayer, you can join our Wednesday night devo. We meet via Zoom from 8 to 8:45 PM on Wednesdays to read the New Testament portion of our daily Bible reading plan (currently the book of Acts) and pray with it. After reading the chapter of the day together, we are given about 10-15 minutes of our own personal meditation and prayer time, then we spend about 15-20 minutes together to share and pray for one another and for the church.
Whether you come and join the morning or the evening prayer, or have another time carved out for you to pray, let’s devote ourselves to praying together as a church in the new year.
