Prayer Room at Holy Trinity Brampton

Q. What do envelopes, mosquito nets and an elephant have in common?A. They are all essential parts of any Prayer Room for the nations!Well at least they were for Holy Trinity Brompton ’s (HTB is a London church and home of the Alpha International initiative) latest 24-7 Prayer week that took place during Alpha’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) conference which saw over a thousand alpha leaders, bishops, archbishops and regular wonderful Christians come together to celebrate the evangelisation of the world.Given the international nature of the week there was a natural emphasis on world mission. One wall was covered in brown envelopes, each one representing a different country with visitors posting their prayers for that nation in the envelope. There was a vast map of the world with post-it note prayers and writing all over it.  A large harvest banner represented those who are working tirelessly to reap the harvest for God. Then a big cross, some cool tents to lie or sit in, lots of bean bags, power point slides covering some of the promises of God from the Bible and lots of memorabilia from the prayer department’s trips to far away countries (hence the elephant, baskets, hats, mixing bowls, signs… you get the picture).

It was such a special place with a real sense that God was not just filling His people but also using the room as a holy temple, protected and guarded for His children to meet with Him. God did so much through answered prayers and creative responses to his presence.But the real privilege of this prayer room for me was the honour of standing alongside and praying with those who face persecution for their faith. It was truly inspiring to see prayers whispered to God colliding with the answers to those prayers see in the lives of missionaries who live in some of the hardest and spiritually driest nations. During the week we met a small Zimbabwean man who had come with his team. He greeted us all in the name of the Lord and then when asked, he said at times he can find it hard living this life. In the last year, seven members of his team including himself had been imprisoned for their faith and one of his team was killed. They face daily persecution. Yet he was standing with us praying the same prayers we were for God’s name and renown to be made known in every nation around the world. It had that atmosphere of standing in the presence of Kings! Thank you Lord for all you are mobilising through prayer driven lifestyles. This report came via the 24-7 Prayer movement's main website, where you can read many more stories of prayer from around the world.