Elim Prayer exists to champion life transforming prayer throughout the Elim movement.
We love to equip, disciple, train and teach others in order to develop a life of prayer in your personal life and in your church.
We believe God is doing amazing things across the Elim movement that need to be shared.
We love to Enable prayer throughout the Elim movement, from gathered moments in small groups to large events.
A Prayer Room is an opportunity to draw aside, take time out and meet with God. It is a dedicated space where people can go to pray and seek God, to intercede and petition. Jesus withdrew to pray (Mt 14:13; Lk 5:12-16; Jn 6:14-16), not at the expense of serving the Father but in order to be more effective in that.
The key is not about the physical space but about making space for relationship with God who from the beginning of time longs to be with His people and connect with them. We know that God is everywhere and we can meet with God anywhere and everywhere, but a Prayer Room with time and place set aside can be an important part of growing in relationship with God. It’s a great addition to be part of continual prayer in local church life and helpful being in a place with no distractions with focuses for prayer.
We believe that a prayer room is a great way to enable a 24-7 week of prayer; please read on for some practical help and ideas. The 24-7 Prayer Room model is simple and flexible. You need a space, inspiration for prayer, creative materials, and people willing to pray in one hour shifts, around the clock. Churches, families and communities have prayed 24-7 for anything from 24 hours to many months. Countless people have emerged from 24-7 Prayer Rooms to report that God spoke to them in life changing ways, that they found prayer easier, or that an hour felt like ten minutes. Even those who don’t consider themselves Christians have often experienced God’s presence.
Team: The first thing you need when organising a 24-7 Prayer Room is a team! Ask God for help and look for those with a passion for prayer, creativity and organisational ability. Together you can listen to God and motivate others, as well as design, build and run your prayer space. It’s also a good idea to gather a group of people willing to be in an ‘On Call Team’; people who can take responsibility for different day(s) of the week and leave their contact details in the room in case of a problem. Theme: When mobilising people to rise to the challenge of 24-7 Prayer it’s good to be clear about why you’re praying. What specifically is God asking you and your church to pray about and to pray for? Perhaps you could create a theme around the prayer room. Space: Find a room that you can set up for prayer. When: Decide when you’ll pray and for how long. Then divide the time into 1 hour sessions that anyone can sign up for. An hour seems a long time but encourage people that there will be lots of prayer points, different ways/things to pray about and space to wait on God or alternatively they can come and sit and pray quietly for the hour. For those who feel overwhelmed many have found them to be a source of not only blessing and inspiration but an opportunity to meet with God in new ways. TOP TIP: Have a prayer journal available in the room for you to gather and collect people’s written prayers and reflections. So, you’ve got the theme, space and timescale. What do you fill it with? A Prayer Room is made up of a number of prayer stations/spaces (the number is up to you). What is a prayer station? A prayer station is an installation with something to look at or do that provokes/inspires prayer and personal reflection. Prayer stations are usually flexible and open, and yet they do need some structure so that participants can engage with them easily and confidently. If you plan to create your own prayer stations, we recommend you follow these guidelines.
An introduction/explanation of the station itself - “This is a prayer wall. Prayer can take many forms...”
Simple directions/instructions - “Take a piece of cardboard...” “Stop and breathe slowly...” “Look at yourself in the mirror...”
Questions that encourage reflection - “How did you feel when...?” “What do you think this might tell you about...?” “What is God saying…?”
Some encouragement, quotes from people, words from the Bible and other sources, around the prayer station theme. When gathering ideas together, ask - Is this simple and understandable? Will this help people to participate? Is this prayerful? Will this help people engage with God in prayer? If yes, go for it.
24-7 Prayer have great guidelines and How To Guides for setting up prayer rooms, so make sure you register with them for lots more advice and help. Please contact the Elim Prayer team who are here to help you facilitate your week of prayer. 24-7 Prayer Creative ideas 24-7 Prayer Resources, books and CDs