2-5 MAY 2008

Over 6,700 hours of community action were undertaken. Crime figures plummeted. Faith levels soared and many were responded to the good news of Jesus.

by Gary Smith, Executive Director, Ignite

The seventh in the series of ‘Trumpet Call’ events was held recently at the NEC Arena, Birmingham. A great company of people from all parts of the U.K. and beyond joined together in a powerful expression of united prayer and proclamation.

In the midst of uncertainty, has the 21st century church got anything to say, or more importantly anything to pray?

I’ve been a Christian over 25 years and during this time prayer has been in integral part of my faith journey. From my initial walk with God when I prayed the Salvation Prayer, to a more recent event were the prayers of the Body of Christ up held and sustained my family and I in ways that I could never have imagined.

It wasn’t that long ago, that I relied on paper based communication through the post, to keep me informed of social issues and matters of National importance, which in turn helped to keep my prayer life focussed.

Since the beginning of April, nightly meetings in Lakeland, Florida have attracted thousands from all over the US and across the globe to what has been called ‘The Florida Healing Outpouring.’ Beginning as a 4 day Healing Conference with Todd Bentley at Ignited Church in Lakeland, the outpouring has moved from venue to venue in order to accommodate the crowds and has been broadcast live on God TV and via the internet. Night by night many claim to have been healed in the meetings with thousands calling or emailing their stories of what God has done.

Imagine...What it would be like to be in a situation: Where the tangible presence of God was being frequently experienced, where peace and harmony reigned on our streets, where crime of all kinds was declining, where social problems were diminishing, where the media was taking notice of what God was doing both in the church and in society.

Seek the welfare of the city and pray to the Lord on its behalf.” One of the encouraging prayer developments in my home city of Stoke-on-Trent over the last few years has been the monthly united prayer gatherings. They began in 2001 with hundreds of Christians uniting to cry out to God together using 2 Chronicles 7 v14 as a basis for our praying and, as a consequence, the meetings received the nickname ‘2C7’.

ABC of prayer... With Brian Mills.

The basics of dreams and what they can mean.

Author, Christian speaker and charity worker Fiona Castle, OBE, is the epitome of calm and grace. Full of smiles, her self assured manner belies the time when, with so much self imposed pressure, her life reached a critically low point.

Meeting in the picturesque valleys of South Wales, ITN 08 exceeded organizers expectations. Trying to demonstrate the relationship between Prayer, the Prophetic and Social Action (Mission) is a slow and difficult road to navigate, yet biblically you see the three working seamlessly particularly in the early church experience as told in Acts.

UCB has just launched a prayerline for the British Forces The launch held at St. Clement Danes, military church in London, was the culmination of several years work by both the armed forces and UCB.

Canterbury to Rome Benedict Protheroe endured torrential downpours, blistering sunshine and an Alpine snowstorm on his pilgrimage from Canterbury to Rome this year, writes Fiona  Rutherford.

Gill does all this as part of Prayer Stop– an initiative born out of Greyfriars Church in Reading. Having run their Prayer Café project for a few years, they decided to ‘get hold of Hope08’ and felt led to set up Prayer Stop. ‘It’s always been our hearts to do something like this’, says Gill, ‘but Hope08 prompted us to get on and do it’.

Your prayers move God to change the world. You may not understand the mystery of prayer. You don’t need to. But this much is clear: Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth. What an amazing thought!–Max Lucado.

Gatherings are picking up a momentum, says World Prayer Centre’s Jane Holloway

Vision of a new building for the World Prayer Centre is unveiled to the public for the first time

We talk to Christian leaders about an increase in secular interest.

Worship leader notices shift after ‘best’ Prayer Week ever

Hope 08 is launching a multimedia programme to raise awareness of next year’s initiative – that aims to help Christians reach the lost – and boost involvement with young people.

You cannot separate prayer from worship – prayer is worship and worship is prayer.

If, as John Wesley said, God can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks him, then the thousands who gathered to pray at this year’s Global Day of Prayer impacted seismically on London and the world.

A prayer network set up in Nottingham is seeing great growth after raising a flag on the city’s castle declaring ‘Jesus is King’

REES HOWELLS WAS a man of little wordly fame, yet throught the bestselling book, ‘Rees Howells – Intercessor’, his life story is known to millions, writes David littlewood.

ALL OF THE GREAT MEN of God who I read about had what they called their 'meeting place' with God.

JONAH'S MOST AMAZING prayer catches all the principles of believing prayer, although in this instance to an extreme degree.

When Archbishop George Carey asked Canon John Simmons to go on a fact finding tour of Asia, he came back with more than a new gimmick or two...

PRAYER FOR A Christian is like an ordinary person without a mobile phone: you can't live without the communication.

LOCKED INTO A marriage with a wasteful and domineering husband, Susanna Wesley could have allowed the poverty and hardships of her existence to crush her spirit and embitter her soul, Instead, she turned her considerable energies to praying for and educating her children, in the process producing two sons who were to help change the face of England.

IN THE PAST decade or so there has been a huge global development in prayer, which has involved millions of people.

YOU KNOW WHAT I really love? Hanging out with my friends.

IN OUR NEW FEATURE, Bible teacher and former Westminster Chapel pastor Dr R T Kendall answers questions about prayer we've all been longing to ask.

ERM, EXCUSE ME, but, err, I think God has told me we're to get married.

THE FATHER OF a boy who was diagnosed with a tumour has told how persistent prayer helped his son get the all-clear.

THE FATHER OF a boy who was diagnosed with a tumour has told how persistent prayer helped his son get the all-clear.

A YOUNG GERALD COATES would trek nearly two mites every Thursday night to get to the prayer meeting, His life was so consumed in the things of God that he couldn't imagine not attending church three or four times each week, Then again, he had nothing else to do, either.

I'VE DECIDED TO stay anonymous - for obvious reasons - but I'd like to challenge Prayer magazine readers about concerted, persistent prayer.

ONE OF MY sons came home after his first week at school and announced he would not be going back, Anxious to find out what had up- set him, my wife and I asked why he had reached such a firm decision.

EVERY ONCE IN a while you stumble across equate that says it all, something that sums up the present and illuminates the path towards a better future.

He gives his top ten prayer list tips to guide your intercessions in 2008

Fasting together with prayer is an act of love for God, but plan it carefullt, says evangelist Roy Todd.

Jailed for perjury in 1999, former cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken became a disgrace to the British government. But his spiritual lifestyle flourished during his prison term and now he describes how his life is devoted to God.

If community action and outreach initiative Hope 2008 is to be successful prayer must remain right at the heart of all that is undertaken, says joint leader Andy Hawthorne. We must pray and seek God if we are to see a change in the spiritual atmosphere of the nation.

Gatherings are picking up a momentum, says World Prayer Centre’s Jane Holloway

Vision of a new building for the World Prayer Centre is unveiled to the public for the first time

We talk to Christian leaders about an increase in secular interest.

Worship leader notices shift after ‘best’ Prayer Week ever

Big drive for Hope

You cannot separate prayer from worship – prayer is worship and worship is prayer.

If, as John Wesley said, God can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks him, then the thousands who gathered to pray at this year’s Global Day of Prayer impacted seismically on London and the world.

Notts Prayer Network has dedicated its city to Christ, raised a flag proclaiming ‘Jesus Christ is King’ at Nottingham Castle, and has taken the city in prayer.

John O’Brien has been running a children’s ministry for 16 years. He is part of Children Worldwide.

AMONG THE LEADERS of the revival that gripped America in the mid-eighteenth century, Jonathan Edwards is probably the best known, writes David Littlewood Born in October 1703, in the frontier town of East Windsor, he was one of eleven children.

REPENTANCE IS GOD'S word to us. Without repentance, there can be no forgiveness of sin. Repentance is a prerequisite to enjoying fellowship with God.

WHAT ARE YOU praying for? Obviously, it's 'always good to talk to God. But there's more to prayer than just having a chat.

Beware! The devil will export any tiredness, says Dr RT Kendall

Against all advice, South African farmer Angus Buchan followed God's specific direction to plant a crop of potatoes - and reaped the rewards!

RESIDENTS FROM every London borough turned out on 7/7/07 to pray for their lo- cal government.

MORE THAN 100,000 people packed a football stadium to pray for repentance and the Sins Of America.

THERE AREN'T MANY men who have stood up in the middle of a cinema to preach, But American intercessor Lou Engle has done it twice.

A PASTOR WHO scrapped his formal prayer meetings says the prayer life of his church has never been better.

HISTORIC CHURCHES WILL be used for prayer meetings to see in the New Year and the launch of Hope 08.

A VICAR IS asking God to shine his light over Manchester City FC, Club chaplain Rev Chris Howitz hopes to make good use of the City of Manchester Stadium's prayer room by seeking the face of God before home matches.

THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS of all ages are praying around the clock as part of the new 24/7 craze sweeping through Britain.

HOW DID THE 24-7 prayer movement begin? PG: It started by accident! We knew God was calling us to pray and we were really poor at it. We started in a single prayer room at our church in Chichester in 1999, People came to pray and there was a strong sense of the presence of God and miracles started to happen.

A COUPLE WHO reunited after 16 years apart believe their marriage was restored by prayer.

His wife died of cancer six months ago, but Chris Drury is determined to fight on.

OUR AMERICAN FRIENDS are always quite surprised when we tell them that in the UK Christians have many opportunities to be involved in local schools.
They're even more surprised to know there is still a legal requirement for 'mainly Christian' religious education and school assemblies.

On fire for Jesus after attending a leading Christian festival, teenager John Lewis was determined to make a difference in his home village. Now his prayers have helped ignite a massive breakthrough in South Wales as part of Hope08.

HOPE08 National Prayer Director Jane Holloway says prayer momentum has to be maintained throughout the rest of the year.

Every secondary school in the UK is being challenged to get involved in community work as part of Hope08.

A WOMAN WHO spent six years in a wheel- chair had to demand that her incapacity allowance be stopped after she said she had been healed by prayer.

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, Jonathan Oloyede, a convert from Islam, had a number of vivid visions of revival, renewal and transformation coming to the UK.
These included graphic pictures of Christians praying together in groups of fives, fifties, five hundreds and five thousands.

THE QUESTION 'What do you think of the politicians of today?' will, more often than not, bring negative responses. 'They are only in it for the money, the power, the position' and 'It is impossible to find an honest politician' are likely replies.

Tearfund began in the late '6Os with a challenge to a complacent church that felt that praying, without action, was enough.

It is often seen as “sin City” but only one movement believes that Hollywood is a perfect mission field, and wants Christians from across the globe to pray for Tinseltown and the people who live there under the spotlight of the media

A mum says her daughter has been healed of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) after receiving prayer.

A SENIOR bishop in the Church of England has warned that Britain could return to a 'kind of barbarism' - if the decline in Christianity continues, reports ASSIST news.

The traditional British family is disappearing, after marriage rates in England and Wales have fallen to the lowest level since records began, according to provisional figures for 2005 released by the Office of National Statistics.

CHURCH leaders in India are praying for God to bless their enemies after 500 anti-Christian radicals attacked a Bible College.

The Archbishop of York John Sentamu states that homosexual ants fall short of the glory of God and require repentance.

Singer song-writer Matt Redman. PRAYER is an essential ingredient in the life of any Christian. 

The story of Robert Murray McCheyne, who led major revival in Dundee

Scotland's decision to remove daily prayers from its Parliament is 'going against God and the Bible', says Anne McIntyre, leader of the Parliamentary Prayer for Scotland group.

IN THIS edition of The Zone we welcome Becky Williams, who is going to be writing for Prayer Magazine in future issues. Becky has been a volunteer with the Ignite team for the last five years, and last year led a mission trip to Portugal.

ON MY TRAVELS both here in the UK and further afield this year, I've noticed that something was definitely missing in the places I visited: testimony. What's happening? The dictionary definition of 'testimony' is 'a formal statement, especially one given in a court of law' or 'evidence or proof of something'. As we/re not in a court of law, let's focus on 'evidence or proof of something'.

In recent years there has been a tendency to regard a city's leading pastors as its spiritual leaders. They cooperatively share a sense of responsibility for the city as a whole, not merely the individual congregations within it, and have been seen as 'gatekeepers' of that city.

Focus on the World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk. Millions of Christians will be uniting in June to turn their prayer focus towards children who need it most.

'GOD'S got an army marching through the land' was the line of a chorus that was sung in many of our churches 25 years ago; like many such songs, it was in vogue for a time before disappearing from regular use.

I've got good news for everyone - it's possible to touch heaven in ten minutes! God is not always looking at how long we spend with him; often, he's looking at our heart and how Sincere we are when we come and kneel before him.

Pastors, you are not called to your congregation but you are called to your city. To see change in your city, you must pray with other pastors.

Hope 08 promises to provide one of the biggest opportunities for Christians to reach the lost in Britain's history. Throughout the year, believers are being encouraged to preach the Gospel in word, and to show the love of Christ by reaching their community with increased practical aid. Matthew Murray caught up with two of the main organisers - Soul Survivor's Mike Pilavachi and Andy Hawthorne, who heads up The Message in Manchester.

Global day of Prayer 2007 has outpouring as its goal.

Joel, how would you sum up the spiritual state of the UK? JE It's a case of 'a tale of two cities' at the moment! On the one hand, we are seeing death among the old, historical denominations, which is very disappointing. The nation seems to be swaying away from the historical, traditional approach to church.