24-7 Prayer

We want to fill the entire week of Easter before prayer. It only takes 24 people praying for 1 hour a day to accomplish this!

How does it work?

Visit our sign up page and reserve an hour (or more!) where you will be “carrying the torch” for us to keep vigil in prayer in the prayer room at Catonsville UMC. To access the prayer room take the elevator to the balcony level. The “Upper Room” prayer space is directly through the double doors on the balcony. You will need to arrive on time to relieve the person before you. Exit on the hour so that you can admit the next person, as the door will remain locked. Only one person can book the prayer room at a time, but you’re welcome to bring a friend or two to your time.

How do I Pray for a Whole Hour!?

It’s easier than you think. First, the prayer room provides more than 10 interactive “stations” to guide your prayers.

If you’re the type of person that prefers to sit in one place to pray, some further resources are below:

60 Minute Prayer Guides

Check out these 60 minute prayer guides put together by 24-7 Prayer:

• The Lord’s Prayer
• Praying for Others
• Praying for your Area
• Praying for the Nation

Daily Set Prayers

Daily set prayers or “offices” can be a good discipline in general, but they also provide a useful way to help fill an hour with prayer.

The United Methodist Church doesn’t have a daily set prayers, per se, although we do have orders for Morning, Midday, Evening, and Night Prayer.

The Church of England has more substantial orders for daily prayer within the Book of Common Prayer. You can find today’s prayers here. We recommend “Rite II.”

The Roman Catholic Church uses the Liturgy of the Hours (or Divine Office). It can be found here.

Many Christian denominations have something like this.

Try Pulling a Different Tool Out of the Tool Shed

There are many, many different ways to pray. They are each like a tool in a tool box. Why not try out a new tool? Check out the Prayer Course web site for lots of simple “How to’s.” Some examples are

• “How to Journal”
• “How to maintain a Prayer List”
• “How to Pray the Psalms”
• “How to Intercede for a Large-Scale Crisis”
• or even “How to Speak in Tongues”!

Why Pray?

What should I expect?

Expect God to meet with you. Expect that the hour will go much more quickly than you would think. It’s also worth knowing the middle-of-the-night hours have a reputation in the 24-7 community for being some of the most special.

What’s the Vision?

The vision is for us to engage with the Creator of the Universe to a greater degree than we ever have before and to continue to learn how to pray. God has used 24-7 Prayer to transform marriages, bring people to faith in Christ, mend broken hearts, heal broken bodies, and to fill people with the Holy Spirit.

The story of 24-7 Prayer is told in Pete Greig’s book Red Moon Rising, which contains the poetic text for the following short film:

I Can’t Wait! What do I do Now?

Start praying for our week of 24-7 prayer and your role in it. How much time do you think God is calling you to spend in the prayer room?

Read anything written by Pete Greig. In our humble opinion, there is no finer teacher on prayer alive in the English-speaking world. Most of it is available in audiobook form as well. Red Moon Rising is the exciting story of the 24-7 Prayer movement. God on Mute deals with the reality of unanswered prayer. Dirty Glory is a beautifully written, inspiring book about prayer, mission, and justice. And How to Pray synthesizes lots of lessons learned from 20 years of 24-7 prayer.

What about People who want to sign up but don’t use computers?

Help them to sign up, please!

How Do I Get in? Will I be safe? I want the Nitty-Gritty Logistics!

Arriving at the prayer room at or slightly before the time you’ve signed up for is essential. The person who is there already is depending on you to relieve them on time. Contact information for people who have signed up will be posted in case your relief is late. When your hour is complete, let the person in who follows you. You can verify who they are based on the sign ups before letting them in.

There is a prepaid cell phone in the prayer room. The number will emailed to you when you sign up. This is the number to call if you arrive and the person preceding you has not come down to let you in. The number will also be posted on the glass doors near the elevator. Please leave the phone plugged in when not in use.

In a pinch, Pastor David can probably relieve you. John Pendleton is our facility manager and can be reached if there is an issue with the building that needs to be addressed immediately. Phone numbers will be posted in the prayer room.

There is a camera in the room for your safety. Audio from the camera will not be accessed unless there is an emergency. As with any church activities, there is no 1-on-1 allowed with adults and unrelated children.

Bathrooms are available on the office level, which is two floors below the prayer room.