The journey so far…

Kia ora!

For nearly 25 years, 24-7 Prayer has been cheering on the worldwide church in prayer, mission and justice. We’re stoked to join this story in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

For those I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Sam Harvey, and I am the newly appointed National Coordinator of 24-7 here in New Zealand, and the lead pastor of Bay Vineyard Church in the Hawkes Bay. I’m married to Jen, and we have three boys.

One morning 20 years ago, as a dreadlocked youth pastor, an email was forwarded to me that began my engagement with the 24-7 Prayer movement… In my little office in Wellington, I started reading these words;

So this guy comes up to me and says,
“What’s the vision? What’s the big idea?”
I open my mouth and words come out like this…
The Vision?
The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus…

If you haven’t read it yet, these are the opening words to a poem that Pete Greig scribbled on the wall of the first prayer room called “The Vision”. It is well worth a read!
Someone took those words and wrote them as an email; it went viral and wound up in my inbox on the other side of the world! I was totally captivated, and before long, we had our own prayer room with those words written on the wall. The vision is Jesus! And that is why we are so passionate about prayer.

Prayer connects us to Jesus. Prayer draws people who are far from Jesus to Him. Prayer is the place of communion and intimacy with Jesus. Prayer helps us align our hearts with the heart of Jesus. Prayer is where the church finds its power and potency. Prayer is where strongholds are broken. Prayer pushes back the darkness and brings the light of Christ. It is through prayer that God’s Kingdom comes into the world. It is no wonder that the early church devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 2:42, Col 4:2 etc.) It has been said that the book of Acts is a commentary between prayer meetings! Prayer is not one of the things we do; it is the most important activity in the life of the church and the believer.

It should be no surprise then that the place of prayer is such a contested space. We live in an attention economy, and as Roland Rolhieser says, “we are distracting ourselves into spiritual oblivion”. It is easy to get too busy to pray, and I know I have been guilty of trying to do things in my own strength as a pastor. Prayerlessness occurs when we rely on our plans, methodologies and techniques to see God’s Kingdom come. As Joy Cowey said, “Whatever is not birthed in prayer is birthed in pride”.

But Aslan is on the move! There is a fresh hunger in the church to pray. There is a new humility growing in the church. There is a growing desire to reclaim the “secret place” and to create environments in our churches that are “thin places” where we encounter God’s presence in prayer. There is a fresh passion that the ancient vision of the church being a “house of prayer for all nations” would be embodied in our time.

And so, as 24-7 Prayer begins in Aotearoa, we want to bless what God is already doing. We want to bless this fresh desire and ask for more. As Saint Augustine said, “Put salt on our lips that we would thirst for You”! We’ve got dreams and schemes bubbling away, and are having many conversations with people around the Motu who share the same heart of prayer, mission and justice.

And so, as we begin, we’d love you to take a moment to pray for us and for 24-7 Prayer in New Zealand. Why don’t you do that right now? Pray for God’s blessing over this movement, and pray for the church in New Zealand. Pray that we would be a people that love Him and seek Him.

Lord, would you revive the church and rewire the culture around us as we seek You in prayer.
Ihu Karaiti, kia tae mai tou rangatiratanga!
Jesus, let your Kingdom come!