|TOP|The Methodist initiative to ‘Pray Without Ceasing’: launched at the Methodist Conference on 1st July last year; is far exceeding its original expectations.

By the end of 2005 it was estimated that in the 4,368 hour period from 1st July to 30th December, Methodists had prayed for over 8000 hours in churches, homes, schools and prisons.

Currently 13 out of 33 Methodist Districts have contributed. Each district has drawn up a rota so that at every hour there is a Methodist building open for worshippers to come and pray.

In the London South East district the rota was joined by the Methodist prison chaplains who were able to report 30 hours of prayer from the prisons, young offender institutes and even the Dover Immigration Removal Centre.

It was the Methodist Youth Conference who first suggested the initiative, when at the 2004 Methodist Conference in Loughborough they put forward a motion calling for the Church to: celebrate prayer as a gift from God, affirm prayer that is already taking place and provide ideas and inspiration for new ways of prayer.

|AD|Pray Without Ceasing was officially launched in Torquay at the 2005 Methodist Conference. Early in the morning around 50 members of the Conference gathered on the beach for prayers and celebration.

Pray Without Ceasing has subsequently been touring its way around Great Britain, moving first to the Methodist London North East District on 1st July 2005. It is due to finish in North Wales on 31st August 2006.

The coordinator of the campaign, the Reverend Michaela Youngson said that: “we aimed for continuous prayer, but we have exceeded that. More importantly, people report that this has reinvigorated their personal and church prayer lives. Obviously prayer has always been a crucial part of Christian life, and always will be. But this year of Pray Without Ceasing shows we can regain the excitement and power of prayer by focussing on it.”

Local coordinators have also commented on the positive effects Pray Without Ceasing is having. From the Newcastle Methodist circuit Lesley and Mike Sergeant wrote that: “We report the good news of an amazing time of blessing beyond anyone’s expectations.”

While Derrick Norton of the Bristol District reported that: “the seven streams of prayer and worship caused a real buzz of excitement, and people want to repeat the experience.” So far the Cornwall District has been the most prayed the most, with over 1000 hours of prayer reported.

For more information about Pray Without Ceasing, visit HERE.