"When they had entered the city, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying […] All these with one mind and one purpose were continually devoting themselves to prayer, [waiting together] along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers." - Acts 1:13-14
We want to invite you and your community to run your own Upper Room Prayer Room, just as the disciples did!
Your Upper Room could run for the full 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come, or you could try the challenge of running 24 hours of prayer non-stop with your friends or small group!
1. DECIDE ON A VIRTUAL OR PHYSICAL SPACE
Particularly since 2020 people have run Virtual Prayer Rooms and Physical Prayer Rooms in different parts of the world- some people have even run both alongside one another! To help you decide which option is best, check out our resources, and think about who you’d like to gather to pray.
2. GATHER A GROUP
The strength of community - people committing to God together – is the most important thing when starting any period of continuous prayer. Ask God who you might be able to pray with - is it your home group; Church; friends, or perhaps even people across different nations? Gather your group, share your vision, and get started.
3. GET EQUIPPED
We have a range of new resources for 2024. 24-7 Prayer also offer support and resources that will help you to run a prayer room wherever you are. Start by registering your prayer room for free, and get access to downloadable resources that will help from start to finish.
4. THINK CREATIVELY
Embrace creativity when thinking about what to put in your Upper Room prayer room.
5. GET PRAYING!
Break your time of non-stop prayer into one-hour slots, and ask people to join in: by registering your prayer room you’ll receive an online tool or sign up sheet to keep track!
The Virtual Upper Room: Case Studies from May 2020
In 2020, we teamed up with 24-7 Prayer, to provide virtual prayer rooms for churches who would normally gather their congregations for continuous prayer in person. Inspired by the upper room experience in the book of Acts, where the early disciples gathered to pray, this timely resource reimagined continuous prayer in a digital space, enabling deeper periods of prayer – drawing on the richness of this historic tradition. Churches that had previously planned Beacon or continuous prayer events used the Virtual Upper Room to facilitate ecumenical, citywide, corporate continuous prayer events which happened in places such as Oxford and Manchester, UK. Many reported seeing more people involved and from further afield as a result of going online. Here are just two examples:
MANCHESTER CASE STUDY:
‘Whilst our plans for a public gathering in St Ann's Square had to be changed, we hosted an online prayer sign up for people to cover every hour of the full 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come in prayer. With more people signed up than hours in each of those days, across Greater Manchester we co-ordinated 330 hours of prayer. May we continue to #pray4five throughout the year to come.’ Graham Baker Ecumenical Facilitator Greater Manchester Churches Together.
OXFORD CASE STUDY:
‘We felt that this was an important time for Christians across Oxford to gather together online to pray for the city. Working with churches leaders from all denominations, and inspired by the TKC national initiative, we set up a virtual upper room for the city. We were thrilled and encouraged to have over 200 people from at least 27 churches/congregations across Oxford join for prayer for 245 hours. Praise God!’ Reverend James Dwyer, Curate, St Andrews, and coordinator of the Upper Room, Oxford