June Prayer Rooms

WHY A PRAYER ROOM IN JUNE:

This past Wednesday was the day of Ascension in the Church Calendar.

The reason Jesus ascended to Heaven was in part so that the Church could carry on His mission. But the Church needs the power of the Spirit to do that without burning out. And in order to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church needs her vital behavior to be waiting in prayer. 

After Jesus ascended, the early church returned to the upper room in Jerusalem, likely the same room they hid after the crucifixion. There they sought the Lord for the next ten days, until the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. It was the culture of the upper room that was the key vital behavior of the church throughout the Book of Acts. 

WHAT ARE WE DOING: 

If we want to see God’s fame and deeds renewed in our time and place, we need an upper room space and an upper room culture in our Church. That is why in June 2023, during the season of Pentecost, we are making a push to get more of the church engaged in a weekly prayer experience by opening our “upper room” on Thursday nights so that a critical mass of our church can seek the Lord together and allow God to prepare us for the breakthroughs we are asking for in prayer.

WHAT ARE WE PRAYING ABOUT IN THE PRAYER ROOM:

We have no record of what the early church actually prayed in the upper room, but we can certainly make an educated guess. They had watched the Lord pray for three years. And, inspired by the Lord’s prayer life, they asked Him: “Lord teach us to pray.” (Luke 11) Jesus responded by teaching them the Lord’s prayer – which is an outline or a paradigm of how to pray. It is a perfect guide for prayer. And if we were betting people, our money would be safe if we were to wager that the disciples’ prayers in the upper room were guided by the Lord’s own teaching on prayer.

During June, we are going to follow this outline for prayer as well. The content will be fueled and led by the Holy Spirit, inspired by worship, and spurred on by one another. But the Lord’s prayer is a helpful outline for us as we gather in the upper room to seek God for His fame and deeds to be renewed in our lives and our time.

June 8, 7-8pm – Our Father, who art in Heaven (Beginning with God as our father and our identity as his beloved children: praying for a heart knowledge of God as our Father and for us to live our lives out of the Father’s embrace and blessing – many of us have Father/Mother wounds that we carry which mar or obstruct our ability to relate to the Father as He desires…and we are seeking God for revelation and healing and restoration of this relationship in our lives and in the lives of others around us.)

June 15, 7-8pm – Our Father…hallowed be thy name (we are asking God to reveal himself and his character and his fatherhood to others, but especially to the next generation. We are praying for homes and family systems to be vehicles for discipleship of young people and we are praying for Gen Z and Gen Alpha to know God’s name, love, and to follow him)

June 22, 7-8pm – Our Father…hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven. (We are praying for God’s Kingdom to come in our city and specifically among the lost. 

June 29, 7-8pm – thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (we are praying this prayer over the region and the church…that God would send revival and renewal in our time and prepare the church to steward it)