A House of prayer for all nations...
"...for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." Isaiah 56:7
In 2019 Alison and I read, ‘Dirty Glory’, a book that tells the story of 24/7 Prayer and the calling of the church to be a house of prayer for all nations.
We were working at Lee Abbey and as a team we began to take seriously the call for the Lee Abbey Community to become much more of a house of prayer. We were a Community made up of all-sorts of weird and wonderful people from nearly 20 different nations and we sensed the call to pray. We experimented with prayer rooms, 24/7 prayer, worship nights and other crazy ideas. In July of that year the then Warden (Community Leader) resigned, and this made us realise our need for pray even more. The interviews for the new Warden were planned for November 2019. We prayed long and hard for discernment for the ‘right’ person to come forward. On the day of the interviews we met as usual for our Morning Prayers and the reading for that day was Mark 11, the familiar story of Jesus clearing the temple where Jesus says," “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?” Unbeknown to us, one of the candidates had sensed God highlighting to them this same story as a prophetic word for Lee Abbey. Later in the day as the candidates stood up to give their presentations, Gordon Crowther began to tell simply how God had led him to suggest it was time to declutter our lives and focus again on the calling to be a house of prayer (Gordon’s biblical text was Luke’s version of the same story we had at Morning Worship. Wow!). A number of the team were struck straight away by how this presentation rang true with where we sensed God was calling to dig into being a house of prayer.
We personally give thanks to God for Gordon & Judy coming to Lee Abbey and our time working with them. When they planned to arrive at Lee Abbey in March 2020 no one knew how significant the word about decluttering and focusing on prayer would be as they arrived on the day we closed to guests due to the Covid pandemic. God had spoken and gone before all of us as we made our way into the murky waters of Covid with this clear prophetic word.
As our family have navigated the years that followed, the call to declutter and pray has deeply impacted us to the point where we now find ourselves having moved across the Irish Sea to Ballymena. We are now building relationships across the churches and ministries in the wider area in order to help un-dig the wells of prayer and mission pioneered in the island of Ireland. We long to see the building up of the house of prayer for all nations.
In this work we have become increasing aware that God has called us to speak prophetically to the dry bones to become the united body of Christ filled with His Spirit.1
Lord, let the bones become your body filled with your Spirit.
Amen!
Since our last post…
We have at times been overwhelmed by the ways that God is blessing and leading us. Here are a few of the way we see him at work in our family, the connections He is making and the ministry He is giving us... He is truly going before us!
We are giving thanks for the Lord’s provision for our family. There have been a few folks who have responded to the call to give monthly and some who have given one-off gifts to support us in this missionary calling. We have had two significant car bills recently and two such gifts came the day after each bill. Thank you Lord!
On Saturday 26th Oct there was 12hrs of Prayer in the centre of Ballymena with over 100 people coming to pray that God’s light would shine into the hearts of those caught up in the Halloween events.
Half-term gave time for decorating Erin’s bedroom, with nearly everybody taking a part at some point…
Also in half-term Samuel and I had the joy of attending the 24/7 Prayer Gathering in Rotterdam. I have been to the last few of these events which have been hugely benifcial. With us moving this year we decided that I would not go, however a few weeks before the event we were offered two free tickets and free accommodation. Wow! This was a great blessing to go with Samuel. As well as attending the Gathering, where God spoke powerfully to me about the church in Ballymena, we were able to do a few ‘tourist’ things.
We are giving thanks for a school place for Eliza. Last Monday we got a call from the school we had applied to for her (the same school as Erin) saying she could start on Wednesday (20th). We are all so thankful for this answer to prayer. Praise the Lord!
We are giving thanks for a part-time (in school hours) job that feels like it has been dropped into Alison’s lap (which she will be starting a few weeks).
The Send is a campaign ‘activating believers to live a missional lifestyle by adopting and reaching real mission fields at home and abroad.’ This campaign has been launched in a number of countries already seeing fruitfulness, particularly in the younger generations. The Send is coming to Northern Ireland on 17th May 2025. We are praying The Send will play a part in un-digging the wells of prayer and mission.
I am giving thanks for having the opportunity to lead Ballymena House of Prayer on a monthly basis.
On 6th Nov I was invited to an event in Ballymena where the local neighbourhood Police had invited Church Leaders to hear about the significant drug issues that are presenting themselves in Ballymena. There were 24 churches represented. We are praying that this event could be a catalyst for drawing the body of Christ together to pray and seek the Lord’s face for the wider area.
As a direct result of the above Police event, the regular Wednesday morning Crack of Dawn Prayer Hour (6.30-7.30am) that I attend, has been led to pray around the circumference of Ballymena inspired by Nehemiah’s example. These mornings have been a huge encouragement with 14 people from 7 churches represented. This is a gift. Thank you Lord!
Our connection to The Tobar Network is proving so life giving and encouraging. A few weeks ago we were able to go to the latest Tobar Leaders Family Worship & Prayer Night. God spoken clearly through a number of prophetic conversations. It is so encouraging to be in an environment that welcomes the prophetic.
I was able to attend the 24/7 Prayer Ireland Roundtable event last week where God, again, seemed to be speaking.
And finally, on Saturday I was invited to attend the first ever Church of Ireland Pioneer Ministry Hubs Day, where I was able to connect with folks who are ministering in fresh ways across the island of Ireland. Much encouragement and relationship building.
Hopefully you can see from the long list how we are so encouraged by the ways God is opening doors and showing His love.
Prayers - Would you join us in praying?
‘Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work.’2
We give thanks for the ways God has clearly gone before us in this venture of faith.
We give thanks for the ways the Lord has provided for us over the these first months.
We pray for continued provision.
We pray for friendships to begin to flourish as we settle.
We pray for clarity as we take the next steps in our part in un-digging the wells of all that God has done here in the past.
We continue to pray for our connections with Ballymena House of Prayer and the vision for a 24/7 Prayer Community.
Pounds - Would you be able to give towards the ministry God has called us to?
We have been hugely blessed by a few people choosing to give monthly and others who have blessed us with one off gifts.
We ask that you would consider being an answer to our prayers for God’s provision for the journey?
If each of the 100+ people subscribed to this blog were able to give £20 (recognising that some could give more and other may not be able to give as much or at all…) that would more than cover our monthly costs.
Please use the purple ‘Support us through Stewardship’ button to go directly to our Stewardship Individual Partner Account where you can give in a tax efficient way.
People - Would you like to join us for a catch up call?
On Sunday Nov 17th we hosted a video call with a number of friends to catch up with all that God has been doing. This was a great encouragement and we would love to do this again in the new year. Let us know if you would like to join us using the message button.
And finally we would love to know how to pray for you. Please send us a message with any specific prayer requests.
With much love and thanks for your love and support.
N,A,S,E & E
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Ezekiel 37:1-14
Oswald Chambers from https://utmost.org/classic/greater-works-classic/