The Lord’s Prayer at Midday

"Set your alarm and pray with the 24-7 community at midday everyday." Carla Harding, 24-7 Prayer

24-7 Prayer exists to encourage Christians in bringing prayer into all aspects of life.  One of the most rewarding rhythms the movement has explored is the daily use of the prayer that Jesus taught…

As part of Jewish tradition Jesus would have paused at least three times a day to pray to his Father in Heaven. There is incredible power in stopping in the middle of a busy day to turn your eyes for just a minute back to the Creator.  It can put you in some interesting situations. When that alarm goes off in a work meeting or in the middle of class lesson, saying the prayer becomes a little more challenging!

Why the Lord’s Prayer?

Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury, was once asked, “If you could reduce all of Christianity down to the back of a single envelope what would you write?” To which he replied: “Well that’s simple, I would write out the words of The Lord’s Prayer”.

It is estimated that over 2 billion people in a variety of different languages pray or sing The Lord’s Prayer on Easter Sunday ever year. That’s almost a third of the world’s population! When Jesus’ disciples asked Him, ‘Teach us how to pray’ (Luke 11) this simple yet profound prayer was His response. 

Why Midday?

The whole idea of praying at 12.00pm (Midday) is that it allows God to interrupt our day.  Whether or not you already have a regular time of prayer disciplining yourself to pray in the centre of your day means your mind returns to God regardless of the pressures of busyness of daily life.

As the 24-7 Community grows around the world, many are adopting this practice.  As the movement spans different time zones the vision is that one day on the stroke of every hour it will be midday somewhere…  While one nation sleeps, another on the other side of the world is calling God’s Kingdom to earth. What a great worldwide partnership you could be part of in prayer.

How do we get involved?

It is so simple! All you need to do (right now) is to set an alarm on your phone, watch, clock or any time keeping device for 12.00pm. Then everyday as it rings, immediately put down what you’re doing and speak to your Father.