Praying for the U.K. throughout Olympic Year
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The Olympics come to London next year, and in response, Youth With A Mission is organizing a year of prayer for the United Kingdom. Brick by Brick – A YWAM Year of Prayer, is part of Forever 2012, YWAM’s outreach initiative for the Olympic year.
“2012 is a significant year for the UK. With all the things YWAM is hoping to do surrounding the Olympics, it is a significant year for YWAM as well,” said Hayely Bullen, who is leading the prayer team.
Participants sign up on the Brick by Brick Website, taking a “brick” of time, and pledge to pray. All the bricks together build up to create a wall of prayer for the UK during the Olympic year. People have already begun filling time slots.
The initiative is open to both individuals and groups, inside YWAM and outside, and every person is encouraged to use the time as they feel God leads. Each prayer slot will have a different feel, depending on who initiates it. Individuals can take an hour each week, or at random as they have time. YWAM bases and churches can take a day, week, or month, and format the time to fit their personality. Bullen is putting together resources on the Website to give people ideas.
“Instead of giving a format, we’ve given people lots of resources and a list of things to pray for.”
Brick by Brick is not about YWAMers joining in a year of prayer already in progress, but making it integral to the next year of the mission.
“I feel that this is something God has said we need to do as YWAM,” Bullen said. “Not just have YWAM join in a year of prayer that was already happening, but as YWAM, having a year of prayer.”
YWAM Harpenden, where the Forever team is based, is taking the first week, and will kick off the year by reading through the Bible over a four-day period. Other bases have shown interest in doing a 24-hour worship session. The Brick by Brick site has a list of resources to help direct the prayer and give people ideas. The field is wide open, Bullen said.
Following the old adage of ‘Do first, then teach,’ the team at YWAM Harpenden organized a week of 24-7 prayer in October to prepare for the coming year.
“Before I could ask other locations to pray for a week, I wanted to be able to say I had done it. In Olympic terms, this was the athlete’s warm up. We wanted to stretch some spiritual muscles so we would know we could do it again,” Bullen said. “During the time I’ve been here, that’s never happened.”
The week was focused on intimacy with God, and truly had an impact on the staff who participated. Bullen hopes that the attitude of prayer will grow as people join the Brick by Brick movement around the world.
“God often does things in layers. The surface layer for Brick by Brick is to pray for the UK during the Olympics, that it would be a nation that blesses other nations,” she said. “The layer underneath, I am wanting to see YWAM learn how to really pray in unity for things again, to take our prayer to the next level.”
