7.14 united prayer for Advent

Christians united for an hour of prayer in cities across the world on 1st December at the beginning of Advent. Prayer gatherings took place in more than 50 cities, including London, Manchester, Exeter, New York, Washington DC, Brussels, Frankfurt, Marseille, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Cape Town.

At 7:14pm the gatherings started uniting the cities in simultaneous acts of corporate worship as people prayed the Lord's Prayer, kneeling, singing and crying out for good government, justice, a fairer world economy and spiritual renewal. There was also a minute's silence and each event ended by singing Amazing Grace.

At a time of political, economic, environmental and social shaking, the event was called 7:14 after the Bible passage 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

The 7.14 vision was: "to see all of God's people released and empowered to rise up and make a difference. To see the whole Church, young and old, come together to pray for our nations and leaders. No stage, no mics, no brands, no speaker. Just the people of God in one place at one time, with the healing of lands on their hearts".

The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, said: "Prayer is the world in which God can do anything. To move into that realm is the greatest adventure. It is to be open to the infinite and hence to infinite possibilities. Our private, self-made worlds, come to an end; a new world appears within and around us and the impossible becomes an everyday experience.
"Yet the world that prayer reveals is barely noticeable in the ordinary course of events. Hundreds of people gathering outside St Paul's Cathedral on 1 December will give the world a positive vision of what the Church exists to be and do."

Lucy Cooper, HOPE’s Communications co-ordinator attended in the heavy rain: "It was amazing to pray on the steps of St Paul's in central London next to the Occupy camp. It was a special atmosphere, and it was a sea of umbrellas all over the steps. We joined together in prayer with people from other church traditions and cultures, as brothers and sisters in Christ, and prayed for issues including suffering, economics, justice, government, families and the Church’s mission.”
“When we knelt down together at 8pm we felt the Spirit of God there even more and knew this was happening all around the world.”

Marijke Hoek from the Evangelical Alliance said: “The awareness of our limitations how to pray in the face of the strong currents in our world reminded me of the promise of divine help in our weakness - the Spirit's advocacy (Romans 8:26)."