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Prayer
Beacon in the Community
by Lieutenant Xander
Coleman
While the Global
Call to 24-7 Prayer – a day and night cry for justice seeks
to be an ongoing prayer initiative, there are already several
Salvation Army centres with a sense of vision and calling to
become Houses of Prayer (SA-HOP) – places where the fire of
intercession never goes out and where God makes himself at
home according to Isaiah 56:7 “…my house will be called a
house of prayer for all nations”.
Lieutenant
Xander Coleman, Corps Officer of the Banbury Salvation Army
Prayer Beacon Corps (http://www.salvationarmybanbury.co.uk/)
(United Kingdom with the Republic of Ireland Territory) shares
how the Corps has chosen to make prayer the major emphasis of
its community life and mission, becoming a house of prayer in
and for the local community.
Passion for
Prayer
During a period
when the Corps was without a commanding officer, they came
face-to-face with the need to rely on God’s provision,
guidance and vision. During this time they saw and received
answers to prayers. On the back of what God was doing through
the Roots movement, a number of key individuals in the Corps
caught a passion for seeking God through prayer. This
manifested in prayer becoming the heartbeat of the Corps and
developed into a focus for its mission and identity.
As this vision
for prayer spread like contagion through the Corps, it was
felt that such an emphasis should be recognised in a formal
way. Taking the values of the Boiler Room model - prayer,
creativity, mercy, hospitality, mission and learning - and
moulding it around the framework of a traditional-shaped
Corps, the idea of a Prayer Beacon was developed. In May of
2008 Banbury became the first Salvation Army Corps in the United Kingdom to
become a Salvation Army Prayer Beacon Corps.
The Prayer Room
The need for a
designated, ground floor prayer room (accessible to as many
people as possible) was immediately recognised.
 Artistic
and prayerful people within the Corps fellowship gladly took
on the challenge of equipping the room. Prior to being used
for the first time, the room was already soaked in prayer. The
displays change on a regular basis as the Spirit guides.
Initially many of the displays were teaching tools, helping
people to explore the various ways of praying (e.g. praying
the Bible, soaking prayer, lectio divina). The displays
also encourage opportunities for personal, interactive and
intercessory prayer.
The room is a
space where people can find peace and the opportunity to sit
quietly in God’s presence. Many people comment on the powerful
presence of God they experience in this room, and that the
prayers offered there are almost tangible. The prayer room has
also encouraged many of the Corps members to fellowship more
regularly, and to confidently offer to pray for and with
visitors during the usual weekly programme.
Answers to
Prayer
The first
amazing answer to prayer that the Prayer Beacon Corps
experienced was God leading people to take responsibility for
all the weekly program activities and developing a more loving
Corps fellowship. Corps members have undergone accelerated
spiritual growth and a willingness to move out of their
comfort zones in order to allow God to change, grow and
develop priorities. Other experiences include witnessing
spiritual and physical healing, deliverance, souls being
filled with the Holy Spirit and their spiritual lives being
revolutionised!
More recently
the Lord has been leading the Banbury Corps to ‘pray big
prayers’, exercising their faith to see God’s kingdom come in
their community. One of the key prayers over the last few
years is for the return of prodigals – those who have
backslidden or left the fellowship. One-by-one, people
have started to come back to the Corps, get saved, and become
involved in the ministry of the Corps.
Ongoing Hopes
Being a ‘Prayer
Beacon’ is an ongoing journey – the Corps is never static. God
continues to open new avenues of prayer and service, and show
the Corps members how passionate and effective prayer can be
weaved through all of their activities. The official
designation as a ‘Prayer Beacon’ has helped the Corps members
to own the ministry of prayer. Their vision is developing
around their impact not just in the local community, but as a
resource for the local Church, the Division and the Territory
as a prayer centre. The whole building is a ‘house of
prayer’, not just the prayer room.
 When
asked about the Corps’ vision for its community, Lt. Coleman
replied, “We want to see prayer bring together the body of
Christ in Banbury, to bring revival, to release the gifts, and
to equip God’s servants for their works of service. We want to
see prayer drawing people into intimacy with God and see the
answers to our prayers celebrated together. Ultimately,
I would love to see Banbury Prayer Beacon praying non-stop:
24/7/365! We’re still a long way off from that point,
but we’re trusting God to give us faith for greater things!”.
Their desire
for the Army is that prayer would become as natural to
Salvationists as breathing - that around the world
Salvationists would be awakened by the very Spirit of God to
the need for fervent, corporate and personal prayer. It is
also their prayer for more dedicated prayer centres to be
birthed in the UK territory
and around the world.
Not every Corps
is called to be a ‘Prayer Beacon’, but they are all called to
be praying Corps. The best way to learn to pray is
simply by doing it.
Dream big,
start small, and go deep.
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