24 Hour Praise
24hours of non-stop PRAISE and WORSHIP since 2011 in Milton Keynes
This is an apostolic assignment the Lord gave us since we ever landed on this Island of UK, to stand in the gap for the land and for all who are willing to believe. Music is a tool God has given to His people to be used as a to draw closer to Him and to intercede for others and ourselves. One key scripture we us is Ezekiel 22:30.
THE HISTORY OF 24HP
We first got involved in this exercise back in 2003, in a church called Bethel, in Trondheim, where Pastor Yaw used to serve as one of the associate pastors. One of the main Pastors in Bethel at that time, Dag Heggset, came up with the idea of praise and worship in the form of singing and playing our musical instruments which would go on (hour after hour) for 24 hours non-stop. If you are a student of the Bible then it should be clear to you by now that the Levites were doing this same thing in the Temple in the book of Chronicles during king David's time, at least.
HOW IT WAS ORGANISED
Initially some people were expressing doubts about how such an event could be successful in this day and age when most people in church are so busy with their personal activities and have very little time for the things of God.
Some of us on the other hand saw it as an opportunity to present our living bodies unto God as living sacrifices, and so we jumped on board immediately to help. Dag Heggset knew a number of churches and ministers in the region, since he had been around for quite a while, and so began involving ministries who were willing to take part. There were no fewer than 15 different ministries taking turns hour after hour leading the congregation who came from several churches in Tronheim and beyond, drifting in and out to worship. Interestingly there were a few individuals who came with their bedding and stayed there for the entire period. It was awesome!
THE MOVE TO MILTON KEYNES, UK
As the Lord finally brought us into Milton Keynes for ministry, it did not take long for us to begin to prepare for a similar assignment as we visited a few ministries in town, and realised the need in doing something to improve the quality and standard of our praise and worship, especially in the area of purity and sincerity since a lot of it is mere entertainment and show-off. No matter how pure an amount of water is, if the cup or vessel containing the water is dirty, that water can never be clean nor fit for use. If our worship leaders and musicians in our churches do not live holy lives before the Lord, it does not matter how skilful they may be, they will only produce goose-bumps and entertainment in our services and not the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Lord therefore instructed us to organise 24 HOUR PRAISE right here in this city. It was a huge burden since we had not done it since the only one in 2003 back in Norway. Also we were just new in town and were just getting to make friends and literally did not know any one that much and no connections so far. BUT THAT WAS NOT AN EXCUSE.
THE FIRST 24 HOUR PRAISE IN MILTON KEYNES
Pastor Yaw and the few leaders kept running away from this assignment until 2010 when the burden became unbearable and so had to begin to put things together. As we went from church to church, trying to talk about it and get other believers involved, it was interesting how some in the Christian community thought it was a crazy idea and the fact that people were going to be too tired for such an event. But as God is never a liar and not an author of confusion, we met a group in a church who told us that there had been a prophecy about 24 hours of worship and that they had been praying for a while to see it done since it had not been done yet in Milton Keynes. As the LORD would have it, we had the first 24HP in July 2011 and have not looked back since then, no matter how tough things get. It got even better in 2012 when we had it in the month of September. In 2013 the enemy almost succeeded by stirring up a whole lot against us and so we could not have it that year, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we bounced back in September 2014 for the 3rd time in which several ministries both from within and outside Milton Keynes came to take part.
EVERY MARCH, EVERY SEPTEMBER, EVERY YEAR!
After the 4th one in 2015, the Lord now permitted us to have it twice a year, and so has it been until today. Interestingly we have never had any government funding or any of such, for 24 HOUR PRAISE or any of the other activities we have been running since we came to the UK. Rather, this has been going on due to the individual contributions in our services during any of these events. May the Lord bless the our leadership team and all the ministries and individuals for their unwavering support. We will keep trusting God for His faithfulness through it all. Please check out for the next 24HP in Milton Keynes and come and let us worship the Lord as we stand in the gap for this land.
