The Secret Place: Celebrating 70 weeks of 24-hour Prayer in Boston

24/7 prayer at  3 Times Church at the Swedenborg Chapel
and NE Korean Methodist Church at Union United Methodist
(see end of article for details)

At 10 pm on a cold January Friday evening, an unexpected sound rises from the New Jerusalem Church on Harvard's campus. Around 20 people, mostly of Korean descent, are lifting up choruses of worship in both Korean and English. As the crowd grows, so does the worship, soon filling the seats in the small church basement. Joshua Hungsoo Park, a mentor to Korean students at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, exhorts those gathered to pray for God's purposes at Harvard University. As he does, what feels like a wave hits the room as it erupts with prayer, "Korean Style".

The room rumbles and roars with the sound of many waters, a cacophony of voices in many languages, of cries, of tears: the sound of fervent prayer. Contrary to what you might expect, the roar of prayer creates a space of immense quiet where each soul is intimately poured out to God. The palpable power of God released in the room by the prayer demands attention; the noise can be better than music and I feel privileged to be in the same room with these people. And they’re just getting started. This prayer meeting will go on for another 23 hours, finally ending at 10pm the next day. Perhaps most telling is this: the 24 hour prayer meeting has been going on every week for 70 weeks.

Origins

In the summer of 2010, God was stirring in the hearts of Joshua Park and Steve Kim to begin weekly prayer for God’s purposes in the city of Boston. As students at Gordon Conwell seminary, they were leaders in a daily prayer meeting that had brought many students at the seminary into a new experience of God. God had been moving on their hearts for several years, impacting them with the history of revival and awakening in the New England region. Together, they began to dream with Seminary Mentor Joshua Hungsoo Park, prayer organizer Miwon Oh, and professor and international speaker Daniel Pak about what this weekly prayer might look like.

Initially, the idea was to simply do two or three hours a week somewhere on Harvard’s campus. Joshua relates what was on their hearts at that time: 'We had a strong sense that we needed to start praying for the city of Boston, especially for the campuses.' Dr. Daniel Pak, former professor at Michigan University and itinerant speaker, suggested, 'Why not pray overnight—when you pray overnight, there will be breakthrough.'

Praying overnight weekly is difficult enough, but Miwon felt the Lord was looking for even more. 'In my heart I felt like Holy Spirit challenged me that if I wanted to see 24/7 prayer in the city of Boston, why not start with one day for 24 hours?' From the start, this journey has required a radical dependence on God. 'God gave us a heart especially for the Harvard area. At that time, we didn’t even have a place to pray. God opened up a location in Harvard to bring us into the heart of that area for prayer.'

Beginnings

Friday night, September 10, 2010 was the first night of prayer. Initially, there was not even a place to host the entire 24 hours. The first twelve hours were hosted at Harvard and the second twelve hours were at the prayer room at Gordon-Conwell, almost 30 miles away in Hamilton, MA. The organizers divided the entire day into three-hour segments and assigned a coordinator to each three-hour segment. At first, it was difficult to fill the entire 24 hours. Joshua relates the struggle of the first few months: 'Sometimes we would have slots that had no people or only one person. Initially, we were not able to fill the entire time because we didn’t have enough people.'

In December of 2010, a location in Allston became available so that all 24 hours could be in the city. A group from the Korean Methodist church began to engage and carry the prayer on Saturday during the day. The new location and participants were a turning point, and from that time on, all 24 hours have been covered.

Impact

People often wonder about others who pray a lot. It seems to them that nothing happens in prayer. The reality, of course, is quite different. Miwon shares, 'In prayer, we’re not trying to store or build anything, but just trying to bring up the water and soften the ground. I felt that God spoke to me, ‘When other people try to plant on the soil [of Cambridge and Boston], they will see the difference from your prayers.’ The prayer is not unto our ministries—it goes continually as water to bless the entire Body.” Since the weekly prayer began, five American churches and one Korean church have been planted in the Harvard area.

The prayer has also had a powerful impact on the participants. Miwon relates that 'as we pray, God gives each one of us a heart for specific ministries. Each one of us has a specific role and we discover that role as we continue in prayer. The ministry vision that is birthed in the prayer room is then expressed in the wider body of Christ.'

 'In these times of prayer, we felt that God gave us individual restoration. He also gathered individuals who prayed individually together in one vessel and one body. Our individual prayers were able to come together—so many people were praying individually but praying together had more impact.'

Destination

"The last year and half of prayer has impacted the participants and strengthened the body of Christ in ways we certainly cannot quantify. However, many of the participants see this as just the beginning of something much larger that God is doing in Boston, and their vision extends far beyond the Korean community. Miwon’s original vision of 24/7 prayer in Boston is still very much alive. Joshua puts it this way: 'We believe God is going to raise up an army of prayer to make Boston a City of Prayer.'

"Although their prayer meetings have always included both Korean and English, this year they’re beginning to intentionally engage with English speaking leaders and even leaders from other ethnic communities in Boston.

"Miwon shares, 'Our goal is really simple, not just the Korean community praying within their own boundaries. Instead, we want to merge with other praying people in the city of Boston. We don’t want to start a ministry and say “Come and join”. We really want to join as one Body in the city of Boston, to join with various groups who are praying for the city of Boston.'

Article by: Jonathan Friz, NE Alliance

Friday-Saturday Weekly 24 Hour Prayer:

Hosted at: 3 Times Church at the Swedenborg Chapel

10pm-9am
50 Quincy St.
Cambridge, MA 02138

Then moving to: NE Korean Methodist Church at Union United Methodist

9am-9pm
485 Columbus Ave.
Boston, MA 02118