24 Stories of Prayer #4: Unified Prayer Engages with Ocult in Oulu, Finland

Published: August 4th, 2008

"The presence of God was so intense that I almost couldn't keep away from the Prayer room"

How do you transform a city? The 24-7 Prayer community in Oulu, Finland are pushing through church and gender divides to cry out with one voice to the Father for change.

When I first received an email from a young Finnish woman organizing a 24-7 Prayer Room in a city I was uncertain I could pronounce, the first thing that shone through the type on the screen was her heart.  I could sens that she was totally sold out for Jesus. She brought the passion we all remember from our early years of faith to something she thought was incredibly important.  Sinikka Hepola cared about prayer.

Her enthusiasm was infectious, even through cyber space, as we talked/typed about setting up a 24-7 Prayer Room for the city of Oulu I could tell that this wasn't going to be a one off event. "We started initially in autumn 2006," writes Sinikka. "Inspired by my spiritual mother, I read Red Moon Rising and we decided to organise a prayer week before a big evangelical meeting in Oulu," she continued.  "After that amazing week I couldn't forget about prayer.  I felt like we had to continue.  So in January 2007, together with one other interceding enthusiast we arranged a prayer week in January that sparked a rhythm of monthly 24-7 Prayer that has continued, almost unbroken ever since."
 
Clarity of vision and hard earned unity has marked the progression of their prayer.  Sinikka and others have forged new friendships and gone out of their way to spread the word and welcome all Christians to pray with them.  Their target: the City of Oulu.  Their aim: to see the Kingdom of God break out.
 
"There are currently 7 of us in the team from 4 different churches in the Oulu area. Since I stepped away from leading the 24-7 team, God called out a great leader for us. Hannu, such a man of faith and prayer has now been pushing through some tough times of just keeping the prayer room going over the past year. All together there are at least 8 different congregations from very different backgrounds coming together in prayer.  All ages, both men and women praying together for our city.  We close every prayer week with a two-hour session where anyone is welcome. It's an informal get-together with lots of prayer and worship where we really get into blessing each other.  God gives us loads of encouragement and prophetic words; it really builds the community and strengthens our relationships."

Unified prayer has had a great effect; "It really has had a huge impact on the atmosphere of the city that we are praying" explains Sinikka.  "Large groups would gather in the Prayer Room and take turns going out onto the streets to offer prayer to the people they met. Last spring we found out there was a new age fair in Oulu the same weekend as our 24-7.  We weren't sure what to do.  Should we pray against it?  Do we stand outside with signs of protest?  As we prayed and prepared for our weekend we felt God nudge us in a very different direction: why not go to the fair and introduce Jesus to the people seeking spiritual truth?" What an incredible way to seize an opportunity.  Their attitude reminded me of the Apostle Paul in Athens in Acts 17, preaching the gospel through the 'Unknown God' to people who were searching.

"One of my friends called the exhibition organiser and found that someone had 'conveniently' just cancelled a fair stand right in the centre of the gathering. We decided to do what we felt God was leading us to and we weren't disappointed: God did some amazing stuff.  People were saved right there and then and lots of New Testaments were given out to people curious to know more."

"Next year the organisers asked whether there could be some Christian lecturing about marriage, love and relationships. This would be alongside the lecture on astrology.  What an amazing opportunity to bring truth to such a gathering."

"Though there have been many encouragements, the last year and a half hasn't always been easy.  At times filling the hours and organising the Prayer Room has been a sacrifice, but we feel that God has gathered us to promote and enable all churches to come together to pray for our city and for the entire nation, and we are anxiously waiting to see where God is going to take us in the coming years."
 
"Our get-togethers between the prayer weeks and our relationships within the 24-7 team are much more important than the work itself.  Together we model the unity we want to see spread wide across our nation.  Men praying with women.  Denominations uniting around Jesus."

"We're here to pray for this city. It is our mission, no matter what it feels like.  Knowing why we're here keeps us together."

I asked Sinikka what one thing would she say to the rest of the 24-7 movement if we gave her the opportunity to broadcast it across the globe.  She responded passionately, "Dream big and expect God to answer to your prayers. Remain faithful at times even when it feels like nothing is happening and all the excitement has worn off.  Be prepared to make changes, even big changes to direction if Jesus tells you to. And most importantly, enjoy Him!" 

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