Around 1000 BC
The Tabernacle of David
The Davidic Order of Worship
Although the tabernacle was replaced by a temple, the Davidic order of worship was embraced and reinstituted by seven subsequent leaders in the history of Israel and Judah. Each time this order of worship was reintroduced, spiritual breakthrough, deliverance and military victory followed.
– Solomon instructed that worship in the temple should be in accordance with the Davidic order (2 Chronicles 8:14–15).
– Jehoshaphat defeated Moab and Ammon by setting singers up in accordance with the Davidic order: singers at the front of the army singing the Great Hallel. Jehoshaphat reinstituted Davidic worship in the temple (2 Chronicles 20:20–22, 28).
– Joash (2 Chronicles 23:1–24:27).
– Hezekiah cleansed and reconsecrated the temple, and reinstituted the Davidic order of worship i(2 Chronicles 29:1–36, 30:21)
– Josiah reinstituted Davidic worship (2 Chronicles 35:1–27).
– Ezra and Nehemiah, returning from Babylon, reinstituted Davidic worship (Ezra 3:10, Nehemiah 12:28–47).
Historians have also speculated that around the time of Jesus, in their search to find communion with God, the Essenes of the Judean wilderness reinstituted Davidic worship as part of their life of prayer and fasting.
For over one thousand years monasticism (the practice of taking vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to one’s spiritual superior) held a key role in the development of theology and practice in the Church.
From the fourth and fifth centuries, monks and nuns were an accepted part of society. Monasticism was the cradle in which laus perennis, perpetual prayer, was birthed in the church age. Some of the key figures from this tradition are: Alexander Akimites and the Sleepless Ones Born in Asia Minor and educated in Constantinople, Alexander became an officer in the Roman army. Challenged by Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler from Matthew 19:21, Akimites sold his possessions and retreated from court life to the desert. Tradition states that he set fire to a pagan temple after seven years of solitude. Upon arrest and imprisonment Alexander converted the prison governor and his household, and promptly returned to his abode in the desert.
Shortly thereafter he had the misfortune to fall in with a group of robbers. His evangelistic zeal, however, could not be contained and he converted these outcasts into devoted followers of Jesus. This group became the core of his band of monks. Around 400 AD, he returned to Constantinople with 300–400 monks, where he established laus perennis to fulfill Paul’s exhortation to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Driven from Constantinople, the monks established the monastery at Gormon, at the mouth of the Black Sea. This became the founding monastery of the order of the Acoemetae (literally, the sleepless ones).
Alexander died here in 430 AD, but the influence of the Acoemetae continued. The houses were divided into six choirs rotating throughout the day, each new choir relieving the one before, to create uninterrupted prayer and worship twenty-four hours a day. John, the second abbot of the Acoemetae, founded another monastery on the eastern shore of the Bosphorus, referred to in many ancient documents as the “great monastery” and motherhouse of the Acoemetae. The library here was recognized for its greatness throughout the Byzantine Empire and indeed was consulted by several Popes. The third abbot established a monastery in the capital under the royal consul, Studius, who dedicated the new monastery to John the Baptist. Studion became a renowned center of learning and piety, the most important monastery in Constantinople. Studion continued until 1453 when the Turks captured Constantinople.
The lasting impact of the Acoematae has been their worship and their contribution to church liturgy. The monasteries, numbering into the hundreds and sometimes thousands, were organized into national groups of Latins, Greeks, Syrians and Egyptians, and then into choirs. In addition to laus perennis, which passed into the Western Church with St. Maurice of Agaune, they developed the divine office of the literal carrying out of Psalm 119:164, “Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments.” This became an integral part of the Benedictine rule of the seven hours of prayer—Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline.
Agaunum
Around 522 AD, Abbot Ambrosius brought attention to a small monastery founded in Switzerland. Legend has it that around 286 AD, a Theban Legion under the command of Maurice de Valois was sent to suppress a rebellion by Gauls in the north of the empire. On their way to Gaul, the Coptic Christians were encamped at Agaunum (present day Switzerland) where they were ordered to sacrifice to Roman gods and to the Emperor in petition for victory.
Maurice and his Theban Legion refused.
The Roman Emperor, Maximian, ordered a “decimation” of the legion of seven thousand: one in every ten men was killed. When Maurice and his men continued their refusal, a second decimation was ordered, followed by another and another. The entire seven thousand Egyptian Christians were eventually martyred. Although the veracity of the story has been called into question, the legend of the martyrs at Agaunum spread far and wide.
Between 515–521 AD, Sigismund, King of Burgundy, lavishly endowed the monastery established at the site of the martyrdom to ensure its success. In 522 AD, the abbot at St. Maurice’s instituted laus perennis after the tradition of the Acoemetae.
Choirs of monks would sing in rotation, with one choir relieving the previous choir, continuing day and night. This practice went on until around 900 AD, impacting monasteries all over France and Switzerland.
Around 500 AD
The Early Monastic Tradition of 24/7 Prayer
Around 1000 AD
Cluny
The abbey at Cluny
In the ninth and tenth centuries, Viking raiders and settlers were forging a violent new way of life in Europe.
Feudalism was taking root, and the monastic way of life was shaken—not only by the physical attacks as Bangor experienced, but subsequent to the raids, many houses were subject to the whims of local chieftains. In reaction to this movement, reform came about in several ways, one arguably being the most crucial reforming movement in the Western Church: the Cluniac order.
In 910, William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine, founded the monastery at Cluny under the auspices of Abbot Berno, instituting a stricter form of the Benedictine rule.
William endowed the abbey with resources from his entire domain, but more importantly gave the abbey freedom in two regards. Due to the financial endowment, the abbey was committed to increased prayer and perpetual praise, or laus perennis.
Its autonomy from secular leadership was also important as the abbey was directly accountable to the church in Rome. The second abbot, Odo, took over in 926. According to C.H. Lawrence, he was “a living embodiment of the Benedictine ideal.”
His reforming zeal meant that the influence of the monastery at Cluny expanded widely during his leadership. Known for its independence, hospitality, and almsgiving, Cluny significantly departed from the Benedictine rule, removing manual labor from a monk’s day and replacing it with increased prayer.
The number of monastic houses which looked to Cluny as their motherhouse increased greatly during this period, and the influence of the house spread all over Europe. Cluny reached the zenith of its power and influence in the twelfth century; it commanded 314 monasteries all over Europe, second only to Rome in terms of importance in the Christian world. It became a seat of learning, training no less than four popes.
The fast-growing community at Cluny necessitated a great need for buildings. In 1089, the abbey at Cluny began construction under Hugh, the sixth abbot. It was finished by 1132 and was considered to be one of the wonders of the Middle Ages.
More than 555 feet in length, it was the largest building in Europe until St. Peter’s Basilica was built in Rome during the sixteenth century. Consisting of five naves, a narthex (or ante-church), several towers and the conventual buildings, it covered an area of twenty-five acres.
However, even before these great building projects, it is interesting to note that the decline in spirituality led to the ultimate demise of Cluny’s influence.
Zinzendorf’s Early Years
The Reformation Of The Sixteenth Century Saw Much-Needed Reform Enter The European Church, Which Also Caused The Closing Of Many Monasteries That Had Become Spiritually Dead. The Next Great Champion Of 24/7 Prayer Would Not Appear Until The Start Of The Eighteenth Century—Count Nicholas Ludwig Von Zinzendorf.
Zinzendorf Was Born In 1700 To An Aristocratic But Pious Family. His Father Died When He Was Only Six Weeks Old. The Young Boy Was Therefore Brought Up By His Grandmother, A Well-Known Leader Of The Pietist Movement And Friendly With The Established Leader Of The Pietists And Young Zinzendorf’s Godfather, Phillipp Spener. Growing Up In The Midst Of Such Passion For Jesus, Zinzendorf Speaks Of His Early Childhood As A Time Of Great Piety: “In My Fourth Year I Began To Seek God Earnestly, And Determined To Become A True Servant Of Jesus Christ.”
From The Age Of Ten, Zinzendorf Was Tutored At The Pietist School Of Halle Under The Watchful Eye Of Augustus Francke, Another Leader Of The Pietists. There He Formed A School Club Which Lasted All His Life, The Honourable Order Of The Mustard Seed. After Several Years At Halle, Zinzendorf’s Uncle Considered The Young Count Too Much Of A Pietist And Had Him Sent To Wittenberg To Learn Jurisprudence, So That He Might Be Prepared For Court Life. Soon The Young Count Was Accepted In Various Circles Of Society In Europe. He Kept These Connections For The Rest Of His Life, Although His Position In The Dresden Court And Future Plans For Saxon Court Life As Secretary Of State Would Not Be Fulfilled.
The Moravians And Herrnhut
In 1722, Zinzendorf Bought The Berthelsdorf Estate From His Grandmother And Installed A Pietist Preacher In The Local Lutheran Church. That Same Year Zinzendorf Came Into Contact With A Moravian Preacher, Christian David, Who Persuaded The Young Count Of The Sufferings Of The Persecuted Protestants In Moravia. These Moravians Known As The Unitas Fratrum Were The Remains Of John Huss’ Followers In Bohemia. Since The 1600s, These Saints Had Suffered Under The Hands Of Successive Repressive Catholic Monarchs. Zinzendorf Offered Them Asylum On His Lands. Christian David Returned To Bohemia And Brought Many To Settle On Zinzendorf’s Estate, Forming The Community Of Herrnhut, The Watch Of The Lord. The Community Quickly Grew To Around Three Hundred, Yet, Due To Divisions And Tension In The Infant Community, Zinzendorf Gave Up His Court Position And Became The Leader Of The Brethren, Instituting A New Constitution For The Community.
The Hundred-Year Prayer Meeting And Subsequent Missions
A New Spirituality Now Characterized The Community, With Men And Women Being Committed To Bands Or Choruses To Encourage One Another In The Life Of God. August Of 1727 Is Seen As The Moravian Pentecost. Zinzendorf Said August 13th Was “A Day Of The Outpourings Of The Holy Spirit Upon The Congregation; It Was Its Pentecost.” Within Two Weeks Of The Outpouring, Twenty-Four Men And Twenty-Four Women Covenanted To Pray “Hourly Intercessions,” Thus Praying Every Hour Around The Clock. They Were Committed To See That, “The Fire Must Be Kept Burning On The Altar Continuously; It Must Not Go Out” (Leviticus 6:13Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). The Numbers Committed To This Endeavor Soon Increased To Around Seventy From The Community. This Prayer Meeting Would Go Non-Stop For The Next One Hundred Years And Is Seen By Many As The Spiritual Power Behind The Impact The Moravians Had On The World.
From The Prayer Room At Herrnhut Came A Missionary Zeal Which Has Hardly Been Surpassed In Church History. The Spark Initially Came From Zinzendorf’s Encounter In Denmark With Eskimos Who Had Been Converted By Lutherans. The Count Returned To Herrnhut And Conveyed His Passion To See The Gospel Go To The Nations. As A Result, Many Of The Community Went Out Into The World To Preach The Gospel, Some Even Selling Themselves Into Slavery In Order To Fulfill The Great Commission. This Commitment Is Shown By A Simple Statistic. Typically, When It Comes To World Missions The Protestant Laity To Missionary Ratio Has Been 5000:1. The Moravians, However, Saw A Much Increased Ratio Of 60:1. By 1776, Some 226 Missionaries Had Been Sent Out From The Community At Herrnhut. It Is Clear Through The Teaching Of The So-Called Father Of Modern Missions, William Carey, That The Moravians Had A Profound Impact On Him In Regard To Their Zeal For Missionary Activity. It Is Also Through The Missions-Minded Moravians That John Wesley Came To Faith. The Impact Of This Little Community In Saxony, Which Committed To Seek The Face Of The Lord Day And Night, Has Truly Been Immeasurable.
Around 500 AD
Count Zinzendorf And The Moravians
1973 – 1999
24/7 Prayer in the 20th Century
In 1973 Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, established Prayer Mountain with night and day prayer. Prayer Mountain was soon attracting over a million visitors per year, as people would spend retreats in the prayer cells provided on the mountain. The ministry had a commitment to continuous prayer, to faith and to establishing small discipleship cells in the church. Perhaps as a result, this church rapidly expanded to become the largest church congregation on the globe, with membership now over 780,000.
On September 19, 1999, the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri, started a prayer and worship meeting that has continued for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week ever since. With a similar vision to Zinzendorf, that the fire on the altar should never go out, there has never been a time when worship and prayer has not ascended to heaven since that date.
At the same time, in many other places around the world, God placed desires and plans for 24/7 prayer in the fabric of diverse ministries and in the hearts of leaders. This has resulted in communities of continual prayer and prayer mountains being established in every continent of the earth.
What Drives Us
Our Mission
We are a forerunner prayer movements calling the church to unified partnership to fulfil Jesus’ mandate “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” through city-wide gatherings, networking, training and equipping.