Ballymena House of Prayer – BHOP was formed and is run by a group of Christians who live and/or work in the town. Ballymena House of Prayer meets every Monday morning from 6am – 8am at No 46 Castle Street, Ballymena BT43 7BT (located between the Elim and First Ballymena church buildings).
No meetings are taking place at the minute due to the current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. We will inform you as soon as it’s possible to recommence them again.
Here’s what Ballymena House of Prayer sets out as its aims –
- To create space for God’s people to draw close to Him from across the spectrum of expressions of the Body of Christ.
- To demystify prayer – prayer should be fun, easy, rewarding and not confined to the specialists, the old and the ordained! – “everybody prays”, “everybody can pray”, “everybody can learn to pray together with others from across the Body of Christ”.
- To generate, maintain, and export a culture of sustained worship and prayer.
- To facilitate united prayer around the different churches, and in so-called “secular” settings e.g. prayer gatherings have taken place in the police station, an event which was covered by the Ballymena Guardian (see cutting below), primary and secondary schools, around the town centre, local businesses and in at least 19 different churches in the town.
- To develop relational unity and a culture of joyous relationship-building and networking in the Bride of Christ in our town and surrounding area.
- To transform the spiritual DNA of our town and surrounding area through practising the Presence of God.
- To act as a creative catalyst for intentional community transformation through extending the Kingdom of God.
The Scriptural inspiration for BHOP
The Scriptural inspiration for BHOP is taken from Proverbs 11 v 10 & 11 – ‘Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted’ and also Isaiah 62 v 6 & 7 – ‘On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.’
Taking these verses as inspiration, Ballymena House of Prayer’s areas of focus for sustained prayer are –
1: The church, the unity of the Body of Christ (Psalm 133; John 17:20-25)
2: Political and civic leaders (1 Timothy 2:1)
2: Policing &, community safety, community relations (1 Timothy 2:2; Isaiah 58)
3: Education (primary, secondary, FE, admin) (Proverbs 22:6)
4: Health (body, mind and spirit), healing (Acts 10:38; 1 Thessalonians 5:23)
5: Business & commerce, employment (Jeremiah 29:7; Exodus 31:1-11)
6: Recreation & leisure, media & the arts (Exodus 31:1-11; 1 Timothy 6:17)
As well as their weekly Friday morning meetings, Ballymena House of Prayer also supports other prayer events including the monthly REVIVE prayer and praise evening which take place in the BRAID TOWN HALL STUDIO THEATRE. These are usually held on the third Friday of every month from 7pm-8:30pm. Look out for other prayer events on The Church Page or ask to be added to BHOP’s mailing list by emailing Jonathan Leakey on jeyleeki@gmail.com
Ballymena House of Prayer – BHOP would love to see more Christians coming along to their time of prayer every Monday morning at No 46 Castle Street, Ballymena or if you can’t make it along to the meeting, please pray for these guys as they take all aspects of life in and around the town to God in prayer, on a regular basis.
