This is the personal story of how Richard Pitt got involved with SoHOP and how it has changed his life.
Have you ever been opened up to new possibilities by an insignificant remark made by a friend?
Well that happened to me back in October 2017. Someone remarked on the absence of a 24-7 prayer room in Southampton and in a flash God said in my heart “that’s for you and Kathy to sort out!”. What!? I had recently been having trouble praying and had only just read Pete Grieg’s book ‘Dirty Glory’, which is a commentary on the 24-7 prayer room movement that started just along the coast from us in Chichester.
But this moment of calling was definite. It was a call from God and over the coming weeks it was undeniable in my heart.
So I shared this with Kathy, my wife, who was as surprised as me. We shared it with our church leaders and they suggested we contact Roger Ellis from 24-7 who is part of the church at Chichester we have known through Pioneer (our church network) for many years. A meeting was set for December 2017.
As Kathy and I prepared we realised we had a strong vision for a prayer room that was for the whole church in Southampton, where anyone and everyone could come to pray and seek God and also to ask God’s blessing on Southampton. The fundamental importance of these two things began to burn in our hearts.
We met with Roger and his advice was to gather others with similar calling and vision. He said to draw them together and begin a journey of discernment to find out God’s plans for the house of prayer in Southampton.
So as best we could we put the word out and in February 2018 had an information evening. Fifty people from over 20 different churches turned up! There is certainly a strong appetite for praying in Southampton! In March 2018 we started meeting with 28 people who were committed to the journey of discernment as a community. We met each week, sharing a meal together and learning to pray, learning to establish a rhythm of prayer, exploring what God was saying.
For Kathy and I this was a growing time. We’d not done this before. But we had support from our church leaders and other leaders who were praying for us and encouraging us. We had much to learn and the Holy Spirit was leading us week by week.
As we started we were advised to ‘build slowly and wisely’. And we had a clear vision of what we were aiming for. A House of Prayer is not a church – it’s a place for praying and it’s a commitment to praying. It is for people from right across the spectrum of churches. It’s a commitment to making time and space to personally experience God’s presence and to hunger for Him. It’s also a commitment to intercede for our city and to gather believers from across all the churches to do this together. It is fundamental, it is urgent. But it’s also so full of grace, peace and love. It is a place for being very near to God.
On the advice of 24-7 our first focus as a discernment community was to look into the idea of spiritual formation (or transformation). This basically means learning to put ourselves in the places of grace where God is transforming us (like it says in Romans 12).
We learnt about various ways of listening to God, silent prayer, ways of reading the bible. We learnt that being a prayerful community was the key. The Holy Spirit dwells among us. We are not just individuals coming to pray, but a group with the same vision and we have grown to love and trust one another. As we have made adjustments in our personal lives to go deeper into God’s heart, our personal encounters with God have led us to encounter His presence as a group.
This journey has transformed me and this is also the testimony of the others in the community that run the house of prayer with us. I can’t live my life without setting aside time to be with God, I need this time for my relationship with Him to be alive. He is always with me and I can talk to Him any time, but I’ve found I need exclusive time with Him. It makes me become aware of what I am really feeling in my heart. It keeps things honest between us. It is what Jesus said in John 15 – ‘Remain in Me and I will remain in you.’
After getting up to date with God, as it were, I find there are many things to pray about, and this comes from my heart becoming more in tune with His. There are things that will not happen unless we pray! He has delegated responsibility to us and we must not desert our post. I find a growing desire to pray for the church in Southampton, our schools and young people, my friends, my work.
The prayers have started flowing and as I am in the prayer room I have been sensing God’s river flowing. At first I thought this was because there is something special about the prayer room itself, which I think is partly true. But also, it is like Jesus said, if we are hungry we can come to Him and drink, and then streams of living water will flow from within our soul. I have come to realise that this river I sense is God’s river of living water flowing out through me. It’s amazing! It’s miraculous! But it’s happening.
In July and August 2019 I began to get physically tired and found it harder to get to the prayer room during our weekly 24 hour session. I am coming out the other side of this busy time and find the desire to pray remains strong. It is foundational in my life now. I can’t do without it. So I am getting back in there regularly.
This is my story so far. SoHOP has become an enriching and fulfilling experience that is the most life-giving thing in all that I do each week. I thank God for that chance remark and His call that came with it back in October 2017. I thank Him for the community of people He has called to the House of Prayer. I thank Him for those who will yet join us and the life that will come to the church and the city through SoHOP in the years to come.