The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) invites thousands of Evangelicals to start the year praying, in the Week of Prayer (WOP).

The EEA recalls that the WOP “in many of the countries of the former communist world in Europe was the only Evangelical Alliance thing that stayed alive through the communist era…..so, even when people had heard of nothing else to do with Evangelical Alliance, they had often heard of the Week of Prayer”.

This year edition, coordinated by members of the French-speaking and German-speaking Evangelical Alliance of Switzerland, will take place from January 9-16, under the theme: Sabbath - Living According to God's Rhythm.

“Commit ourselves to build healthy communities and churches”

The coordinators explain that “the purpose of the Week of Prayer 2022 is not to protest against working on Sundays. It is an opportunity to rediscover freedom in the midst of a world relentless with demands and pressure”.

“By praying together, we want to encourage each other to dance to the rhythm of heaven now. This includes a lot more than spiritual wellness for our own soul, but by praying we commit ourselves to building healthy communities and churches”, point out the organisers.

The blessings of the Sabbath

Each day, the WOP will focus on one aspect of the Sabbath: identity, provision, rest, compassion, remembrance, joy, generosity and hope.

According to Thomas Bucher, the General Secretary of the EEA, “the day of rest is under attack these days”, because “as people become more and more estranged from God's good guidelines for life, a day of rest just does not make any sense”.

However, “the only way you can make more out of time is by stopping from work and spend it on relationships. That is what God invites us to with his offer of Sabbath, spending time with him and his people”, stresses Bucher.

“The Sabbath is an ingenious gift from God which follows a different logic. My prayer is that as you pray you will be reintroduced to this day of rest, which we Christians in Europe have celebrated for just over 1700 years on Sundays”, he adds.

The organisers agree that “when God calls us once a week to put everything aside, He wants to preserve our freedom. We ought to live out of the intimate relationship with our Creator. The Sabbath is the best remedy to fight estrangement and the best mean to live a successful life”.

Israel Montes, coordinator of the prayer group of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance, believes that the WOP “will surely be a good way to start the year with a firm intention of honouring God with our time and sanctifying part of it to our God and Lord”.

The 2022 Week of Prayer resources can be download in several languages at the EEA website and are also available as a Bible Plan on YouVersion app.