A couple of years ago, the leadership team at Greenhouse Church, Long Jetty, began exploring what it means to take Jesus seriously when He says, “My house will be called a house of prayer” (Matthew 21:13). Elissa Day, the Chair of the church’s Leadership Council, felt a burden that their church didn’t currently look like a ‘house of prayer’.
“It was a big moment for our leadership team,” remembers Elissa, “reflecting on whether our church really was a house of prayer.”
The church spent a couple of years exploring what it would look like to embrace prayer more deeply. Transforming one of their office rooms into a prayer room, they started by running regular prayer vigils. People would sign up for a 1-hour slot where they would use the space to pray.
They started with a 24-hour prayer vigil, followed by a 40-hour prayer vigil, and then moved to a full week of prayer. In July 2025, they combined with three other local churches to run a full week of 24-7 prayer. There was such an appetite to pray all the hours were filled and they then ran another week in Sept 2025 for the Global Week of Prayer.
“At first, it can feel overwhelming for someone to commit to be in a prayer room for an hour,” explains Elissa, “but really the time slips away with just a few prompts and leaving space for God to speak.” For example, for one of their prayer weeks they covered the walls with blank paper and some basic prompts, like “confession” and “thanksgiving”. Throughout the week the pages filled with prayers. Anyone could come in and connect with those who had already prayed that week, without needing to know who they were.
“The confession wall was particularly moving to me,” reflects Elissa, “the number of honest things people confessed. We’re all human and we all sin. We could pray for each other in that moment, and there’s something humbling and restorative about that.”
Last year, Elissa was asked to be the Regional Prayer Connector for Baptist Churches on the Central Coast. “Having a Prayer Connector on the regional team puts listening to God at the level of leadership. It stops us just being strategic or focused on our own strengths and talent. For example, we’ve learnt to wait in prayer at the beginning of meetings. Our desire is to partner with what God is already doing, and through prayer God will prompt and direct us. We wait on Him to bring things to us, rather than always bringing things to Him.”
In February 2026, the Central Coast held their first regional prayer night. The evening brought together prayer leaders from across the region to share stories of how God is moving and ask Him to direct their steps. “We’re all trying to do this in our own pockets,” explains Elissa, “the point of the evening was to do this as a region. To bring our resources together and be unified in prayer”.
“The call to prayer isn’t about an item in the program, ticking off a task, or merely setting up a physical place of prayer. We are God’s house. We should be a house of prayer. God is moving in this land, and we don’t want to miss it. By prayer we prepare our hearts, listening to what God says and getting ourselves ready to respond.”
Elissa points to God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
“I’m so thrilled that we now have a Regional Prayer Connector, like Elissa, in each of our regions,” says Grae McWhirter, Associate Director for Strategic Support and Regional Development, “From the Riverina to the Northern Rivers. We get together online four times a year for a Prayer Hour and invite anyone from across our churches to join us. The prayer connectors take turns across the year in giving us a glimpse of the needs in their region, and we spend time as a movement praying for them. Having Regional Prayer Connectors is a key step in growing the prayer culture of our churches as we ask God to lead and empower his people to transform communities across NSW and ACT.”
“I can see an undercurrent of prayer and us connecting with God to see Him move,” says Elissa, “I feel people are becoming more open to the Gospel and hearts are becoming soft to the message of Jesus. We’re making space to partner with God, and if I can contribute anything, it’s to partner with what God is doing and let Him do the heavy lifting.”
“I long to see all churches value the breadth of what prayer can look like in their community,” prompts Elissa, “we can ask ourselves: as a community, how do we dedicate time and space to open up to God in new ways?”
Where can your church dedicate space to connecting with God and letting Him move?
*Greenhouse was inspired by the work of 24-7 Prayer, an international movement of non-stop prayer, mission and justice. “What we’ve seen locally, is what 24-7 has seen start to happen across Australia,” explains Elissa. You can find out more about 24-7 and access some of their resources on their website.
