The Story

History

After a Friday morning prayer meeting at Covenant United Methodist Church, right before March's Dwell gathering, there was a prayer warrior who asked me about 6:22 having a building. It hadn't even been on my mind, and we were not praying about it that day. But I was always looking around town for a potential prayer room space. I told her about a building for rent in Uptown Greenville. It was the upstairs of Backdoor skate shop right on the edge of ECU campus. I had had my eye on it for a while and had even gone to look inside. She said she would be praying. It seemed so random.

About a month later at noon on Friday, April 3, a week of non-stop 24/7 prayer began on the campus of East Carolina University. In a small room in the Baptist Campus Ministry building, students started praying again. This happened last semester. Students, faculty and other Jesus-followers from the Greenville area signed up to pray for an hour or two so that there was continuous prayer. It was a crazy idea that came from a book called Red Moon Rising by Peter Greig. They started doing it in England about ten years ago. It was so life-changing for people that it has now spread worldwide (see http://www.24-7prayer.com). This is not a new thing. The folks in the UK stole it from King David in the Bible, as well as others throughout history who created spaces for non-stop ministry to God. The prayer at ECU started at noon on Friday, and God started moving very quickly.

About three and a half hours after 24/7 prayer began on April 3, a 6:22 supporter stepped out of his car behind Backdoor skate park and God spoke to him (he claims in an audible voice!) and told him to rent the upstairs for 6:22 for a year. He was outside of his car crying. Apparently God wanted this thing to happen.

What's In The Name?

A mechanical room or a boiler room is a room or space in a building dedicated to the mechanical equipment and its associated electrical equipment. Unless a building is served by a centralized heating plant, the size of the mechanical room is usually proportional to the size of the building. A small building or home may have at most a utility room but in large buildings mechanical rooms can be of considerable size, often requiring multiple rooms throughout the building, or even occupying one or more complete floors (see: mechanical floor). (From Wikipedia)

While driving down Memorial Dr, one day, I noticed the abandoned Hamilton Inn & Conference Center, and I thought about how cool it would be to have that building for God's kingdom. You could have a prayer room, host conferences, house the homeless, etc. I asked God for the building. A few days later Shepard and I drove by, but this time we circled around the parking lot. Other than the road sign, the only signs we saw on the whole building were two signs that said "Boiler Room." It was very exciting because we knew this is what many people called their 24/7 prayer communities (see http://www.boiler-rooms.com). A few months later, the hotel was torn to the ground.

"...C.H. Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers of the late 19th Century, attributed the fruitfulness of his entire ministry to his 'Boiler Rooms'. These were prayer meetings - often established in basements - that facilitated intercession while he preached. Spurgeon, who often preached to crowds of 10,000 in days before amplification, considered these 'Boiler Rooms' to be the very power-source of his ministry." (From boiler-rooms.com)

Dreams like a large Christian conference center will happen, but I believe that first our city needs a Boiler Room to fuel these dreams with persistent prayer. In many ways a Boiler Room would be "underground." The growth and community would be on a grassroots level. The hours of hidden prayer and intercession would be providing unseen spiritual power for the Church on our city. Yet a small boiler room could provide the fuel that powers the dreams of God and fans the evangelistic flames in Greenville.

Is the Boiler Room a church?

No. We see the boiler room to be a city-wide space where people from any church can be in unity, unbelievers feel welcomed and everyone encounters God's presence. We value the local churches and their leaders. We want to pray for, have relationship with and be a blessing to the local church, particularly in Uptown Greenville.