Brian Heasley is the National Director of 24-7 Prayer in Great Britain and previously pioneered their work in Ibiza. He talks prayer – answered, unanswered and with unusual prayer partners – with Caroline Harmon.
Why should we prioritise prayer?
The priority has always been Jesus and being disciples of Jesus. To be an effective disciple I need a relationship with him, I need to speak to him, I need to listen to him. Prayer is a natural overflow of a desire for intimacy with Jesus.
Arthur Wallis said that all great revivals are birthed in prayer, sustained by prayer and they bring forth prayer. This hunger and passion to know Jesus, but also to make his kingdom known, seems to be intricately linked to prayer.
The Psalmist says ‘Be still and know that I am God’ but I think the church is incredibly busy and we’re not very good at being still. We try to be God. I believe in a God who rocks up and makes a difference, but sometimes I’m more keen to rock up and make a difference for Him than allowing Him to do this.
How has prayer been answered in your own life?
At the age of 18 I had fallen away from the church and my faith and I ended up in prison four times. My father was a Christian and he prayed for me every day. I’m sure there were days when he thought that his prayers just weren’t being answered – I was out of prison then I was back in, I got in fights, I got in trouble. But I’m struck by the secret history behind every history. I was put in a prison cell with a guy who had just become a Christian; my probation officer was a Christian; my solicitor was a Christian. It was like God haunted me and in my dark days he was at work, but from an external person’s point of view they would think their prayers weren’t working.
We need be a people who pray because God is at work and sometimes he’s at work even when we don’t see it. Sometimes our job is to sow the seed in prayer rather than always see the result of our prayer. Eventually I came back to God and I would attribute that to the faithful prayers of my father who didn’t give up.
You set up 24/7’s work in Ibiza. What was that like?
Our experience with the clubbing scene was that people aren’t necessarily into church but they are increasingly aware of something that is other – a spirituality. People were incredibly open to being prayed for on the street. I spent each summer with a team wandering around saying to people ‘Can I pray for you?’ and they often said yes. I’ve prayed for a guy dressed in a batman suit. I’ve prayed for seven girls who only had hot pants and gold nipple paint on, which was an interesting prayer group! I’ve prayed for students on their summer break who wouldn’t connect with church but connect with prayer. You do have to be prepared for a bit of rejection – it wouldn’t be a request if people couldn’t say no. But I’ve always been surprised by who says yes.
What would you say to someone who is disillusioned with prayer?
One of the biggest challenges of our faith is unanswered prayer. I’m in my forties and I look with hindsight at some of the things I prayed for and I can see now why they didn’t happen, although at the time I was devastated. But then I have other things I look back at, like the death of my mother when I was 11, and I still don’t really understand why that happened.
I don’t want to give a pat answer but I do feel that God’s in control. That might sound naïve but we have to trust that if all goes well God is involved and if all goes badly God is involved. And I’ve probably learnt more through my pain in unanswered prayer than through the easy stuff.
