Turning ‘A Year of Prayer’ into a lifetime of prayer
Next time someone bumps into you, why not take a moment and offer to pray for them? This simple act is one that Auxiliary-Lieutenant Rosy Keane, Secretary for Spiritual Life Development, tried to undertake herself as The Salvation Army wrapped up its first-ever ‘A Year of Prayer’ campaign. Salvos Online journalist LERISSE SMITH caught up with Rosy to dive deeper into her passion for prayer – and how Pope Francis played a key in the inaugural event, too!
Rosy still recalls the rush of excitement when Pope Francis called the world to a year of prayer earlier this year.
It was a serendipitous moment.
Only a few months earlier, in October 2023, The Salvation Army had introduced its first-ever A Year of Prayer initiative to expand and deepen the spiritual life of the territory and give all Salvationists a simple tool for praying with others.
“When Pope Francis called the world to unite and pray, we just felt that this was really in line with what God and the Holy Spirit was doing throughout all the church worldwide,” Rosy said.
“To call us to pray and to have a dedicated rhythm and a life cycle of prayer.”
A celebration of A Year of Prayer was recently held at Camberwell Corps to officially conclude the year-long event. The event focused on how A Year of Prayer had unfolded across the nation.
Territorial Commander Commissioner Miriam Gluyas inspired the audience to be generous sowers, to seek God and to trust in faith that God would do new things before concluding with the final year of prayer scripture: “Now go in and take possession of the land of the Lord before embarking on a new season of prayer!” (Deuteronomy 4:1 ).
The exciting initiative was introduced by Rosy and her team with one clear and simple goal.
“My heart behind this role, and for our Spiritual Life Department team, was to increase the breadth and depth of the spiritual life of the territory,” she reflected.
“And so, we really wanted to have a gathering of prayer that got every person who came across it excited about the prospect of being able to pray and to give them a really simple tool for praying with others and a rhythm of life throughout the year. It was a really big call to say we want it to be an entire year of prayer, but Miriam absolutely endorsed it, saying it was exactly what we needed.”
A Year of Prayer was phrased into four seasons, beginning with spring. Rosy’s team approached the different divisions of The Salvation Army territorially and asked them to either lead or partner to lead one of the seasons, allowing for diverse perspectives and experiences of prayer throughout Australia.
“We heard story after story from young people to those who are retired and everywhere in between engaging with their prayer cards,” Rosy remarked.
Furthermore, it was to get a different viewpoint through the eyes of Salvationists throughout Australia.
Each week, the focus was on a different scripture, with prayer cards available to purchase for a few dollars. These cards included two simple prayer points and discernment, with the third point an activity designed to be done alone or with others.
The activity was written in such a way that children would be able to join in, too. More than 6000 prayer packs were sold – an unprecedented number.
And enhancing the weekly scripture and prayer cards was an online weekly chapel on Wednesdays, open to all members of The Salvation Army – staff, volunteers and ministers – which still runs today. On Sundays, prayer meetings were led by different divisions at their churches to complement A Year of Prayer. The prayer cards were also distributed at these prayer meetings.
Stories of people using the prayer cards in various settings, including church services, gathering at Communities of Hope cafes, and even workplaces, spread quickly, Rosy remarked. The Salvos Employment Plus program displayed the cards throughout their reception area, making them easily accessible to the public. Many shared how the cards had helped them pray, reflect, and connect with others.
“We heard story after story from young people to those who are retired and everywhere in between engaging with their prayer cards,” Rosy remarked.
“It was a really simple way of saying, “I can read the Bible, I can pray, I can gather with friends, and we can seek God.” All in all, I am immensely, immensely pleased by the way that Salvationists not only responded to the call to pray but came and gathered and sought God together. It exceeded my expectations. All we were hoping for was that people would pray!”
One memorable story of someone using the prayer cards was when they created a bunting out of the cards and hung it in their hallway, while others shared the scriptures on social media.
During challenging times, such as the Bondi Westfield Shopping Centre massacre, people reached out to Rosy, wanting to know what the weekly prayer scripture was as a source of comfort. That week’s scripture, given a year earlier for that date, was, “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept” (Nehemiah 1:4).
“I had people just reaching out and saying the word of God has just proved so faithful,” she commented.
Rosy added that through A Year of Prayer, the hope was not only that people would pray, but it proved that much like maintaining healthy eating and exercising habits, prayer was a discipline that required practice – and sacrifice – just like reading the Bible.
“All in all, I am immensely, immensely pleased by the way that Salvationists not only responded to the call to pray but came and gathered and sought God together. It exceeded my expectations. All we were hoping for was that people would pray!”
“We know we should do it, but sometimes it feels costly,” she explained. “So, to get in a communal rhythmic commitment together changes everything.”
And the greatest impact of A Year of Prayer for Salvationists and the community across Australia?
It was twofold, Rosy said. Firstly, it reinforced that people really loved to pray and seek God but often struggled to maintain that rhythm amidst their busy lives.
Many shared that they had never been as consistent in their prayer and Bible reading as they were during A Year of Prayer, finding strength in the communal aspect and knowing others were engaging in the same prayers and reflections and talking about it.
The second significant impact came when Colonel Kelvin Merrett led the final campaign celebration and shared with the territory how he had seen prayer at work in the divisions and nation the past 12 months and at the prayer meetings – but that “We are not yet a ‘praying’ people.” Prayer needs to be our hallmark as believers, not just an addition.
Kelvin challenged all Salvationists to make prayer their first response in all circumstances.
“We do pray as The Salvation Army, but to be known as people of prayer is quite a confronting thing,” Rosy said.
“The goal is for The Salvation Army to be recognised not only for our charity work but also as a community that seeks God in prayer. I just notice that sometimes we have got skills, abilities or energy, and our first response can be to fix it. I’m a fix-it person – but actually, do we fix our eyes on Jesus? I want us all to be there and that when people bump into us, we pray for them.”
Setting sights on the future, many exciting plans are afoot.
Bible App devotional
The Salvation Army has launched weekly devotionals on The Bible App titled ‘A Year of Prayer’. Read the full story here
Season one is now live and aims to empower local communities to continue praying together. Anyone can start at any point of the year – from day one, week one – and can share comments and connect.
App users can receive daily notifications to remind them to read the Bible, pray and act. The devotions are accessible and can be read for Area Leadership Teams, small groups, meetings, discipleship groups, reflections and gatherings.
“It is a really exciting element that we have just launched,” Rosy said.
“The hope with our The Bible App is that people can search A Year of Prayer.
Ultimately, we hope that momentum builds so every person locally is praying and meeting with groups around them, so we can become more and more the ‘Jesus-centred, spirit-led and hope-revealed’ movement that our leader Commissioner Miriam Gluyas and our whole army is set on being and becoming. I believe in us; I believe in good, and I believe in God’s grace to achieve it!
