prayer.flyer.co.uk - Read original press briefing (June 2001)

Prayer Flight is about praying over the nation in a very literal sense - while flying in a light aircraft at about 2000 feet above the ground!

Giving to intercessors the unique sense of presence and perspective that comes when you are able to actually "be there" above the communities you are praying for.
Releasing the sense of liberty, authority, and insight in prayer that virtually everyone who has experienced "prayer in the air" will testify to.
Prophetically declaring that "the heavens belong to the Lord" over our towns and cities.
Inspiring and envisioning Christians from all streams and backgrounds to pray as never before that God will move in power in our nation.

Our first prayer flight took place in October 2000, when a small group of Christians took off from Southend airport to pray God's blessing and protection over their home towns in Thurrock, Essex. Straight away we sensed that God was using this unusual means to take us to new places in prayer and faith.

Several further flights followed, and out of this came a vision to pray over the majority of the population of the UK in a single day, by means of a 1000-mile flight passing over most of the major towns and cities in England and South Wales.

"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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (NIV)

You don't need an aeroplane to pray(!), but the sense of presence and perspective that it brings is a fantastic way to cause faith to rise. Our prayer for the places over which we pass is:

That they will experience the blessing of God, knowing peace, joy, and hope in place of violence, pain, and despair.
That individual men, women, and children would come to know a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as the foundation of their lives.
That whole communities would be transformed by an outpouring of God's Holy Spirit.

Saturday 23 June 2001: The first 1000 mile round-Britain Prayer flight took off from Southend on the first leg of a 14 hour trip that would take in London, Sheffield, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff, Southampton, and a host of other communities along the route.

On board were a crew of three: Phil Anderson (pilot and co-owner of the Piper PA28 Warrior aircraft that was used for the trip), Jonathan Fox (an Anglican vicar from Telford with extensive experience of flying as a missionary pilot in East Africa), and Andy Acreman (a teacher from Corringham in Essex who, as the non-pilot on board, was able to commit himself 100% to prayer).

After weeks of prayer and exhaustive preparation, the flight on the day went totally without hitch. Thank you Jesus! The weather was almost perfect except for a bit of haze here and there. Every landing and take off went smoothly, and our intrepid prayer-adventurers were greeted at each port of call with some curiosity and plenty of interest!

News of the flight appeared in various parts of the Christian media, resulting in one entusiastic intercessor from Londonderry phoning in to ask for a prayer flight over Northern Ireland! The local papers in Thurrock and Southend also covered the story, along with Radio Shropshire (Jonathan's neck of the woods). It's likely others have too, though we don't know exactly who or where - if you do, please let us know!

The Prayer Flight Ground Control Centre at Thurrock Christian Fellowship in Grays, Essex, was run by Tim Harrold from 7am to 9.30pm when the flight ended. We had a number of people from various local churches come in across the day. Some stayed just for a little while, others prayed for a good couple of hours, while others came and went and came back again for more! The prayer went from being business-like, to being a bit of a slog, to being really easy and flowing, as well as prophetically declaring the promises of God over the huge map of Britain displaying the route of the plane. We heard of a number of other churches and individuals around the country joining in prayer for the nation too.