An interdenominational coalition behind the National Week of Prayer is inviting Christians across the British Isles to nine days of united prayer from 10 to 18 October 2026, building on two previous nationwide prayer weeks in 2024 and 2025.
On its “Our Story” page, the National Week of Prayer describes what began as “a quiet call to prayer” growing into a nationwide movement, “one gathering, one community, one changed heart at a time”.
The organisers say that in early 2024 a partnership of Christian ministries sensed a united vision to humble themselves, repent and pray for lives to be transformed by Jesus and for a spiritual awakening in the nations at what they describe as a particularly significant time for the UK.
The inaugural National Week of Prayer took place in October 2024, drawing together followers of Jesus from a wide range of denominations, backgrounds and communities for prayer, worship and intercession.
According to the movement’s account, that first year saw believers empowered to host multiple gatherings that connected existing prayer networks, from large churches to house churches, Christian charities and businesses, schools and universities, and small groups meeting in homes and community halls.
The second National Week of Prayer ran from 6 to 14 September 2025, with organisers reporting that as the initiative continued, they felt led “to go again” and expand centrally organised events across cities and regions while encouraging local communities and churches to catch the vision and host their own prayer and worship gatherings.
For 2026, the movement has scheduled the next National Week of Prayer for 10 to 18 October across the British Isles, inviting individuals, congregations and Christian organisations to arrange gatherings appropriate to their own context under one shared objective: to see the Church united in prayer for the nation, its leaders and the wider world.
The organisers emphasise that the National Week of Prayer does not belong to any single denomination or organisation, but seeks to stand together “as one Body across traditions, backgrounds, and generations” in line with the unity described in Ephesians 4:4–6.
They present the initiative as a way of drawing together many existing faithful prayer networks, encouraging collaboration across different expressions of church life rather than establishing a new branded organisation.
This call to extended, united prayer sits within a broader landscape of prayer movements in the UK, including longstanding initiatives such as 24-7 Prayer, which describes itself as an international, interdenominational movement with a vision to revive the church and “rewire the culture” through non-stop prayer, mission and justice.
According to 24-7 Prayer’s published history, that movement grew out of a student-led prayer vigil in 1999 and has since involved thousands of communities in churches, cities and regions in over half the countries of the world.
Its Great Britain team says it serves all streams of the church in the nations to “go longer and deeper in prayer,” expressing confidence that a praying church shapes both individual lives and wider culture.
Against this backdrop, National Week of Prayer organisers argue that their own initiative reflects a widening desire among UK Christians to prioritise corporate prayer, and they invite churches and groups across the British Isles to register and host gatherings during the October 2026 week as they continue to seek what they describe as a God-given awakening in the nation.