This is a description taken from the 24-7 Prayer Movement website..

24-7prayer started by accident in September 1999, with a bunch of young people in England who got the crazy idea of trying to pray non-stop for a month.  God turned up and they couldn't stop til Christmas!

From there the prayer meeting has spread into many nations, denominations and age-groups. Hundreds of non-stop prayer meetings now link up here on the web to form a unique chain of prayer.

What's The Big Idea? 

Simple really... 24-7 has become a worldwide, non-stop prayer movement. There are 3 dimensions to the movement:

First of all we're a network of  Prayer Rooms determined to pray like it all depends on us and live like it all depends on God until the tide turns in our generation

A Missions movement quickly arose out of the Prayer Rooms as we received requests to take   Teams to 'high places' in youth culture.

We also run   Boiler Rooms - houses of continual prayer (24-7-365) like Gen X monastries.

How Do The Prayer Rooms Work?

Participating groups pledge to pray 24 hours a day for a week or more in a dedicated prayer-room. They then 'carry the baton of prayer' for that period. The prayer passes from location to location in a never ending flow linked up by the Worldwide Web. We are a virtual community praying in real locations. Right now someone, somewhere is praying 24-7.

What Are the Aims?

To turn the tide
The dream behind 24-7 is to turn the tide of youth culture back to Jesus. It's a big dream - maybe an impossible dream. We recognise that the Body of Christ in the West is bleeding young people. Something has to change. But clever strategy alone is not the answer. Never has been. History shows that the tide turns when God's people pray. That is why God is mobilising prayer movements like 24-7 (and others).

We're seeing thousands of young people from Alaska to Australia praying together for their friends and their heroes in a focused and persistent way. 24-7 targets youth culture at a local, national and international level; addressing demographies (like skaters and clubbers) as well as geographies (schools, communities, nations).

"Pray continually." (Jesus)
"WOW! This prayer thing actually WORKS!"
(shocked student)

To mobilise prayer
24-7prayer is not for experts. It's for those who find prayer a struggle. 24-7 is a model that works! It has proven unusually successful at mobilising people - especially young people - to pray like they've never prayed before. People learn to pray... by praying!

24-7 captures the imagination. Young people today are more likely to turn up at a prayer meeting at 3 a.m. than at 7.30 p.m! Why? Because it's extreme. The dare is to be alone with God for a whole hour - maybe even in the middle of the night. 24-7 makes prayer easier. The arts play an important part. Many say that 'an hour feels like 10 minutes in the prayer room'.

For more information go to http://www.24-7prayer.com