79 hour Bible Reading Marathon in Canberra will take place prior to and in support of the National Day of Prayer & Fasting in Australia
First Parliamentary sitting week in February 2024 – the dates are yet to be confirmed. It could be from 7AM Thursday 8 February – 3.00PM Sunday 11 February 2024 (Applications will be in process for Permission to be Granted from December 2023 once the dates of the first sitting week of APH for 2024 are confirmed.)
The Bible Reading Marathon is a continuous 79 hour Bible Reading experience organized this year outside Australia’s Federal Parliament House in Canberra, in this General Election year as a strategy of Blessing.
In previous years, it has taken place in many State Capitals, as well as outside public buildings and council chambers in other Australian cities and regional towns.
The vision of the Bible Reading Marathon (BRM), now in it’s eighth year, is to read the Bible aloud (without amplification) from beginning to the end, to Glorify God at the beginning of the Parliamentary year, to Bless the Parliamentarians and all who work in Parliament House, for Australia to be Blessed as a Nation under the One True God. the Location for the Bible Reading is at the top of the Grass outside Parliament House.
The BRM is a Multicultural Christian Initiative run by the Bible Reading Marathon Team, and this year the dates of Parliament’s first sitting week are concurrent with the Multicultural Festival in Canberra.
Christian Parliamentarians and believers from many fellowships and racial backgrounds from across the ACT and region come to participate, one after another, in a continuous flow as an act of unity and reverence to to honor God in our Nation’s Capital, by proclaiming His Holy Living Word, and by praying for our nation’s divine destiny and purpose to be fulfilled in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Followers of Christ come to read the scriptures on the grass outside the Parliament in 2 small Gazebos with 2 tables and chairs, and each one reads aloud for a 15 Minute time slot, and is asked to come 15 minutes early before their designated time slot to prepare themselves. Each person reads one after another, as in a relay marathon, without the reading stopping. A reader might read once or a few times in each 3 hour Watch period,
depending on the size of the group, with 4 -12 readers needed to participate in each 3 hour watch, during the 79 hour period it takes to read the Bible from cover to cover.
The Bible Reading Marathon’s goal is to follow the example of Ezra in the Restoration of God’s Kingdom purposes in Jerusalem in ancient times, here and now in our day and in our nation. We also heed the exhortation of the words of Paul the Apostle who encouraged the believers in the early church in 1Timothy 4:13 to “devote themselves to the public reading of scripture.” The word of God is powerful and the reading of scriptures in strategic public places is a form of prayerful declaration that Australia will find its DESTINY in Christ, the Living Word. John 1:1
The 79 hour Bible Marathon will finish at 3PM on Sunday 13th February 2022 and is a pre-event of Australia’s National Day of Prayer and Fasting also taking place on the Grass outside Parliament House on 26 February 2022. It is our prayer that because of the Bible Reading Marathon, people will be interested to start reading the Bible for themselves and desiring to attend a church near them to hear more about the Good News of God’s love through Jesus Christ which is the central message of the Scriptures. Our prayer is that through the Bible Reading Marathon many people will find their DESTINY in Christ the Living Word and that Christians will discover again the power of the Bible. Also that the proclamation of the full council of God will bring Spiritual Breakthrough in this General Election year of 2022
If you are interested in participating in the Bible Reading Marathon, please contact the team at this email address
How to Conduct a Bible Reading Marathon in a City centre?
Christians have gathered in many of Australia’s capital cities over the past 4 years to pray blessings for the city and nation including Bible Reading for 79 hrs continuously day and night, in Australia since February 2015. Initially this took place 3 days prior to the National Day of Prayer and Fasting Event that was held in the New Parliament House, as part of the Pre-Events leading up to this gathering and as a Habakkuk 2:14 assignment for the knowledge of the Glory of God to cover the nation as the waters Cover the sea, supported in prayer and logistics advise by believers in USA who had done this Bible Reading Marathon in previous years.
The Bible Reading has taken place in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne at the same time. Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were lead by the Lord to one central location in front of or near to their State Parliament buildings and in Canberra the Lord showed us in 2015 2 two key locations: in front of New Parliament House to the side on the grass near the Ceremonial Stone, and under the flag pole on the City Hill roundabout. In 2022 we are applying to be granted permission to read the Bible in the one Primary location outside Federal Parliament House, where there is adequate day and night security.
The plan is for there to be 26 site Captains oversighting 3 hour time Watches, at each location, standing as Watchmen and Watchwomen for the city. In each location we asked each leader to gather 12 Christians to read the bible for 15 minutes each in their Watches, and also in Canberra, to consider doing another 3 hour time block if possible, on a different day and time.eg from 10.00am-1.00pm or 1.00am-4.00am. Praise God, in each city every watch was filled and the Reading completed.
This BRM needs to be a low key event with no amplification, proclaiming the Word of God back to our Heavenly Father and to the spiritual realm. Many passers by were deeply impacted by the presence of God experienced, and the Bible Readers invigorated, even in the night hours after reading 15 minutes of scripture aloud…the Word of God is Spirit and LIFE!
Believers who had registered were coming and going, arriving 15 minutes before their time slot. It was expected that there would be approximately between 4- 8 people or less at any time at the location. Permission from City authorities for use of the public ground for the full 79 hours has been granted.
In Canberra at the site there are 2 portable gazebos/ sun shade shelter 3m by 3m, 2 folding tables and 4 folding chairs. People brought their own water bottles and removed any personal rubbish etc. This is a wonderful way of discovering unity in the Body of Christ as it was a Christian Multicultural Initiative that is a cross denominational response to bless each of our cities and our nation through the unity of the Holy Spirit, as we read God’s living Word cover to cover one believer after another, reading from one Bible; NKJV large print version.
Each city had a ministry that covered the insurance for the event. This belongs to Jesus alone – no ministry name. Bible Readers who want to bless the city contacted the organising teams and .Parliamentarians and city leaders where very supportive of this multicultural Christian initiative: Believe God and Read the Bible in your city!
Watch a the Youtube video about why we do the Bible Reading Marathon.
