Nathaniel Bassey Launches Hallelujah Challenge 2026

Renowned worship leader and gospel music icon Nathaniel Bassey has officially launched the first session of the transformative Hallelujah Challenge for 2026, marking the beginning of another season of intense praise, worship, and prayer. The globally acclaimed virtual praise and prayer movement is scheduled to run from February 9th to February 28th, 2026, gathering believers from across the world in unified midnight worship.

The highly anticipated season opened with a powerful Pre-Hallelujah Prophetic Praise tagged “JUDAH FIRST,” a continuous twenty four hour outpouring that ran from 6pm on February 8th to 6pm on February 9pm. This prophetic praise watch set the spiritual tone for the days ahead, emphasizing praise as a spiritual key and positioning worshippers to enter the new season with gratitude and reverence.

Day one of the 2026 Hallelujah Challenge with the theme “MERCY”, centered entirely on thanksgiving, gratitude, and praise rather than petitions or personal requests. Participants were encouraged to lift songs of appreciation and acknowledge God’s goodness, faithfulness, and lovingkindness. True to the Challenge’s midnight tradition, the live stream went live at 11:59 pm and drew an overwhelming global response, with about 581,000 people joining live on YouTube within the designated hour, reflecting the ever growing reach and influence of the movement.

The Hallelujah Challenge will culminate in the Hallelujah Festival on February 27 at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, beginning at 8pm and continuing till dawn. The festival is expected to be a grand physical gathering of worshippers, featuring a powerful lineup of invited ministers including William McDowell, Mercy Chinwo, Ntokozo Mbambo, David Dam, Sunmisola Agbebi, Kaestrings, and Mr M and Revelation. The night promises extended praise, worship, and prayer in an atmosphere charged with expectation and faith.

The Hallelujah Challenge itself is an hour long online praise and prayer session that holds daily during designated periods each year. Convened by Nathaniel Bassey, the sessions begin at 11:59 pm and flow into the early hours of the morning, focusing on vibrant praise, heartfelt worship, and fervent prayers lifted to God. Its midnight timing has become a defining feature, symbolizing watchfulness, sacrifice, and spiritual alignment.

The movement began in June 2017, following an earlier online initiative known as the #TonguesChallenge. Nathaniel Bassey started the first Hallelujah Challenge by streaming a live praise and worship session from his living room via Instagram Live. What began as a simple act of obedience quickly expanded into a global phenomenon, with tens of thousands of worshippers joining from different nations and time zones.

Over the years, the Hallelujah Challenge has grown into a spiritual tradition for millions around the world, producing countless testimonies of breakthroughs, healing, restoration, and divine encounters. Its simplicity, accessibility, and focus on pure praise have made it a source of hope, renewal, and encouragement for believers across denominations and continents.

As the first series of the Hallelujah Challenge for 2026 unfolds, Nathaniel Bassey extends an open invitation to believers everywhere to participate actively in this season’s sessions, assuring worshippers of a glorious and life transforming experience in the presence of God.