The Vision of Prince George House of Prayer
Why a House of Prayer?
Because God told us to have a place where people can come and pray until they really have prayed.
How often do we find that we quickly tag on a request for God to bless us, our family and the thing that we are doing, hoping it is the thing God's wants us to do. There is a deep difference in praying this kind of brief prayer (which sometimes is what is needed), and true intercession which comes out of waiting on God until a connection is made in the spirit with the heart of God and praying what is actually on His heart. This takes tarrying and waiting, "wasting" time of Jesus lavishly, as did Mary, who sat at His feet. It looks foolish to Martha's, but this type of prayer, is what really has to happen before true works of God happen. Many times we are busy doing Christian – looking good works, but are they truly birthed out of God’s heart, or are they a copy of what someone else is doing, some other church is doing, etc? Did we wait until we really heard what He wants for us, our church, our city, our nation? When Marja was 21 years old, she was in a desperate time in my life and she felt like she was really losing her mind. She began to pray and call out to God in a more serious way, because He said to her:
"How do you expect Me to be a part of your life when you only spend 5 minutes a day with me?"
Marja felt He asked her to give Him one hour a day and began to do that. It was not easy at first, but she was desperate enough to persevere. About 2 months into this waiting time, she suddenly felt like a well broke open ...
"I began to flow in intercessory prayer."
From that time on, Marja began to experience amazing answers to prayer.
"People who I prayed for on a regular basis, though they did not know about it, began to be drawn to me. They began to ask me for counsel (which I did not think I had to give...but told them how to pray...some caught on and are now doing the work of the ministry themselves as they discovered this power of prayer and waiting on God)."
God has led her to minister in 9 different countries...the countries that she has mostly prayed for. She has experienced answered prayers in so many ways...along with books and books of journaling...calling out to God, hearing His voice and writing out what she senses He is saying, and the answers that have come through.
Our God is an amazing God who hears us, who speaks to us and leads us, if we are willing to take the time to quiet ourselves...it takes that discipline, and at first it is a discipline...later it becomes a delight, a source of power and strength. It becomes such a precious place, that one would rather miss a party to withdraw into that quiet place to meet with Jesus.
"In this process I discovered how much He loves me...not because I am perfect, which I am so far from, but because He has chosen to love me and be delighted in me. Hearing His voice, answers to prayer, the closeness of His presence are how He manifests His love to us. As a young christian, I always felt like I disappointed God. I was always aware of my failures and shortcomings. As I began to draw close to Him, I discovered He was not a God like that at all. He is a God who is pretty excited with me...like a parent with a child who is learning to walk. The child stumbles and falls many times in the process of learning. The parents are so delighted in the process and just cheer the child on. That is how God sees us!! That really set me free. We are 'dark, but lovely' to Him, as the Song of Solomon speaks
"As I began to spend more time with God, it was like leaning on His heart and then hearing what was on His heart. He began to show me our city, our nation, and the nations. He began to give me a great burden for the nation of Israel. Since then, I have been to Israel 3 times, on prayer journeys."
|
Seeking God, not a strategy
This part is the heart of what came through at the Consumed Gathering in Edmonton in August of 2006, and it is what has been the cry of our hearts, and we know it is the cry of many of your hearts:
God wants to take pleasure in us and our sacrifice of worship. So often we seek Him for a strategy, a plan, a vision to take our city, nation, etc. rather than seek Him and His presence. We wait until we get a strategy and then we run to fulfill it. He is not short on resources. He has hosts and hosts of angels to get the job done and do a way, way better job than we do. We tend to be job oriented rather than GOD oriented, or vision oriented rather than GOD oriented. Our problem is that we want something that brings results. God's plan is not about us figuring it out. It is not about the PLAN. 24/7 Webstreaming from IHOP:
Worship, Prophetic Scripture Praying When Marja went to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, she was amazed at how the youth worshipped and prayed. She also was amazed at the depth of revelation that was happening there and in her own life. "I had more dreams and unusual things happen to me. We were asked about that in one of our classes - if we were getting more dreams that before. I put up my hand and noticed others had also." They said that it happened there a lot, and it was because IHOP had been a place of 24/7 worship and prayer for over 5 years at that point. It has created an open heaven in that place.
These young people - not all are young - but a lot of them are, go to the mike and pray scripture prayers and the worship team echoes back the prayer with phrases in a style called Harp and Bowl. Marketplace Prayer
While at IHOP, Tuomo came to a Marketplace Conference for 5 days. He received such a touch from God, that his face was set like a flint to have this House of Prayer established. He especially felt the call to establish Marketplace Prayer and has led that now for the year.
It is on Monday nights and the purpose is to primarily teach people who are in the marketplace, in whatever capacity, whether business leaders, or homemakers who connect with other soccer mom's, that learning to soak in the presence of God, to still oneself to hear His voice, is the most important thing we can do. It is in this waiting, that we hear His heart and He instructs you in the way to go to build your business, or how to speak with an unsaved co-worker... or when to speak...or if to speak at all, just pray. He begins to have His way in our lives in all these areas and we are launched into that life of adventure. They also listen to teachings by Marketplace Ministers and pray for the wealth transfer - that the wealth of the heathen that is stored up for the righteous, would be released for God's Kingdom purposes. |