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 I was 21 years old, I was in a desperate time in my life and felt like I was really losing my mind. I began to pray and call out to God in a more serious way, because He said to me, how do you expect Me to be a part of your life when you only spend 5 minutes a day with me? I felt He asked me to give Him one hour a day. I began to do that and it was not easy at first, but I was desperate enough to persevere. About 2 months into this waiting time, I suddenly felt like a well broke open...I began to flow in intercessory prayer. From that time on, I 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 me to minister in 9 different countries...the countries that I have mostly prayed for. I have experienced answered prayers in so many ways...I have books and books of journalling...calling out to God, hearing His voice and writing out what I sense 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.

I have twice joined the All Nations Prayer Convocation there led by Tom Hess of the Jerusalem House of Prayer, one time being the Canadian representative to present our prayer needs before all the other nations. That was a very powerful time for me. To join with hundreds of people from most of the nations, and over a 10 day time period, worship, pray and declare the word of the Lord over each of these nations. I have included a picture of this in this article. I thought, "this is what I was created for...to worship the Lord together with the nations and to pray for them!!" It is an amazing experience to worship like that...a foretaste of heaven when every tribe and nation comes to worship before the throne of God. Together, we are a bride globally. We are one, we love and worship our Saviour.

Also I attended the "Feast of Tabernacles" in Jerusalem twice. This Feast, is an international praise and worship time! Again, I was awestruck with being able to just worship with the nations - almost 6,000 people from the nations worshipping together. I count it a privilege to have had these experiences. Now, Canada is coming to this also. At the Consumed Gathering in Emonton, August 24 - 26, 2006, about 300 internationals joined the Gathering of 3,500 people. We worshipped together without an agenda. It was one of the most powerful gatherings I have experienced. Then we prayed for some of the nations. Canada blessing the nations!! That is what we were called to do! That is our destiny!

Another time, I watched a documentary about one the countries of Africa and began to weep and pray. I was so gripped by that for months, I had to just call out to God and pray and pray with many tears. Within less than a year, God made a way for me and a friend, Shannon Willis, to travel to three countries in Africa to teach about prayer in 3 different Bible Schools there. So many times God showed me that when we really pray, really pray, He then sends us out to "go" as well.

Tuomo and I have prayed over all of our 5 children from the womb...we have watched amazing answers to prayer. Through different prophetic words that came over them, we got the direction and prayed the word over them again and again.

One of the words was that our children would be shot like arrows into the countries that we have prayed over, and that is what has happened. Our kids have all travelled to the nations, by divine leading of the Lord, on long term and short term missions - ministry and marketplace missions. And then one year...when one was in Africa, and another in the USA, the Lord gave a word that He was going to bring my children back from the east. Within a short time both of these sons and their families moved back to Canada and we have had the privilege to have our grandchildren near us. We cherish and value that so much and sense the Lord has given this time for us to invest in their lives. At the same time, we don't hold tightly because we know God can send them out again. But He cares for us so intimately that He makes these wonderful changes to bless us. He doesn't send our kids far away and that is it! He can bring them home so we can enjoy our grandkids! Isn't that so amazing!! He is a God of delights! He gives us the desires of our hearts when we delight ourselves in Him.

This is a privilege, this walk of prayer and the results from it, for every chrisitian. It is not just for a few people. However, not everyone moves into this walk and takes a hold of this privilege. It is for every child, every adult and it is very simple. There is no secret here. But there is a price: “Seek Me and you will find Me, when you seek for Me with all your heart” Jeremiah 29: 13.

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 I 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. There is no secret about marching around walls seven times. There is no secret about singers and musicians going ahead of the army. There is no secret about shaving the army down to 300 men and them carrying torches in clay jars.

The secret is that they humbled themselves like children, and prayed. It is about hearing God, rather than initiating things ourselves.

The PURPOSE is that He is training a people who will hear His voice and be foolish enough to obey what He says. It is not about choosing a good time, a good location, a good speaker. It is about us changing our plans for God.

SO HE WILL ALWAYS TAKE THE GLORY THAT IT WAS DONE HIS WAY.

THE ONLY WAY TO BRING PLEASURE TO GOD IS TO DO IT HIS WAY...GOD WANTS A PEOPLE WHO ARE ABANDONED TO DO IT HIS WAY.

"It is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit", says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

God wants to lower the human factor. Elijah poured water on the sacrifice. It was impossible for man. It was definitely God when the fire came and consumed the sacrifice.

The Old Testament recounts story after story where the people came to a place of humbling themselves and praying like little children, hearing from God, obeying the foolish sounding instructions....and then God showed up! 185,000 enemies killed by an angel...not any man. The walls of Jericho coming down. A sea opening up so a whole nation crosses over and then the sea falls over the enemies and destroys them...on and on. GOD DID THOSE THINGS after man obeyed his small part.

Our obedience brings pleasure to God's heart.

Many of us carry a deep burden for Prince George and region. We have many enemies we are battling - increased crime, shootings, murders, drugs, prostitution, family breakdown. People do not know the answer is Jesus and we are trying so desperately to bridge the gap....some are being reached but thousands and thousands remain untouched.

Perhaps it is time to position ourselves humbly before God, to just seek His face...to delight in Him, lay down our strategies, and just say, "We want you God. We want Your Presence". Help us to quiet ourselves to hear better what You have to say to us. Wait on Him to shake off strategies and plans that may not be from Him at all. To wait for His presence...that presence that shifts and changes things way better than we can ever do with all our well - intended strategies. To pray that we keep keeping our eyes fixed on Him even when He gives us a strategy. That we don't start gazing on the strategy.

Moses said to God, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here, for how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by You going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" Exodus 33: 15, 16.

24/7 Webstreaming from IHOP: Worship, Prophetic Scripture Praying

When I went to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, I was amazed at how the youth worshipped and prayed. I was amazed at the depth of revelation that was happening there and in my 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. I spent many hours a week in the House of Prayer and began to hear clearly from God about the transition He was bringing us into. He wanted to establish a House of Prayer in Prince George, where there is worship and prayer. While there, I was delighted to find out that those of us that were establishing houses of prayer, could have webstreaming of the IHOP prayer room 24/7! So that is what we have done.

We have live worship and prayer from IHOP/KC from 9 am - 7 pm daily. They have 2 hour worship and prayer sets: some of them intercessory sets, some devotional, some worship and the word. You can also receive this at your house for $10 US/ month on your computer. Some of the people here in PG do that and are enjoying being able to soak in that kind of atmosphere right in their homes.

Marketplace Prayer

While at IHOP, my husband 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 dvd- teacing 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.

Wathcmen – Not initiating until we hear from God, then obeying

Tuesday nights we have the Watchmen focus. This is about hearing God together... and praying for the things He wants us to pray for. This is along with the Watchmen of Canada and you can read about it on www.watchmen.org This is an 11 year journey that God has taken our nation on and we are in a time of transition now beginning to be a blessing to the nations as I shared earlier, and do share in the Consumed Gathering report. Peter and Beth Ziemer give leadership to this along with myself. Peter and Beth give much of their time and resources to work together with national leaders to see Canada move into her destiny. Their church fellowship, The Well, also move in this way- corporately hearing and obeying. I have had the privilege of being part of the Watchmen Journey from its inception, being at the first pre- gathering meeting in April of 1995 in Whistler. I have attended a lot of the Gatherings over the years and am part of the Prayer Shield. It is very exciting to have the nations now joining us, as they have been watching this process over the years, as Canada has been dealing with the obstacles, national sins, that have prevented us from having the presence of God come into our midst.

Miracle Channel – Shaarei Tephilla Prayer Meeting

DECLARING OVER CANADA AND THE NATIONS

Wednesday evenings, we connect via webstreaming with Miracle Channel's Wednesday night prayer meeting called Shaarei Tephilla which means worship and prayer. Dick and Joan Dewert, lead this time and their main thrust is Canada. They prophetically declare over our nation along with powerful worship. It is a delight to join in with people of faith who move with a prophetic edge and speak to our nation. Dick and Joan are very generous people, profiling many Canadian ministries ( and non- Canadian ones too). They work together with National House of Prayer, with David Demian of Watchmen, Patricia King, Craig Buroker, and many others. I love that sense of unity and building together that they practice and model. The commanded blessing comes where the brethren dwell together in unity. The "me and my world" mentality is not in their vocabulary. They often have national live prayer telecasts, that thousands can join together to pray across the nation. These things are shifting things in the heavenly realm.

Intimacy With God – School of the Prophets

Thursday evenings is a night of teaching to hear God's voice. During the past year, we featured Mike Bickle's Song of Songs teaching, which is about intimacy with the Lord... discovering that He is actually ravished by us. He does not judge us by our actions, but by the intentions of our heart. We are "dark, but lovely to Him". It is paradigm shifting teaching that helps us to come into His presence with greater ease and confidence. The 24/7 streaming uses many of the Song of Solomon passages during their worship and the word sets. We all need to hear how much we are loved. It sets us free to soar in His presence.

This fall we are going to carry on with learning to hear God’s voice. We will be using teaching by Cindy Jacobs, called School of the Prophets – Equipping Believers to Hear the Voice of God and then we will follow that with teaching from the Growing in the Prophetic conference that was just held in Kansas City at IHOP in August of this year.

Praying for Prince George and Region

Friday evenings, we focus on praying for our city of Prince George. We pray for God's purposes to be released over this city, for the church to become what He wants it to be...to be one, to be a church in love with Jesus, to be a worshipping church, to be a church that hears from God and walks close to His heart and does the things that are on His heart, in a corporate sense. We pray for a harvest of souls. We bring out the prophetic words spoken over our city from time to time and pray over them. We pray for a movement of God on the youth and young adults. We pray for the pastors and for the individual churches and ministries in our city - for children's ministries, for street ministry, for our civic leaders, for the marketplace.

When there are special events happening that are citywide, we pray for these things, like Global Day of Prayer and the 180 Youth event...and the city youth church. We are continually praying for a deep prayer movement to break out in all of the church of Prince George...a spirit of prayer, intercession and travail...prayer that births things. That young and old would be praying because prayer is what changes things. True prayer, when something is prayed through properly, is what brings the change.

Israel and the Middle East Prayer

Wednesdays at noon, we pray for Israel and the Middle East. During the summer, we spent a lot of time focussing on the situation with Israel and the Hezbollah. God has spoken to us that we are to pray much for Israel to come into her destiny. That is one of our mandates. And also to pray for the Moslem world as God is about to bring a great harvest there among them.

Books like "Here Comes Ishmael" by Fasil Mallick and also "Why Care About Israel" by Sandra Teplinsky are very good to give insight about God's heart for both the Jews and the Moslems.

Seminars, Webstreamed Conferences, Live Prayer Telecasts, and Guests

As God directs, we will at times announce these kinds of things.

PGHOP A Birthing Place

We have received several words that this is a birthing plac... the things prayed through here, will begin to happen in the churches and in the city…that is our desire that all of the Body of Christ becomes a praying, interceding, travailing church. That is a prophecy that came at the Consumed Gathering, that the whole Bride of Canada will become a praying, interceding, travailing Bride. The word of the Lord will run swiftly and be glorified when we posture ourselves in this position.