Welcome to my favorite new feature of Fragrance Arise – House of Prayer Spotlight! Every other month will feature interviews with different houses of prayer, and the in-between months will feature interviews with my fellow staff members at The Prayer Room. God is doing so much in the house of prayer globally and this series will shine a light on what it looks like in different places.
For my first House of Prayer Spotlight, I am featuring Sarasota House of Prayer in Sarasota, FL. I’ve had the opportunity to serve alongside some of their team when they came for a week to help us run 24/7 live prayer and worship during Revive Texas in 2017. Several of my friends from IHOPKC and DFW have also moved to Sarasota to be involved. They are a passionate, genuine community cultivating a culture of holiness and devotion to the glory of Jesus in night and day prayer. I am so glad that Katie Floyd, one of their full-time intercessory missionaries, took the time to answer my questions!
When and how did your HOP start?
Our house of prayer started in October 2013 after some time leading up to it. For years a house of prayer had been hidden inside the heart of our directors, Roger and Jennifer Lee, and many others as well. In the year leading up to the founding of our house of prayer, God began opening doors and setting things into motion. The summer before we opened we held our first annual Consecrate Conference for the youth in our region. This conference was held simply because Roger and Jennifer wanted to see a generation set apart unto holiness; they were not expecting that from this conference the house of prayer would be birthed. In the weeks leading up to the conference, prayer meetings were held nightly in different churches across the region. This began to create a unity in the body in Sarasota and many people began to get the vision of the house of prayer. It became clear to the Lees that now was the time establish the house of prayer.
What does your weekly schedule look like?
Currently we are open from 8 a.m.- 10 p.m. Monday- Friday, with our worship school taking place on Saturday mornings and an internship beginning in the Spring on Saturdays as well. (On Wednesdays from 8- 10 a.m. we are closed for staff meeting.) In the mornings we have a devotional set followed by an intercession set at 10 a.m., in the evenings we have more devotional sets and open mic prayer times, and in the afternoon you can expect a mix of devotional sets and the IHOPKC web stream. We also have a service on Tuesday nights called Passion for Jesus, as well as a monthly outreach on Monday afternoons.
How many people do you have involved?
Currently, we have 23 full-time staff (six of them are involved in MAPS as well and are prepping for the Middle East), 2 part time staff, 12 students in our Voice Ministry School, and many different volunteers in our community that help in different areas whom we are very appreciative of.
What do you believe is your unique mandate and vision as a HOP?
There are many specific things we are called to as a HOP. We believe that God is looking for a unified bride and it is our desire to see that in our region and take part in it. We desire to see the generation of the youth committing to the way of the cross by denying themselves and choosing a life of holiness. We believe we are to train and equip this generation to be ones who can help prepare the way of the Lord’s coming. We also believe that God is doing something in the Middle East and that we are to partner with him by helping build the house of prayer in the Middle East.
What is something that you love about the culture of your HOP?
I love that our culture is established in purity and holiness. A big push for holiness is not something you see a lot in the church, but we are very serious about walking in holiness and keeping one another accountable. I have been able to grow and die to so many things because of it. I also love that we are family. You are seen and valued here. Everyone truly cares about one another and I truly feel that it is a place I can be vulnerable, and the person that God has made me to be.
What is something that God has taught you on this journey of HOP ministry?
Death is the only way. One of the things we say here a lot is, “Come and die.” Which basically means, come to the wilderness and let your flesh die. Let every prideful and vain dream that is not of God die until all that remains are the dreams and desires of God. Many times in my life I thought I had died to things only to realize there was still so much pride and vanity in me. My ways were not God’s ways, though I thought they were. At the Sarasota HOP I finally understood how much that was in me that still needed to die. As painful as it is to do, letting go of my dreams and taking hold of His has made my life so much better. And in the process, I realized one of the most important truths you’ll ever need to know- God is better than we think.