Continuing my What I’m Praying series… a few weeks ago, The Prayer Room wrapped our spring Forerunner Music Academy. I’m sad that it’s over, but I’m excited that the end of one thing means the beginning of something else–on May 26, we launched our summer Immerse internship for young adults! Just in the past couple of years since I stepped into this position, I’ve led 20+ young adults through this internship. Some have planted a house of prayer, some have become full-time missionaries, some have joined volunteer staff or at least stayed committed to the house of prayer at some level, and all were strengthened by their time here.

Over the years The Prayer Room has seen so many young adults come through our doors, encounter Jesus in the place of prayer, and find an entirely new trajectory for their lives. It’s my favorite thing when God sends us people who just got saved, and now their foundational concept of Christianity is a lifestyle of prayer and being part of the big-picture Story of God.

Over the past few weeks, our rapid fire topic that we pray at the end of every prayer room set has been variations of this same theme: for God to draw young adults into His house and encounter them deeply. We have one of the biggest colleges in Texas right down the street from us (UTA), and this is a golden opportunity to see young adults fall in love with Jesus and get set on fire for His presence–but GOD has to draw them in, and then He has to touch their hearts.

This is a two-fold drawing: first, for God to draw them in the door, and two, for Him to draw their hearts deep into His heart.

“Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers.”
(Song of Solomon 1:4)

For Immerse this summer, six young adults have been successfully “drawn” to say yes to the program! Whenever people do an internship or a school like this, they all come seeking God at some level, but they’re all in different places along their journey and all have different expectations of what the program will be like.

I remember one guy, Francisco, who came into an internship trying to get a foundation in his relationship with God. He struggled a bit at first with letting himself be vulnerable in a community that was so intensely relational and loving (TPR is not an easy place to hide!). Over time, as the love of the Father and the love of this community washed over him, he became a different person. He opened up, made deep friendships, fell in love with Jesus and the prayer room, and got anchored in this family. He joined volunteer staff and was a pillar of this house, pouring out and serving at every opportunity, even while being a full-time social worker. After nearly a year and a half with us, Francisco quit his job and moved to Kansas City to be a student at the music school at the International House of Prayer University, where he’s now going into his sophomore year. Everyone there loves him, and he is a bright light of joy, servanthood, and love wherever he goes!

Francisco was transformed by the love of God, to such an extent that he shifted the entire trajectory of his life to chase everything God has for him and to be part of the Story of what God is doing in this generation. I believe that God wants to perform similarly radical transformations in the lives of countless young adults in prayer rooms all over the world.

When I first did my internship at IHOPKC in 2012 (read the story on the My Story page), I was already in love with the presence of God and knew that I was marked as a “Mary of Bethany” to sit at His feet and pour out my costly offering of love. However, I had no real direction in life. I had graduated college and didn’t feel peace about pursuing my field of study, so I had a really boring backup plan that I kind of hated and was really in need of direction.

Really, what I needed was vision. I needed a mission, a big Story to throw my life into. I needed my horizons expanded to see the bigger prophetic picture. I wrote in my journal that I was “waiting for my revolution.” In 2012, I found my revolution, and it was called the global end-time prayer movement.

In a five-month internship (and especially one specific night in the prayer room), my life was hijacked into the dream of God for the climax of history and the return of Jesus. I believe that God wants to hijack so many more of this generation into His big Story– the end-time prayer/worship/missions movement that will give Jesus His inheritance and usher in His literal bodily return to the planet.

So this is what we’re praying– that God would draw young adults into His house and draw them deep into encounters with Him that would change their lives forever.

God, draw young adults into our prayer rooms. Sovereignly get them in the door, and then tenderly draw their hearts deep into You. Let them fall in love with Jesus and catch a vision to throw their lives completely into what You’re doing.

Continuing my What I’m Praying series…

Every Thursday The Prayer Room hosts a private prayer meeting for local senior pastors. We transition the normal prayer room worship upstairs into our alternate prayer room so that we don’t drop the “fire on the altar” (Leviticus 6:13), and we make the prayer meeting in our main prayer room private and exclusive for these senior pastors. That way, they have the freedom to step out of “ministry mode” and just connect and receive, and everyone else still can be in the prayer room upstairs.

(Also, the pastors’ prayer meeting downstairs isn’t expected to flow in a normal harp and bowl form. The prayer focus is for their churches and for revival in our city, and we do have a worship leader who is very gifted with prophetic worship, but we give the pastors freedom to break all the normal prayer room rules to pray and connect however blesses them. Since we have the fire on the altar upstairs, we can feel completely comfortable letting whatever happens happen!)

We’ve been doing this for a few months now; after years of having it in our hearts, God is finally giving the grace and favor to make it happen! Although it’s generally just a small handful who come every week, it’s been powerful to see God moving as these pastors pray for each other, and pray for God’s purposes in our city side by side.

While the pastors pray downstairs, I serve as the usher for the prayer meeting upstairs. During the short time of intercession for revival in the middle of the set (this is a thing we started doing early this year–check out my blog post on why and how that works), I always like to pray for unity in the church in our region, and specifically for the pastors in the building.

My favorite verse to pray for unity is Romans 15:5-6 (also my favorite verse to pray for couples, so if I’ve given you a wedding card in the past 7 years, I almost guarantee it had this verse on it!).

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Romans 15:5-6)

There may be many differences between churches… some to be celebrated, and some to be overcome by the grace of God. But no matter our differences, Paul’s prayer, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit, was that we would live in harmony and glorify God together with ONE VOICE.

What would it be like if the collective testimony coming out of the Church in a city was “Christ and Him crucified”? (1 Corinthians 2:2)

What if every unbeliever and every demon knew that the Christians in a city were a force to be reckoned with because of their unity?

There are aproximately 1,200 churches in the Dallas area (according to my 30 seconds of Googling). Let’s imagine all of those churches completely in the will of God, ministering to the people God has given them and focussing on what they’re supposed to be focussing on–each in different ways, for a different demographic, serving different needs in the city. In diversity, we can still come together in “one voice” unity to glority God together.

God emphasises different parts of His heart to different churches, too. This is part of why the Body needs each other. No one congregation has a full revelation of God. Some churches have more clarity on justice, or worship, or identity, or the end times, or family, or missions. In learning from each other, we become more of who we all are meant to be.

I love that Paul called for believers to live in “harmony” with each other. I don’t know what the word is in Greek, but in English “harmony” makes me think of music.

Imagine every church, in all of their glorious diversity, each playing their own little piece of the song. Imagine the rhythms and melodies and sounds from every different kind of instument. Imagine Chinese strings being played with African drums. Imagine someone rapping while someone else sings an operetic melody. Imagine it all flowing together seamlessly, an epic multicolored symphony, creating one resounding crescendo of glory to God.

What would that sound like from heaven’s perspective?

What would that look like? If worship is like incense rising before His throne, can you imagine the thick column of incense rising in unity from a city as a whole?

This is what we’re praying for– that Jesus’ Bride would be one as He and the Father are one, glorifying Him together, unity in diversity, every tribe and tongue.

“that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…”
(John 17:21)

“…behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb… and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'”
(Revelation 7:9-10)

God, unify Your Church in our city. Knit our hearts together in love, that we could glorify You with one voice in perfect harmony.

Continuing my What I’m Praying series, this week we at The Prayer Room have been praying for our ministry trip team from IHOPU in Kansas City! Every year, IHOPU sends out hundreds of their students to houses of prayer all across the country to serve the city for a week. Usually, they spend some time in a prayer room, then spend a lot of time ministering at different churches and ministries, as well as a lot of time evangelizing in the city.

We’re hosting a trip again this year, but this trip is special. Instead of 30ish students, we capped it at 10 (which filled up FAST!) and instead of doing all of the usual activities, we have them focused almost exclusively on The Prayer Room. They’re in a morning set and an afternoon set every day, they’re serving in some very specific and needed ways (spreadsheets and spring cleaning!), and we also have them spending lots of time with our community and leadership team– learning, connecting, and trying to get a feel for life at our house of prayer.

As we have them here this week, we’re praying three things for them, that God would:

1. mark them in a deeper way with vision for the house of prayer,
2. strengthen them in their individual callings, and
3. give them grace to forge deep friendships with each other and with us.

I’ve especially been praying for #1, vision for the house of prayer. Especially for those who are here as underclassmen or who haven’t had much opportunity to experience what the house of prayer looks like outside of Kansas City, I’m asking God to mark them with His heart for smaller prayer rooms, where there are only a few faithful worshippers and intercessors in the room, where things are weak but vibrant.

There’s a commonly cited statistic in the prayer movement that on average, people stick around for about five years before they get burned out and leave. I think there are a lot of dynamics to why that is, but a big one is VISION. I’m going on year 7 (although the first four were within the safety net of IHOPU, so we can call it two and a half if you want) and I know for me, the staying power isn’t in the hype and the “glory”. It’s in the why–the deep desire in the heart of God to have a resting place among us, for Jesus get the adoration He’s due, and for the church to partner with Him to bring His kingdom to earth (especially in the ultimate sense of the return of Jesus to the planet).

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint…”
(Proverbs 29:18)

I know it’s more popular to quote this verse as “…the people perish” (KJV), but I really like the “cast off restraint” translation because it means the inverse is also true: where there is vision, the people are empowered to embrace restraint.

In the house of prayer, restraint often looks like the frustration and tedium of long hours in an empty room, delayed promises, saying no to more exciting opportunities, the discomfort of fasting, the emotional labor of prayer, the reproach of embracing such a “foolish” calling… if we aren’t continually growing in vision, we will struggle to embrace these restraints with joy.

Our prayer for these students is that they will see more clearly God’s heart for the house of prayer and grow in conviction and vision for partnering with Him in this story. They all will be in Kansas City for at least a while longer, and some of them will feel called to serve in houses of prayer afterward–maybe even The Prayer Room!

God, give these students a deeper vision for Your house. Mark their hearts with Your desire to have a resting place, and stir in them a desire to lay down their lives to see that dream come true.

Continuing my What I’m Praying series, I want to tell you about something I love praying for every single week. Every Saturday morning at 11am, I serve as the worship leader on an intercession set at The Prayer Room for various justice topics. My prayer leader and I have been doing this set for several months now, just the two of us, and it’s been powerful!

We’ve been praying for several topics, including adoption and the foster system, reentry into society after incarceration, and always for the church to have God’s heart for justice. It’s one of my favorite sets of the week because we really feel the partnership with God as we go after these things that He cares so much about. Jesus is the righteous Judge, and His heart burns to set all the wrong things right.

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne…”
(Psalm 89:14)

As we’ve been praying, we’ve been trying to keep a few key principles in mind. In my experience, having a handful of goals for the way we pray strengthens the intercession and helps everyone in the room engage with the topics.
1. Be Praising

Before you go into intercession, get a high view of God in worship. Remember who you’re talking to. Agree with who He is and declare that He is holy, good, and powerful. From that perspective, you’ll have the faith to pray biblically and declare His heart over the brokenness in our world.

Psalm 2 shows this pattern of intercession:

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? …He who sits in the heavens laughs… ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.’ … The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son…Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.'”
(Psalm 2:1-8)

The nations are raging, but God sits in heaven and isn’t worried at all. He has set Jesus as King. Then the next thing He does is invite Jesus (and I think we can hear this invitation for ourselves) to ask Him for the nations. From the perspective that God is confidently seated in heaven and He has firmly placed Jesus as King, we can have the joy and confidence to ask Him to move in the nations.

2. Be Biblical

Use verses! The prayers and promises in Scripture are like checks already signed by God – these are things we already know He wants to do, and this is language He actually gave us to ask Him to do them. Praying Scripture is the easiest way to come into agreement with the heart of God.

The prayers of the New Testament, which we call the apostolic prayers, are a great place to start (check out this list of apostolic prayers found in Scripture as well as this longer list of apostolic prayers) and you can also find a TON of verses to pray in the Psalms and prophets.

“The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed…”
(Psalm 9:9)

“O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will… do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed…”
(Psalm 10:17-18)

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”
(Isaiah 58:6)

“The LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives…”
(Isaiah 61:1)

“what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
(Micah 6:8)

BONUS verse: we’ve discovered that we love praying Ephesians 2 for unity and the ending of racism–

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility… that he might… reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
(Ephesians 2:14-16)

3. Be Positive

One of the core values of the harp and bowl model is positive prayers– praying FOR good things instead of AGAINST bad things. This is the model we see in the majority of the prayers in the Bible, and in my experience, it is super helpful to guard our hearts against offense and anger. We want to train ourselves to focus on the kingdom of light rather than the kingdom of darkness!

As another practical point, positive prayers help everyone in the room engage in unity. For example, you might want to pray “Remove the deception and racism in how this nation sees immigrants!” and not only are you working yourself up into more frustration, but someone in the room is now wondering what exactly you think about immigration policy and they’re probably arguing with you in their head. BUT if we pray, “Give us grace to see immigrants how You see them and love them well,” it’s much easier for someone to agree, because (hopefully) we can all agree that we all need more love!

4. Be Specific

When we started our set, we were praying really broadly, pretty much that God would reveal His love to every victim of injustice all over the world. That’s great, but it was a little too vague for us to focus effectively. As we grew, the topics became more specific, and that really helped us engage in a more targetted strike in intercession. In praying for the fatherless, our prayer leader got in touch with a local ministry that serves adoptive families, and we started praying specifically for their needs. Putting specific names, places, and scenarios to the topics we’re praying for really helps our hearts engage and helps focus our intercession so that we can actually, measurable see change happen.

5. Be Bold

I am so proud of my prayer leader– last week, he prayed boldly for a controversial topic related to systemic racism. He was biblical, positive, and specific, and prayed with a lot of grace and love. Plus, I know it was a topic that was very personal to him as a person of color. We prayed boldly and I could feel the Spirit of God interceding with us.

As easy as it may be to stick to the vague, safe topics, God’s heart is breaking for specific and often controversial injustices. He’s looking for a people unafraid to join Him in His burden for the things that are often difficult to talk about. Not only are we sowing into the spiritual breakthough that will one day come in these areas, but we’re practicing and modeling how believers should talk and pray about these topics from a biblical justice lens.

6. Be Persistent

We’re not going to see breakthough if we flit from one topic to another whenever we get bored. We need to take the example of the widow in Luke 18:1-8 who modeled persistent prayer for justice.

I saw this happen so powerfully when I was at IHOPKC – every month on the set for the ending of human trafficking, the prayer leader would focus on a different city somewhere in the world. All (or at least many, I can’t remember) of our prayers would be focussed on the ending of human trafficking IN THAT CITY, and then next month we’d switch to a different city. Every now and then the prayer leader would make an announcement on the mic that went something like, “Remember how we were praying for that specific city? Well, last night the police made a huge bust and freed 30 girls and made 14 arrests!” and we would all cheer and launch into our prayer for the next city with renewed vigor and faith.