This was an incredible event of prayer and worship hosted by Good Shepherd as we welcomed a team of young men from the International House of Prayer - Kanasas City to Good Shepherd.
The event featured Brandon Hammonds who was our teacher, awa well as Robert Monson, and Justin Rizzo who taught and lead singing with band members Joshua Hawkins, Joran Vanderplate, Nate Hunt, and Ross Bennet.
A praying church is the end-time strategy of God before Christ returns on this earth. As more people enter into the Father's heart of love and restore the 1st Commandment ("thou shalt have no other God's before Me") to first place in our lives, we become the resplendent bride of Christ mentioned in Ephesians 5 and 2 Corinthians 4, reflecting his character and glory, degree by degree.
These young men (all under 30 years old) have dedicated their lives to being prayer missionaries ministering to the heart of God along the lines of King David in 1 Chronicles 22-25 for day and night prayer and thanksgiving with musicians and priests.
You can visit IHOP's website www.ihop.org and click on "The Prayer Room" for a free live-stream video or visit their archives. Their primary hymnal is literally the Scriptures (Old and New Testaments) as they sing verses and the echo them with the choir and develop refrains for the congregation. All this is spontaneous and fresh as new songs emerge through the Spirit-led expression of praise and thanksgiving.
One of my favorite prayer exercises is what they call "rapid-fire prayer," during which a leader introduces a theme based on scripture (like Ephesians 1:17 - "that God may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him") and then invites 10-15 intercessors to come forward to give 10-15 second prayers on the topics in quick succession, interrupted only by the worship leader who may interject a chorus based on what is being prayed.
The effect of all this is a very real, authentic and fresh encounter with the presence of God. It is encouraging and strengthening. I am so glad that our people at the 11:15 a.m. service had an opportunity to experience a taste of it as we modified our service to accomodate the normal practice of the IHOP Prayer Room.
It is my hope that our Friday Night Service: "First Love" can develop more and more into this type of spontaneous prayer and worship service. And, who knows how we might be able to adapt this into our existing worship services on Sunday. It is very exciting.
- Pastor Jeff
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