God's Invitation to Greatness

“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19).

Establishing a House of Prayer in your church or city is pursuing greatness in God’s sight.  You are involved in one of the greatest things you can ever do for God.  He wants to transform our thinking and understand His invitation to greatness.  Think about it - What do we really want - fame before man or before God?  Lasting greatness is not in the praise of man but in the affirmation of God.  He has placed within our heart a longing for greatness.  He looks at the heart; He looks at our obedience and motives.  He sees our hidden heart (1 Samuel 16:7).  He sees what we do in secret, in the hidden place of prayer.  Jesus wants to unlock our hearts and minds so that we are fully alive in Him.  And this is how he will reward us (Matthew 6:6).  Most of what we do now will not be fully known until the age to come. 

When we build a House of Prayer, we are building upon a foundation that cannot be shaken (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).  We are pursuing greatness in God’s sight.  When we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we will be judged by the motives of our hearts and the established thought patterns behind our actions.  God is evaluating our hearts.  Moses prayed, “Please, show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18-19).  He understood the true meaning and purpose of life.  When we meet God face-to-face will He ask us, “How much did you seek me?”  “How much did you love others?”  “How much did you let me transform your heart in the prayer room?"

Let God measure the success of what we do.  He is looking for faithfulness (Luke 16:10-12, 1 Corinthians 4:2) and relationship (Luke 10:20, Matthew 7:23).  We must be faithful stewards as we pray and prepare our Houses of Prayer.  Our goal is to help prepare the Bride for her destiny (Eph 5:225-27).  Our identity is found in being a friend of the bridegroom.  He must increase and we must decrease.

We do not possess the fragrance of Jesus through education or money.  God is raising-up the uneducated and unknown to turn the world upside down (1 Corinthians 1: 27-29).  The power of the Kingdom will not come through the best training programs in the world.  It will come through those who train in the desert, in that secret place of prayer.  Moses had the best training in the world (Hebrews 11:24) and was the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, but he needed 40 years in the desert.  Daniel had the best education, but it was in the secret place where he became wiser than all the wise men of Babylon.  He was steadfast and prayed three times a day even when it endangered his life.  Nothing - absolutely nothing - could hinder his commitment to prayer, not even a den of lions!     

In Acts 4:13-16 we see the boldness of Peter and John because they had been with Jesus.  Others realized this and marveled.  They were uneducated and untrained yet their lives were ones of power.  These men had the vision and commitment to pray and spend time with God.  They accepted God’s invitation to greatness.  As we wait for the coming of God’s Kingdom we can walk in that same power, but we must see with eyes of vision God’s great invitation to us.  We must have hearts of commitment to pray and advance the prayer movement.  We need to believe that God wants to spread 24/7 Houses of Prayer throughout the entire world.  We must have vision for our city and our church.  God is inviting us to greatness in His Kingdom.   

Positioning Your Life for Greatness

“Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:42-44).

Spreading the vision for prayer and starting a House of Prayer in your church or city will take a great deal of faithful serving.  It will take hard work and endurance.  There will be times when you wonder if you are doing the right thing or if it will ever happen.  The opposition from the enemy will be great.  But this is God’s personal invitation to greatness for you.  God designed you for greatness (Matthew 5:12, 18:4, 11:11).  Deep in your heart you desire greatness, significance, dignity, nobility, honor, and impact.  You want to be great in God’s sight.  You are learning to live for His Kingdom purposes. 

The Sermon on the Mount is all about the lifestyle of the Kingdom.  In obeying it, we position ourselves for greatness.  We pursue obedience in our speech, our physical appetites, our time, our money, and our eyes.  We renew our inner man for eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:16-127).  We work to become faithful disciples of Jesus through our heart obedience and our ministry impact.  We respond to all that the Holy Spirit shows us so that we may be worthy of our calling (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12).  Our eternal destiny is to possess Godliness and become like God in character (Ephesians 5:2, Romans 9:29). This can be cultivated in the prayer room and the development of our secret life with God.  He sees our heart.  Seeking to lovingly obey is never in vain.  We should seek to live out the 8 beatitudes in our daily life.  He is looking for a people who obey Him wholeheartedly.  The Sermon on the Mount is the core vale of God’s Kingdom and the litmus test to measure our true success in life.  We are on a journey to greatness.  Matt Chandler from the International House of Prayer writes about God’s invitation to greatness:

“The Sermon on the Mount is the litmus test to measure our success in life, spiritual development and ministry impact.  Our foundation call (internal) is to live out the 8 beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) as we pursue 100-fold obedience (Matthew 5:48, 6:22).  The beatitudes are like 8 flowers in the ‘garden of our heart’ that God wants to fully blossom…. God invites us to greatness without regard to our outward achievements or the size of our ministry impact.  Rather it is based on the development of our inner man in love, meekness, and revelation or in righteousness, peace, and joy in the spirit (Romans 14:17).  Without the paradigm of being on a journey to greatness, the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle is much more difficult to sustain.  Living in light of receiving reward in heaven and being great in God’s sight is a major theme that is emphasized in Matthew 5:5, 12, 19. 46, 6:1 4, 6, 18, 20, 7:2.”

The prayer room helps us to become great in God’s eyes rather than mans.  It helps us to pursue the journey to greatness.  As you attempt to get involved in His House of Prayer in your city or church, realize that it requires humility and a servant’s lifestyle (Matthew 20:26-27).  Those who lead in Houses of Prayer open the way to God’s pathway of greatness.  They must be willing to go through difficult and refining situations that seem unbearable at times (Isaiah 48:10).  Jesus went through the cross for the joy set before Him.  We must trust his leadership of God, live in His grace and for His glory (1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 12 Corinthians 4:17, Romans 818).  We are partnering with Him and are seeking heavenly rewards instead of earthly ones (Matthew 6:1-20).

I heard about a famous professional baseball player who said that the aim of his life was to hear his manager say to him, “You are the greatest player I have ever coached.”  He was motivated by the hope that one day he would hear his manager’s affirmation.  How many multitudes of athletes feel like this?  But how much more should we as Christians be motivated by the hope that one day we will hear our Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness’” (Matthew 25:21).  What more could we ever want?  In starting and maintaining Houses of Prayer we are seeking for God’s “Well Done” in our lives and are involved with what God’s cherishes and esteems so highly (Matthew 25:21). 

Establishing 24/7 Houses of Prayer helps to bring God’s people into a love relationship with Him and helps them establish a close partnership with Jesus on earth. This brings glory to God in the deepest sense.  Prayer is rooted in humility and takes time and energy.  But when you do this, you are investing your time and energy in order to help others grow in righteousness, peace, and joy. 

Let’s press on with diligence and faithfulness (Philippians 3:12-14).  He will help each one of us to be faithful in the face of pressure, obstacles, and difficulty.   He will help us endure the mundane and smallness of working day-by-day and week-by-week as we get started.  This matters to Him.  We are living for a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.  It’s a daily adventure in pleasing God.  It’s all part of God’s invitation to greatness in His Kingdom.  This invitation brings transformation in every area of our lives.  Our hearts and our thoughts are transformed. 

God is developing us in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-12.  He is our source, and we are absolutely dependent on Him.  Let’s wholeheartedly pursue his fullness and hunger and thirst for His righteousness.  We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10, 4:12, 1:28-29, 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23).  We are seeking to be obedient and perfectly established (1 Peter 5:10, 1 Timothy 6:13-14).  We are seeking a blameless life.  In the prayer room, we learn to hunger after God, we grow in purity of heart, we learn to become peacemakers, and we grow in meekness.  God brings inner and outer transformation.  Then we take Him with us out into the marketplace and people are drawn to the Holy Spirit living within us. 

We are living in a transitional time in all of history.  The Holy Spirit is preparing us for a release of His glory upon the Church.  There will be a mighty release of signs, wonders and glory at the end of the age (Joel 2:28-29).  This will bring transformation.  God is right now shaking everything that can be shaken in the nations (Haggai 2:6-7).  He is inviting everyone to become great in His Kingdom.  He designed us for this.  True greatness will be fully manifested in the age to come, not here.  It will be based on our heart’s response, and it is available to all (Matthew 5:19, 20:26-27, 23:12).  Let’s seek Him in all that we do with a childlike faith and a humble heart.  He is transforming our hearts and our minds.  It’s time to see life from His perspective.  Let’s position our life for greatness in His Kingdom and accept this wonderful invitation.

Recently I was sitting in the back of the International House of Prayer room (IHOP) in Kansas City.  I was looking at 100’s of young people who were accepting God’s invitation to greatness with glad hearts.  It was powerful.

“Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me (Matthew 18:3-5).

 

 

 

 

Transformed Hearts in the Prayer Room

“Cultivating a responsive heart of extravagant devotion to Jesus takes time and deliberate effort.  Love does not grow automatically but rather it automatically diminishes unless intentionally cultivated.  A responsive heart to God, renewed in freshness and tenderness, is precious and rare, to be guarded with great care and renewed day by day.  Satan’s first priority against the Church is to lead us astray from cultivating the ability to be responsive to God with wholehearted love and extravagant devotion.  If Satan leads us astray from the purity of devotion to Jesus then our service and love for others will eventually fail.”  Dana Candler

As we build the House of Prayer in our cities, we must realize that it’s all about God coming and taking His place in our hearts.  It’s about loving God and preparing the earth for the reign of Jesus, the King.  It’s about obeying the first commandment: “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind” (Matthew 22:37-38).  The fire of loving God will ignite our faith to live a life of prayer and devotion.  He wants us to turn to Him with all our heart (Joel 2:12).  Then He will pour out His Spirit in our nations. 

God wants to transform our hearts in the prayer room.  There is no better way to experience a changed heart as in the prayer room.  He wants to impact our hearts so that we impact our cities and the nations.  If we love God, we will love others better and with a much greater consistency.  Let’s remember that the Church of Ephesus had left their first love (Revelation 2:1-5).  Their once fiery love and passion for Jesus had grown cold.  Their minds had been led astray from the simplicity of pure devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).  Loving God and living a holy life must be our primary focus. 

Houses of Prayer help us to encounter God on a deep level.  Growing in an intimate relationship with God should be our ambition, our highest calling.  This means that we know and are deeply known by God.  We have a relational knowledge of God and not just a factual understanding.  God is a person to be known, and our knowledge of Him produces affection.  We position our hearts in the prayer room to receive the love He desires to manifest to us.  He wants to partner with us, and He releases blessing to those who are in unity with His heart.  Loving God was Jesus’ last public invitation and declaration before He went to the cross (Matthew 22:37-38).  It is the great commandment and first priority to God.  We impact His heart when we love Him.  This should be our life focus (Song of Solomon 8:6-7).

As a child I would try to catch butterflies in a small net.  In those days there were several country roads where they loved to freely fly, and monarch butterflies were plentiful.  In many of my travels to other nations I have seen outstanding displays of God’s creative and rather remarkable handiwork in butterflies and moths.  The colors, designs, and sizes are beyond imagination with reds, yellows, and oranges etched into a perfect design. 

We can learn a lot from these colorful insects, and I am sure we can all testify to the transformation (metamorphosis) that takes place as we watch the miracle of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.  A crawling ugly and repulsive caterpillar crawls up into a ball and seems to have died with no appearance of life as it lays imprisoned in a tomblike cocoon.  Suddenly after a long time delay - it struggles - it pushes - it endures - it works hard to break out of that cocoon and comes forth as a beautiful and graceful butterfly!  And did you know that the whole purpose of the butterfly is to reproduce itself, and it spends all its life seeking to do this?  It’s amazing!  But there is a great problem when this struggle doesn’t occur.

A man found the cocoon of a butterfly.  One day when a small opening appeared, he sat and watched it trying to struggle its body through the small hole but without making much progress.  It seemed to actually stop and go no further.  He thought, “I’ll help free this butterfly”. So he took scissors and snipped off the cocoon.  The butterfly easily emerged but had a small body and shriveled wings.  He thought the wings would expand, and the butterfly would fly.  It didn’t happen.  The butterfly could never fly but could only crawl in it’s swollen body and shriveled wings. 

No beautiful transformation took place.    

That man didn’t realize that it was necessary for the butterfly to struggle in the cocoon to get through that tiny opening.  Fluid would force its way from the body of the butterfly to its wings, making it ready for flight once it achieved freedom from the cocoon.  God wants to bring transformation into His Church.  He wants to transform all of our lives.  Often we want the easy way out.  Struggle, tests, trials, and tribulations are not pleasant words.  But this is exactly what we need in order to see transformation in our lives.  This is what is needed in the prayer movement as God brings transformation onto the earth.

Developing 24/7 prayer in our cities and increasing the level of prayer in our churches involves perseverance and struggle.  But it brings transformation in our lives personally, corporately, and regionally.  Obstacles are necessary for transformation.  We would be crippled and without strength without them - We need to struggle to see things from God’s perspective and do things His way  - We need perseverance as we prepare for His soon return to earth.  He is strengthening our character and stabilizing our hope in the eternal.  He is creating within us a faith in His promises.

How do we grow in intimacy and the knowledge of God? 

God must reveal Himself to us, and He does it as we behold Jesus in the prayer room (Hebrews 1:1-3, Matthew 11:27, Colossians 2:2-3, 1:19, 2:9, 2 Corinthians 4:6).  God wants us filled with fiery love and desire for Him, and the prayer room is the perfect place to cultivate this transformational love relationship.  What we behold of God’s heart we become.  We are like the beautiful emerging butterfly.  Our identity is in Jesus.  We discover who we are and what is our worth and destiny by encountering His heart for us in the prayer room.  We become successful as lovers of God, and we begin to measure our success in an entirely new way.  Imagine what will happen in our cities when God’s people begin to measure success in this way.  There will be no more envy and competition.  We will be seeking God and His ways, not ours.  

When we prayerfully adore and study the person and work of Christ in the prayer room and live obedient lives, we grow in intimacy.  This is not studying academically, but it is more a drinking in of the beauty of Christ just as we would behold a beautiful landscape.  We fix our attention and affection upon Christ.  We listen carefully - We hear - We behold - We gaze in stillness upon Christ and are transformed into His likeness.  We use Scripture as we do this, and we give God our time.  Jesus must be our focal point.  Our hearts will be unsatisfied if He isn’t.  He must be central in our study, devotion, and discipleship.  We must be dynamically connected to Him.  We are His inheritance and delight (1 Corinthians 3:23, Song of Solomon 7:10, 1 Corinthians 6:15-20, Romans 14:8).

God is using prayer to help prepare and purify His Church all across the earth.  Remember that a 24/7 House of Prayer in your city will help prepare Christians to live fully for God.  God is using the prayer room to sanctify and cleanse His people and make her a Church filled with His glory.  The Church is like the transformed butterfly emerging from its cocoon.  In the prayer room we learn to abide by dialoging with God and listening to the Holy Spirit actively within us as He gives us wisdom, direction, and empowers us to live the Christian life - We are attentive and engaged - We are developing a heart connection with the Holy Spirit - We are learning the reality of John 15:5-7.  In the prayer room we cultivate a transformed heart.  Don’t be discouraged by any difficulties you encounter as you build 24/7 prayer in your city.  God is developing a beautiful butterfly and teaching you to fly.  Remember that without Him we can do nothing, but with Him we will bear much fruit!

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Spreading 24/7 Prayer Worldwide

“If Christians prayed as Christians ought - with strong commanding faith, with earnestness and sincerity - men, God-called men, God-empowered men everywhere, would be burning to go and spread the Gospel worldwide. The Word of the Lord would run and be glorified as never known heretofore. The God-influenced men, the God-inspired men, the God-commissioned men, would go and kindle the flame of sacred fire for Christ, salvation, and heaven, everywhere in all nations. Soon all men would hear the glad tidings of salvation and have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.” E. M. Bounds

There is no doubt about it. Day and night prayer ignites the power of God to release the fire of the Gospel throughout the earth. Every nation, every city, every people group, every neighborhood cannot miss the tremendous influence of the atmosphere of prayer released from the 24/7 prayer room. There is something deep and far-reaching that happens when God’s people give themselves to 24/7 prayer and intercession in a given location. It cannot be measured by human means, but its’ dynamic power can set the fire of God loose in a nation in a way that is beyond comprehension.

I have heard of evangelists going to a region, locking themselves in a hotel room, praying unceasingly for days, and then going out and sharing the Gospel with incredible results. If one man can see that happen, imagine the effect when the Church worldwide gives itself to prayer and actually makes prayer its primary business. Then we shall surely see things happen! None of us have gotten there yet, but it certainly should be our highest ambition and shall take a primary role as we see the end-time scenario unfold before us.

Perhaps one of the greatest prayer warriors in all of history was Praying Hyde of northern India who lived from 1865-1912. He would miss meals and would bow down or lie on the ground because of intense travail, and cry out to the Lord daily for souls. He was burning within for the salvation of the lost. Finally with an agonizing passion for those without Christ, he began to pray that God would let him win a soul to Jesus every day that year. At the end of the year, four hundred souls had been won through his daily witness. The next year Hyde cried out to the Lord for two souls a day! That year about eight hundred had responded to Christ through Hyde. But his heart grew in intense desperation, and he began to plead to God for four souls a day. That year he led four souls a day to Christ. He would first travail for the lost, and then go out and speak to men and women about how to find eternal life through Christ. He first prayed, and then he witnessed. After praying, the Holy Spirit would lead him to the right individuals. Multitudes came to Christ through this praying man. What a fantastic method of evangelism!

The ministry of Anna is increasing across the earth. God is raising up individuals who give themselves to day and night prayer as she and Praying Hyde did. Anna in the Bible, even though extremely old, worshiped God night and day almost all her life. We read in Luke 2:36b-37, “She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.” God is raising-up intercessory missionaries who pray night and day. The urgency of the hour and the present emphasis on prayer makes 24/7 prayer a possibility in this generation. We cannot do without intercession and individuals who give themselves to prayer like Anna. The need is too great.

Catch and Spread the Vision for 24/7 Prayer

"Prayer is the key to reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus. The greatest forces of power in the universe are mobilized, and history is made when we pray. God is looking for men who will stand in the gap on behalf of the land” (Ezekiel 22:30, Isaiah 59:16, 63:5). E. M. Bounds

24/7 Houses of Prayer are spreading all over the world. Prayer rooms are also being established in churches throughout the world. Not only are churches starting them, denominations and Christian organizations have started prayer watches. The Salvation Army in Australia and in England started praying 24/7 for a week in 52 of their branches with immediate results! YWAM, with 16 bases in Western Europe, set aside an entire year where each base took responsibility for a week and filled the whole year with 24/7 prayer. In 2005, thirteen denominations and Christian organizations in England alone started filling the whole year with 24/7 prayer. Several prisons in Argentina have established 24/7, 365-day prayer watches where the inmates pray for their families, communities, their country, fellow inmates, and the world! Inmates are converted and change their lifestyle. Breakthroughs are happening in the prisons. Here’s how you can catch and spread the vision:

• Rejoice that God is awakening the watchmen – Watch the Awaken “Awaken the Watchmen” video to find out how the 24-7 prayer movement is spreading worldwide! This is a powerful video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMircbzC6w

• Daily pray that a 24/7 House of Prayer starts in every city in every nation - Keep on praying for your own city to catch the vision for 24/7 prayer.

• Register your prayer watch - www.global24-7.org is a website with the purpose of registering and encouraging prayer watches from all over the world. This will support what God is doing worldwide and help to link 24/7 prayer in different regions of the world.

• Start a one-month 24-7 House of Prayer in your city - If you desire to start a one-month 24-7 House of Prayer in your city, join the Intercessors Arise International Network for encouragement and networking with others with the same vision for their city. If you haven’t yet received an invitation, write to me at deb@intercessorsarise.org.

• Start a one-week House of Prayer in your church - Use my book Intercessors Arise: Personal Prayer that Changes the Word on prayer to help encourage your church in intercession and train people in prayer.

• Learn from other 24/7 Houses of Prayer - Notice how they are functioning, what they teach and emphasize. Observe the creativity in each one. Here are a few House of Prayer websites to encourage your heart in how the 24/7 prayer movement is spreading worldwide, but there are dozens of websites.

24/7 Prayer internationally - www.ihop.org
24/7 Prayer in Israel - www.jerusalempraise.com
24/7 Prayer in Washington D.C. for justice - www.justicehouseofprayer.com
24/7 Prayer internationally among the youth - www.24-7prayer.com
24/7 Prayer in Hollywood for the media - www.unitedprayerforhollywood.org
24/7 Prayer in Canada - www.nationalhouseofprayer.com

I highly recommend the book Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts. This book gives the amazing story of how the 24/7 Prayer Movement is spreading worldwide among the youth. They have 24/7 prayer rooms that have grown into 24/7 prayer houses called “Boiler Rooms” and are modeled after the ancient Celtic monasteries. These Boiler Rooms are mission-focused and are places of disciplined prayer and outreach to the poor. They pursue missions, justice, hospitality, and prayer. As the world gets darker, they are spreading all over the world at an incredible rate and the vision is catching fire. Here is their incredible testimony:

“A movement to encourage churches to make room for nonstop prayer has spread to 63 nations in the last seven years and is especially multiplying in the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa. ‘We don’t have a fixed number of prayer rooms because they can take off so quickly,’ said Pete Greig, 37, who founded the 24/7 prayer movement in 1999 in Chichester, England. Named for its nonstop concert of prayer, 24/7 has meeting places as diverse as a bus in the slums of Delhi, India, and a brewery in Missouri. Volunteers pray, usually alone, in one-hour shifts, round the clock, seven days a week for global issues and requests they receive from their international website or from their local communities. Visitors are free to drop in, pray and talk. 24/7 also has planted itself in places where there is a crisis, such as Lebanon during the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, and in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Teams also live long-term in needy communities in Mexico, where intercessors can be found ministering among pimps and prostitutes. ‘In a squatter’s camp in Soweto, South Africa, we’ve seen 64 prayer tents spring up in just two years,’ Greig said. ‘The local man who spearheads them said 80 percent of new converts in the camp are maintaining their salvation, and the local police chief says crime has dropped by 20 percent.’ Greig said the movement is being fueled by young people who are passionate about prayer, justice and missions.”

This is only a small taste of what is happening worldwide in the area of prayer. Our God is creative, and we see the unique ways he initiates 24/7 prayer in different nations. Day and night prayer will lead to the final gathering of the worldwide harvest. Let’s jump on board and prepare for this harvest and the salvation of millions of souls. Let’s learn from the outstanding example of Praying Hyde and as we pray, let’s expect to see many souls saved. It is time for the Gospel to advance.

“If men would pray as they ought to pray, the marvels of the past would be more than reproduced. The Gospel would advance with a facility and power it has never known. Doors would be thrown open to the Gospel, and the Word of God would have a conquering force rarely if ever known before.” E. M. Bounds