to prayer and worship? I never had –
until this week. There is a movement
around the world called the International House of Prayer, or IHOP (I know
right? Who wouldn’t want to go to the International House of Pancakes every day? But it’s not like that.) It started in Kansas City, MO, and there is
probably one in a city near you. The
purpose of these places is to create a constant stream of prayer and worship
all around the globe – 24/7/365. The
local house of prayer here in Tauranga hasn’t quite gotten to that point yet, but
they do gather to pray for 4 hours a day, Monday through Friday, year round. We spend the first two hours in time of
personal reading, prayer, journaling, and maybe a little bit of sleep…(it
starts at 8am). The second two hours are
about worship and intercessory prayer.
This has been such a calming time of learning and answered prayer. My last few months at home were full of work,
preparation, family, Christmas, etc. and
I knew I was neglecting time set aside to prepare myself spiritually for this
year. I prayed that God would provide me
that time – and now I have four hours a day for three weeks. I am truly learning the discipline of
stillness and the importance, and power, of prayer. It is something I had completely taken for
granted, but in the past two weeks I have seen God answer prayers in amazing
ways and provide us with food, transportation, and words of encouragement and
love.
Lately we have been praying a lot for the Call 2 All
event that is coming up next week. And
these are not little, “God, please make this a great week and keep the rain
away,” kinds of prayers. When you pray
for four hours a day, and see the rewards of that daily, you learn to go
big. We have been praying out of Ephesians
1, and Acts 2. Things like, “I pray that
your hearts be flooded with light so that you can understand the future He has
promised to those He called,” and for Him to, “pour out my Spirit upon all
people. Your sons and daughters will
prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit upon
all my servants, men and women, and they will prophesy, and I will cause
wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below. “ Not small things to ask of the Lord.
world, why here? Why now? It’s hard to explain in words without going
into multiple stories, histories, and happenings that have all led up to
now. Tauranga is both the fastest
growing city in New Zealand, and the most desirable to live in – and neither of
these is by accident. Not only is it a
beautiful community filled with amazing people, but people from all over the
world are finding themselves drawn here and many aren’t really sure why. The city has a rich spiritual history and an
undeniable heartbeat for God that continues to grow louder and louder. Many believe that the Call 2 All event is the
beginning of a wave of change that will rise up a new generation filled with God’s
Spirit and hungry to go out into the world fulfilling the Great
Commission. It is such an exciting,
empowering environment to be a part of. It
is an even more exciting place to begin our 11 months, because just months ago,
all of us were feeling that same call – to go out into the world and incite
change. God is bringing thousands of
people to New Zealand, including our four Race teams, on purpose and He is
going to do some crazy stuff in the next week.
I’ll keep you updated…
