IN ONE GENERATION...

THE STUNNING GROWTH OF THE HOUSE OF PRAYER / JON BOEGL

In THIS WAY the WORD of the LORD continued to GROW in POWER and to PREVAIL. (Acts 19:20) Both Isaiah (Isaiah 56:7) and Jesus, Himself (Matthew 21:13), prophesied that Gods people would be identified as a House of Prayer. Over the past several years, Jesus has been transforming His Church into a House of Prayer at an unprecedented rate. Whereas a conventional, western church orchestrates a weekly two-hour meeting as the center-piece of its fellowship, a House of Prayer typically coordinates daily, communal experiences of Meditation on the Word of God, Adoration of God Himself, Revelation of the person of Jesus and Intercession with Jesus. The House of Prayer is a Nuclear Reactor for the Soul. In my opinion, it is precisely the intense inferno that we need to successfully forge our laid-back evangelical hearts into radiant, love-filled beacons that will not be dimmed by the darkness of this hour of human history. Ive written about my own sovereign introduction to the House of Prayer paradigm in 2001, two days before the foreboding events of 9-1-1. A scant ten years later, the Spirit has transformed this humble movement from a handful of believers praying in a small trailer in a down-and-out section of Kansas City, into a vibrant Kingdom light-house that is annually attracting tens of thousands to its now, slightly larger prayer room. With the addition of a 24-7 web-stream, it is drawing believers from every continent on earth into this 12-year prayer meeting. This passionate, bonfire of prayer has truly become a global influence, and is (as an early prophetic word given to Mike Bickle in 1982 predicted) changing the expression of Christianity in one generation. The Spirit is incubating a supernatural (Ezekiel 37:10) army within the House of Prayer. As it expands from these furnaces of prayer, it is becoming spiritual breath to an asthmatic church and a convinced witness to a distressed world. The DNA of this work is viral (Acts 10:44) meaning that it is happening through series of God-breathed events that are very free from the mediation of human agency.1 At the beginning of December 2011, CALL2ALL, a cooperative network of large and small missions agencies,2 met in Long Beach, California. Mark Anderson, the director of CALL2ALL reports on an astounding correlation between the fruitfulness of the work of world-evangelization and the proliferation of the prayer movement: Those of us who participated are still trying to digest all that happened. God continues to amaze us, using the little we give Him to do amazing things. During the three years that CALL2ALL has been in existence 217,908 New Churches have been planted; 584,681,363 new people have heard the gospel for the first time; and 71,311 New Houses of Prayer have been established. Its hard to fully imagine the number of lives around the world that are being touched. Great Commission activity is truly accelerating at an unprecedented pace. Ive posted the story of Peter Sekhonyane, from South Africa in a 3 minute video on the front page of my blog. Since July of 2004 Peter and his team have planted 7800 night & day prayer watches and have noted that local churches that have been planted as houses of prayer are the strongest and the fastest growing churches in their region. Night and day prayer is taking South Africa by storm! Peter anticipates by the end of 2011 this movement will see more than one million individuals surrender their lives to the Lordship of Jesus!

Do you want to know where YHWH has been moving in the American Church over the past decade? While denominations are losing whole congregations at a rate of more than 4000 per year, the United States is exploding with new Houses of Prayer. Did you know that California has 42 Houses of Prayer and Florida has 39 Houses of Prayer? In less than ten years, just between these two states, God has established more than 80 House's of Prayer! While scores of young adults are leaving traditional, evangelical churches 3, Jesus is faithfully raising up young adult fellowships centered around prayer & the First Commandment. Thousands of young adults are flocking to the International House of Prayer for 3-month internships and 4-year degree programs so as to be enflamed to fulfill Jesus great commission by cultivating burning lifestyles of night and day prayer. Currently, there are more than 1200 students, from 30 different countries here at the International House of Prayer University. Already, in less than ten years these young adults have been salted into missions, traditional churches, Houses of Prayer and campus Prayer Furnaces around the world. Ben Hoefer, his wife, Melissa, and their three young children, moved from their affluent community in Arizona this past fall to establish a missions outpost in India. Thats how hungry Ben and Melissa are to see people yield to the Lordship of Jesus! Although he has no organizational connection to the Kansas-City House of Prayer, I rejoiced to read the sovereign strategy that the Holy Spirit had filled my long-time friends heart: Hello Partners! I feel God has been speaking very clearly. We made a new contact with a national believer here who seems to share our vision for prayer. Unless we commit ourselves first to the work of prayer AND mobilizing prayer among nationals, we will not see a movement in this city. He said it will be as if we are trying to cross a Bangalore highway blindfolded. It is not only ineffective, but also very dumb. We will start small. Myself, Melissa, Elizabeth, this national, and possible 1 or 2 friends that he would invite. However, my dream is that God would bless it to the point where we would absolutely require a dedicated place where day and night those with a heart for BIG things would be gathered together to strategically pray for this city. What do you think? Would God fuel the desire of nationals here to pray for their own people, to revive and heal their land? Our plan is to first meet for prayer December 27th. Will you pray that God will grant us wisdom to press forward, and also ignite a desire for prayer among the people here? Since arriving in Kansas City 8 months ago, Kathy & I have met hundreds of brilliant individuals; so many young adults from around the world: millionaires, missionaries, house-wives, sports figures, students and bluecollar workers. Each could be chasing their slice of the American dream. Instead they are here; hidden in prayer; aiming at a different kind of success. They are becoming successful in how they hold their hearts before God; zealous for Jesus, meek toward others, obediently sensitive to the Spirit, responsive to Jesus' commission. Through daily meditation on the Word, intercession, worship, simple church community and scores of Kingdom ministry opportunities (teaching, serving the poor, ministering healing to the sick, mentoring the fatherless, evangelizing the lost etc.) He is forging an intense love in us that is manifesting itself in intimate faithfulness to Him. Some mornings, as I stand in the Prayer Room, listening to the petitions and the choruses of praise I am exhilarated by the collective hunger to honor Jesus, and I worship Him for the great wisdom of it all. "Jesus, You are building Your House of Prayer! How very good it is to feel You preparing Your Bride! Halleluia!"

JSB _________________
1 We

are sober to carry Jesus primary mandate to go and preach the gospel - but we rejoice (Acts 11:18) whenever we find that Jesus is doing so much of the work ahead, and often, completely independent from our calculated efforts.
2A

global initiative aimed at fulfilling the great commission [Matt. 28:19] through forging cooperative partnerships between organizations such as Campus Crusade for Christ and Youth with a Mission and hundreds of other international missions agencies.
3David

Kinnaman, the 38-year-old president of the Barna Group, an evangelical research firm, is the latest to sound the alarm. In his new book, "You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith," he says that 18- to 29-year-olds have fallen down a "black hole" of church attendance. There is a 43% drop in traditional church attendance between the teen and early adult years, he says.