One of the chief reasons hundreds of thousands flocked to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City over the last 20 plus years was the vehicle of the Prayer Room. For the first time, in a loooong while, worship-filled, Word-centered prayer was being installed as the center-post of a New Testament work. It was more than novel. That prayer room was a “forum” of sorts where individuals were engaging the pure Voice of the Lord – without mediation. Face to face, as it were. Open Bibles, hungry spirits, mingled with melodies from heaven…

Of the hundreds of people I know connected to #IHOPKC, very very few of them came because of the promise of a ministry, the personality of a teacher, a classroom, or a prophetic “whatever”… They came because they were hungry for the Psalm 132 God, and His manifest Presence, speaking, touching, enrapturing, and transforming their soul as they simply gazed upon His beauty in the place of prayer.

There were many great Biblical messages preached by hundreds in that community over its 24 years. But NONE OF THEM compared to the power of that Voice speaking to believers and seekers as they sat, sang, wept, and rejoiced in the Worship of His Word. FCF, and the classrooms, and the conferences were always a side-bar to the nuclear fusion that was happening in that room.

The Prayer Room was a profound paradigm shift away from the ensconced, western church pattern where THE MANY sat under the vision, teaching, and ministry control-valve of THE FEW. 24/7 prayer and worship flung the doors open to literally thousands (teams, students, staff, missionaries, families etc), empowering them into first-person, primary, dialogue with THE Main Man Himself – the “One Thing”. 24/7 Prayer literally turned the Church’s week-in, and week-out, status quo, structure upside-down.

And thousands of folk who came, tasted, and heard His Voice saying, “You can do this back home in your community. You can create space in garages, store-fronts, warehouses and old churches where you, and others can hear My Voice FOR YOURSELVES.” And they did. Tens of thousands obeyed the Voice, and have set up living tabernacles where millions can come apart for awhile and hear the Voice of the Word-speaking God – for themselves.

(Proof of the pudding? Sit down and listen to a Worship with the Word set from Laura, from Justin, from Jon, from Hellen, from Jeremy, or… You can’t tell me that the Spirit doesn’t vivify your spirit as you take in the simple, melodic phrases of scripture being sung. And this supernatural dynamic personally renewed and conformed minds and hearts for decades!)

This is a big statement, but I believe, the empowerment of the masses through the House of Prayer that’s been happening in the beginning of this new millennium (more than what was coming out of Kansas City), is as large of a paradigm shift for the Kingdom, as the printing press was in putting the written Word in the hands of the common believer in the 15th century.

The long, gross sin of a man – even a leader who was significant in the development of this paradigm is enormously grievous – and is still in need of just, thorough and holy cleansing. But ultimately IT WAS NEVER THE MAN OR HIS THEOLOGY, OR HIS PROPHECIES THAT THOUSANDS CAME TO SEE, AND BE A PART OF.

It was that VOICE. The Voice of the Father. The Voice of the Bridegroom. And the Voice of the Spirit. It was, and still is, drawing the Church, and the world to Himself.

Having said this, here is my list of 10 vital, Biblical emphases that the International House of Prayer in Kansas City encouraged, and blessed to churches, Houses of Prayer, and missions throughout western Christianity. These are not only 10 values that we need within our evangelical culture, they are 10 values that I will cherish and seek to live into, for the remainder of my life.

1. The necessity for the Church to cultivate a focused centrality upon the Person of Jesus Christ, and the revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ

2. The priority of putting Jesus’ first commandment love in first place

3. Harp and Bowl; Worship-empowered intercession and musical meditation on the Word – especially, the Holy Spirit power of corporately “singing the Word of God”

4. An understanding that corporate prayer in the New Testament is not only called to be “unceasing”, it is presented as both positive and enjoyable

5. The vital necessity to marry corporate prayer to corporate mission, and the fulfillment of Jesus’ great commission.

6. A revival of the apostolic, pre-millennial eschatology, that puts Jesus, and His return, at the center of all theological teaching, and discussion

7. Intercession for Israel, and the Lord’s incredibly wise, evangelistic strategy through the salvation of all Israel

8. An understanding of “vibrant righteousness”, what it is, what threatens it, and how it is supremely cultivated within a community.

9. Establishing a 21c vision for what it means to be “Friends of the Bridegroom”

10. An appreciation that at its seminal foundations, the covenant people of God are called to be a “house of prayer” where YHWH Himself “makes”, and fills “all nations” with supernatural “joy” (Isaiah 56:7)

What would you add to this list?

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JSB • May, 2024

NOTE: This isn’t a contest. 10 good things don’t counter-act 10 bad things. If you’re preaching Biblical orthodoxy, you don’t get a pass on practicing pagan immorality. The things that IHOPKC got wrong, are disqualifying attributes. The Lord is looking for, and providing for purity, not ethical counter-balance. This list of 10 necessary, vital dynamics deserved/deserve a corresponding NT, Holy Spirit purified praxis. In order to achieve that praxis, we must understand and address the 10 Things IHOPKC Got Wrong

10 Things that IHOPKC Got Wrong

10 Things I’ve Been Repenting of re: My Own Long History with IHOPKC

10 Things the Lord is Calling Our House of Prayer to Press Into

10 Places Where the Lord Has Been Bringing Judgment upon the House of Prayer, and His Household in America

10 Rewards Reserved for Those Who Have Faithfully Responded to the Judgments of the Lord that Have Fallen Upon Houses of Prayer and Our Evangelical Family