Thursday, 26 August 2010

A Visit to IHOP - Kansas City USA


The initials IHOP can have a different meaning depending on who you are talking to – most people in USA will instantly think of pancakes covered in maple syrup and served with ice cream. We had not gone to the states to eat pancakes, but for us IHOP stands for International House of Prayer.

Our friends Martyn and Linda had invited us to come and experience what God is doing in this amazing work in Kansas City. They have a house in Grandview which is the part of the city where this work is based.

The International House of Prayer is a place where there has been continuous worship, prayer and intercession happening for more than 10 years. It really blows your mind to grasp this amazing feat of dedication and commitment.
IHOP is the outworking of prophetic vision and direction given to Mike Bickle over the past 25 years and has brought together more than 1000 people who are committed to the practical outworking of that vision in Kansas City. In addition to the House of Prayer there is a School of Ministry, a Music Academy and Media Institute. There is also a Fellowship which meets on Sundays and serves as church for those who are committed to this work. As they say, “We are a Prayer Room that has a church, not a church which has a 24hour Prayer Room!”

We came knowing almost nothing about the work of IHOP, and so as we visited the Prayer Room for the first time we did not have any idea of what to expect. As we entered the room we were struck by the tangible sense of God’s presence. We joined the 150 or so mainly young people who were there engaging with the worship, reading their Bibles, writing notes on their laptops and participating in a whole variety of ways. At the front there was a Worship Band leading worship and declaring the Word, leading intercessions, because the concept is “Worship as it would have been in the Tabernacle of David.”

Each worship band does a two hour session, with a seamless handover to the next group sustaining worship and prayerfulness uninterrupted. There are themes to the sessions; worship and the word will focus on scripture with clear strong declaration of God’s faithfulness and promise; worship and intercession will have a clear focus displayed on the screen, with those leading the intercessions praying clearly and powerfully from the front.

We loved the prayer room, it took a bit of getting used to, our first two hours seemed to last forever, but every time we returned the time seemed to slip by more quickly. We joined in the scriptural declarations being sung to spontaneous words and melodies, and were inspired by the passion of those interceding. There are 500 prayer missionaries living in Kansas City who are committed to spend at least 30 hours a week in the Prayer Room. The focus is upon revival and the end time purposes of God. Some will ask, what has been achieved? It is not easy to answer, but scripture exhorts us to pray night and day until God pours out his glory – that is what is happening.

On four evenings a week there is The Student Awakening when the House of Prayer relocates to the main auditorium and the gathering grows to more than 1000. This happened because of a remarkable visitation from God last November at the School of Ministry, when for 15 hours God came among the students in power, conviction, healing and glory. This prompted the start of the Awakening led by Wes Hall and Alan Hood who are leading these meetings and also responsible for the School of Ministry.

We once again marvelled as we worshipped at the Awakening, saw God at work healing and transforming people. We received prayer and prophecy and participated in praying for others. Each night there were testimonies of healing both physical and emotional. Every Friday is Baptism night and more than 1500 have been baptised in the last 8 months.

You can see all that I have spoken about on the internet – go to www.ihop.org and select Prayer Room and the Live Prayer Room Webcast and enter into what is currently happening in the prayer room. Click on The Student Awakening and you can select past sessions, or if it is past midnight in UK, the current meeting.

I know this is a long blog and well done if you have made it to the end! In fact, I could have said more, but I hope that you have got a taste of what was a most inspiring and life changing experience. A team from The Awakening are in at the end of October and beginning of November in Newcastle, Manchester and Shaftesbury – details on Awakening page of IHOP website.

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Remarkable Lives

People impact our lives. Over the past few months we have met some people for the very first time, and have been reconnected with others who we had not heard from for many years.

One of the people we have met fairly recently is Beth Barone. You need to listen to her amazing testimony on our website – go to Teaching Podcasts where you can listen or download. Beth is an American lady, married to an Italian pastor, who has triumphed over incredible odds. Beginning with terrible abuse from her earliest years, followed by four years in a mental institution, she met God and through an amazing journey has seen complete healing. Once you have listened to her story you will have more understanding.

Beth not only has a wonderful story but she has gained an insight into how God wants to take every believer from bondage to freedom, from non-reality to true reality. She spent the weekend with us at Living Waters Church in the middle of May 2010 and her insight into God’s purposes for setting people free is life transforming.


A few weeks ago the post arrived and to our great surprise we opened a package to discover a book written by Uli Eiwen. We have known Helmuth and Uli Eiwen for nearly 30 years, we visited them in Austria and ministered with them on many occasions. However, we had been out of touch for probably 10 years.

Uli’s book had just been translated into English with the title “Beyond Understanding – A Prophetic Journey.” It is another remarkable story of how God has used dreams and visions to guide his servants. We had heard the beginnings of their story when we last were with them, but the book gives the whole story to date.

When Helmuth and Uli planted a new church in Weiner Neustadt, Austria, they soon became aware that there was something holding back the growth and blessing upon their work. Through some amazing dreams, visions and prophetic words they were guided to undertake a miraculous journey of reconciliation which brought the former Jewish residents back to Weiner Neustadt, and has transformed their lives and the work to which God has called them.

If you would like to get hold of this book, we are in the process of finding out how you get a copy – email us for details. The German edition is available from
http://www.ichthys-kreativ.at/smartshop/pi1/pd1.html

Thursday, 4 March 2010

A Good Sort Out




At the end of last summer we took down our trampoline and together with the garden chairs they were put in the garage. Then we needed to store some old cassettes of preaching and teaching going back many years, also tapes sets from Eagle Camps and other Conferences we have held over the years. Daniel and Tanya moved house and so we were asked to store a washing machine and cooker. In the garage there is also a Raw Striker kit car which our son Ben made many years ago, and is still great fun.

When Daniel told me he was loaning the washing machine to someone in the Church, the task of extricating it from the garage was daunting. So yesterday I took my courage in both hands and tackled the garage. I re-erected the trampoline in the garden, and put out the sun loungers, which I hope will encourage some warm weather! I discovered that the very cold winter had flattened the battery in the kit car, and have borrowed a charger to get it back to action.

I also packed away the sledges, chopped up some kindling wood for the fire and took a trip to the tip, or should I be saying “recycling centre”. The net result was a great feeling of satisfaction and a desire to continue this task until my garage is really sorted.

You will probably be able to imagine my great reluctance at tackling this chaos, but knowing that the washing machine was to be collected on Friday – the deadline forced me into action.

This all has a spiritual parallel, our lives so often become cluttered; important things become buried, and the mess just impedes our progress. The flat battery is a parable which encourages us to keep our connection with God living and healthy.