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.