May has been a special month as it marks the 10-year anniversary of the International House of Prayer here in Kansas City. This house of prayer began on May 7th, 1999 with 12 hours a day of prayer; the prayer meetings later went 24/7 on September 19th, 1999 and have never ceased.
There have been moments of remembrance and thanksgiving as we mark this milestone in our community. God has given so much grace and provision in building this prayer room, and we are so grateful for all He has done. We are convinced that, like the rebuilding of the temple in Zechariah’s day, it has been ‘“not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit’, says the Lord of hosts.”
IHOP–KC is just one part of a global prayer movement the Lord is raising up. In fact, even the worldwide prayer movement of today holds a baton passed down through the centuries. This mantle has seen many expressions, models, and focuses; it has been stewarded inter-denominationally, in both Catholic and Protestant communities; it has been taken up in faith by young and old. Through all this, there is a thread found weaving throughout the prayer movement of the ages. It is an ancient vision the Holy Spirit voiced through a vow King David made in his youth. He said, “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, or go up to the comfort of my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Psalm 132: 3-5).
David vowed to live in extravagant devotion to seek the Lord with all his resources (time, talents, treasures). His vow included spending time in God’s House (Ps. 27:4), fasting (Ps. 69:7-12), and extravagant giving of his money (1 Chr. 22:14). His desire was to see a place where the Lord’s presence was manifest in a supernatural way in his generation. David’s tabernacle was established in Jerusalem around 1000 BC. Since that time, night and day prayer centers have been established in Ireland, Germany, South Korea, Kansas City and elsewhere in the earth.
My wife, Anna, and I continue to long for night and day prayer to be released in Colorado. We believe the Lord will raise up a prayer room that is never silent before the Lord in the spirit of Isaiah 62, a location of incessant adoration of Jesus in the likeness of what continues around His throne in Revelation 4. We also believe He will establish a training center, raising up preachers, teachers, singers, musicians, prophets and evangelists anointed to further the Gospel in the earth and minister before the Lord in the prayer room.
