All posts by DebbieLynn

Preparing the Church For the Future

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“We will soon see prayer become the chief purpose and focus of the church, above any other activity. Intercession is no longer just an option. The basic calling of the church is to be “a house of prayer for all nations” (Mark 11:17). There are no remedies for human problems without God, and the whole earth is about to learn this.” Rick Joyner

The church is in transition and preparation. She will one day see her identity as an eternal House of Prayer and a glorious Bride—but she does not see it yet. There is a wrestling inside, almost like a butterfly in a tiny cocoon trying to escape and spread her wings. She is just beginning to hear the voice of the Bridegroom as John the Baptist did (John 3:29). She is just beginning to desire one thing above all others—to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord as David did (Psalm 27:4). She is just beginning to realize her unique privilege and the close friendship and intimate knowledge that she can have with God’s heart.

Things are happening quickly worldwide. We are all in God’s end-time preparation whether we like it or not. Now is the time to lay hold of the absolute necessity of day and night prayer and ask God to create it in our churches and in our cities. God is giving us grace and authority in prayer to seek Him at this time, so let’s take advantage of it. Let’s seek to grow in fervent prayer.

In unity, we will be doing and saying the same things the Spirit is doing and saying. We will be in unity with God as we learn to walk in daily obedience by pursuing Him in prayer and guarding our hearts with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23).

God desires for us to have a dynamic role as we partner with Him in prayer in bringing His Kingdom on earth. This is how He will govern His universe. As we unite in prayer and worship, we will keep strong and stable when everything is shaking around us.

The prayer movement in a city is going to be one of the greatest stabilizing forces for the Church. God hears the prayers of His people and brings victory (2 Chronicles 6:35, 40; 7:15). This will create the spiritual atmosphere that will enable all of us to bring in the harvest. Evil is increasing at an alarming rate. A House of Prayer can spiritually penetrate into the darkest areas of the city, causing those lost in the deepest darkness to come into the light and be set free.

With such a dynamic role in partnership with God, we must pray fervently for the prayer movement to arise and spread like fire.

In his book, Healing the Nations, John Sandford writes that the Church is seeing the beginning of visitation throughout the world:

“Over the past several years, the Lord has raised up an armada of intercessory ministries around the world. Through their efforts, multitudes have come together in citywide prayer, solemn assemblies, prayer summits, and reconciliation services. God has used the earnestness of this intercession to bring millions to repentance. The prayer movement has touched the heart of God; in turn, He has touched the heart of man. As a result of this prayer movement, the church is seeing the beginning of visitation throughout the world. Renewal, revival, and supernatural manifestations are being reported almost daily. Many feel we are closer to a great awakening than at any other time…”

Early one Sunday morning as we were on our way to a church two hours away, we made a quick stop at a gas station. When I went inside that gas station, I was instantly overwhelmed by the delicious smell of fresh bread and donuts. “Ummmmm” was about all I could say. It smelled so good that it was hard for me to leave. I wanted to buy coffee and donuts immediately because I had been captured by the aroma of that bread. I used my will power and didn’t buy any donuts, but I was strongly reminded that the prayers of the Church will be like a fragrant aroma that captures God’s attention.

The Church will become a House of Prayer for the nations. Churches throughout the world will put prayer at the center of all of their activities. They will cry out to God for their city, country, and the nations of the world. Those who are searching for truth will not be able to stay away from the sweet-smelling aroma of prayer that will come from the prayer room. People will be drawn into the Houses of Prayer, and God’s future Church will be filled with the aroma of Christ. This is what we have to look forward to. And those who have been in the prayer room will bring this sweet-smelling aroma with them everywhere they go—to school, their workplace, and into the streets.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC 

The Church in Martos, Spain

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11230031_994913747238399_3289985085759092424_nWe were up in the mountains visiting a tiny church in Martos, Spain. They told me there were about 35 thousand people in that city and only two churches. The church we visited only had two families. Imagine that.

If you were only a few Christians in a city, wouldn’t you want to be united? I know I would. We would need all the fellowship we could possibly find. Now in that city there are just not very many believers.

Yet in many of our cities, even though there are plenty of Christians, we are often so divided. We need to be united in order to bring in the harvest. In the book of Acts the united Church saw a few thousand added to their number in a day (Acts 2:41).

When I looked at Martos, I realized how desperately a House of Prayer was needed in that area. Prayer could change the atmosphere of the entire city. That city has a redemptive story that may have been buried or forgotten. God wants to uncover and reactivate it through prayer. Praying Christians can see the city with hope, and through prayer, can unlock God’s redemptive plan for the people living there. There is an identity in the city, and through prayer, God can give keys to unlock His future for Martos.

Let’s dream a little and imagine how a House of Prayer could help the Church arise in Martos. It would help the Church—though presently very small—to arise to her destiny by passionately pursuing Christ. It would help the Church to pray God’s purposes over Martos. It would help God’s people living there to obey His promptings in evangelism, knowing fully well their identity in Christ and their calling to reach the lost.

Through prayer the Church would see God open doors of blessing and close doors of oppression in the city. Instead of being withheld, God would release His eternal resources from heaven. His Word, spoken over Martos would not return void but would accomplish what He desires (Isaiah 55:11). The Church would love more because she would know how deeply she is loved. She would mature into full stature and would be lavishly devoted to God and committed to His plans for the city. She would begin to see God’s Kingdom and presence invade every aspect of society, and transformation in Martos would begin to occur through the supernatural power of God.

Isn’t it time to pray for Houses of Prayer to start everywhere, in all cities big and small?

Day and night prayer will help the Church to arise to her destiny as the glorious Bride of Christ. She will arise in her eternal House of Prayer identity. One day the Church from every tribe, tongue, and nation will understand the reality that Jesus passionately loves her just as a husband loves a bride. She will be established in her bridal identity. She will understand her place of privilege, friendship, and intimacy and will see the Kingdom with loyal, devoted love. As the Church is anointed and victorious by the Spirit for intercession, she will be effective in reaching the harvest. She will be empowered to walk in the grace of prayer with great authority, honor, and dignity. Her prayers will release the great harvest throughout the world.

May she arise as a passionate Bride, wholeheartedly seeking her Bridegroom King.

“We cannot function properly until we have passionately given our heart to a person and purpose beyond ourselves. If we don’t have something to die for, then we don’t have anything to live for. We don’t work right half-hearted.” Mike Bickle

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

House of Prayer Benefits for the Church

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11701226_990322364364204_1884118167031320414_nLook at more ways that Houses of Prayer will benefit the Church. Take time to think about these benefits. Evaluate your own church as well as the corporate Church in your city in light of these benefits. Where does your church need to improve? Begin to pray these qualities into the Church in your city or nation.

  • Houses of Prayer will help the Church to passionately pursue God – David is our Biblical example of a man after God’s own heart. He burned with God’s desires. He was moved with what moved the heart of God. He was a man of prayer and worship who passionately pursued God. Just as David hungered after God, the Church will grow in its passionate pursuit of Him as members of the body of Christ get involved in Houses of Prayer. There will be a rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David (Matthew 29:18-20; Acts 1:8; 15:15-17; Ephesians 4:11-16; Revelation 19:7-10).
  • Houses of Prayer will help the Church to pray God’s purposes and plans over a city – In the prayer room God will show His Church how He feels about a city. It is there in His presence where He will reveal His plans, purposes, and heart for the city.“David studied the emotions of God’s heart. He was a man going after what was burning in God’s heart. He wanted to know what God was feeling and what He was thinking. He wanted to know, not just what God did, but why He did it. He wanted to be intimately acquainted with the passion and affection of God.” Mike Bickle
  • Houses of Prayer will help change and mature the Church in the city – When you and I know the emotions and feelings in God’s heart through prayer and intimacy, we can better obey Him. We can walk obediently in His Word and live radically for Him because His love sustains us. We then are able to obey God long-term because we are linked to His power rather than our own weakness.“When you know what God’s heart looks like, then you know what you look like to God. This is what motivates us to change our lifestyles. You’ll never get anybody to change their actions long term until they change the way they view themselves before God.” Mike Bickle
  • Houses of Prayer will help the Church to know the love of God and who she really is in Christ – We know in a deeper dimension His great love for us even when we make mistakes. Most of us have little grasp of the overwhelming love of God for us personally and the deep pleasure He has in our fellowship with Him. When we spend time in an atmosphere of prayer and worship, we begin to feel loved by God and we begin to feel that we are lovers of God. We begin to feel that God enjoys us even when we make mistakes. We begin to move into a higher realm of God’s love.
  • Houses of Prayer will help bring the Church into lavish devotion and concentration on God – A place of continual worship and prayer will cause members of the Church to live undistracted lives, with a greater ability to live focused on God and hearing his heartbeat. It is the Church, as she is increasingly in love with God and His cause, who will make the difference in the world. We are the ones who will see and be part of this wonderful end-time harvest.
  • Houses of Prayer will bring in the Kingdom of God and touch the lost in a city – Reaching a city for God is going to take dedicated prayer warriors in order to dismantle the ruling powers of darkness in a city. Houses of Prayer will help the Church focus on bringing in the harvest. So many of the lost people in a city are searching for love to fill the empty void in their soul. Houses of Prayer will help the Church focus on bringing in the harvest with God’s love.
  • Houses of Prayer will help to unite the Church, breaking down the barriers that divide – People of various denominations and backgrounds, who are praying and worshipping together, bring a unity in the Spirit that breaks down the age-old barriers that have divided us for so long. It is the united Church that will be empowered to reach a dying world. The world will know we are Christians because of our unity and love.
  • Houses of Prayer will help the Church stand as watchmen for the Church worldwide – Churches will take responsibility to stand in prayer for cities and nations. They will pray not only for their own needs, but also for the needs of their community. God will expand His Church to become a House of Prayer with perpetual prayer and perpetual encounters with God
    (2 Chronicles 7:14-15; Luke 18:1-8; Acts 2; 4:4, 6; 9:31; 12:24; 19:20; John 5:39; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation 1-3, 4-5).

Understanding these benefits should give us a desire to see the Church throughout the world arise. It’s time for the Bride of Christ to arise in beauty, knowing who she is and why she is here. Let’s realize that the House of Prayer is our eternal identity (Isaiah 56:7). We are God’s House. We are His family. Our identity is being in His house with His family. What a joyful realization and comforting truth this is to so many who feel completely alone and homeless deep in their heart. And being in God’s family, He graciously rises to show us compassion and blesses us through our prayers (Isaiah 30:18-19).

It’s so exciting to realize that we are in an intimate partnership with Jesus’ heavenly intercession when we pray. We grow in intimacy-based intercession in the House of Prayer. We are created to interact deeply with God’s heart.

When we do, God’s resources are released into the earthly realm—His favor, wisdom, finances, and righteousness as we pray. His resources are not released until we pray and move His heart (James 4:2). Just to realize that Jesus will return to earth in answer to the global prayer movement is amazing (Isaiah 42:10-13).

Do you realize that, like Daniel, you can actually move angels and demons by your prayers to God? (Daniel 10:12).

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Houses of Prayer Help the Church Arise

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Our Prayers for Wisdom in Developing a House of Prayer“The revelation David had about the emotions of God equipped his heart for a sustained aban-doned pursuit of God, through his many weaknesses and failures, as well as his stunning
victories. David is the picture of the end-time church, which will be a lovesick, wor-shipping warrior bride, and a people after God’s own heart.” Mike Bickle

After traveling extensively throughout Europe, I realized more than ever how day and night prayer would help advance what God is doing around the world. Darkness seemed to be invading every segment of society—you could sense the blindness as you talked with people on the streets and in the stores. God did not seem to be welcomed there.

Yet, there is such a desperate need for God to permeate every city, and this can only happen through prayer and worship. It is only the light that can cast out the darkness. Evil seems to be intruding into our nations at an alarming rate. God’s manifest presence can invade our cities through Houses of Prayer.

A good example of how this can happen is by looking at Asaph in Psalm 73. He was facing extreme difficulty and had almost lost his footing. He envied the arrogant when he saw their prosperity. They seemed to have no struggles and were free from burdens. They were carefree and increasing in wealth. They seemed to get away with violence and were actually prospering. Asaph felt as if it was useless to live a good life (Psalm 73:1-16). The whole thing seemed to be extremely oppressive.

Now if we were honest most of us would say, “That’s exactly how I feel. I’m tired of seeing the wicked prosper.”

Notice in this Psalm that everything changed in verse 17 when Asaph entered the sanctuary of God. It was right there that he began to understand their final destiny. In the sanctuary of God (House of Prayer), he gained a fresh vision of the reality of God’s love and justice (Psalm 73:17-28). Suddenly they would be destroyed and cast down to ruin. They were on slippery ground. They would be punished for their sin.

Asaph realized the personal love of God for himself. God was always with him and would guide him—God was his strength and would take him to glory—God was his refuge. The wicked were only enjoying temporary success.

Houses of Prayer will help the future Church arise.

Entering the sanctuary of God through prayer will help the Church to see the true reality of the situation out there in society. When it looks as if the wicked are prospering, the prayer room will keep the Church focused on the eternal rather than the temporary. The Spirit will release the glory of God upon the Church at the end of the age. God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Day and night prayer will help the Church to see the purposes and plans of God. Prayer will help us to know the hidden wisdom of God ordained before the ages (1 Corinthians 2:7-10). It will help us to persevere and stand together in unity. It will impact our communities and the world.

Houses of Prayer will help the Church arise.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Our Prayer for Encountering God

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11252727_964485193614588_8975425818702781495_nLord, we long to encounter You in our lives. We want to be like Moses who sought you face-to-face. We want our city to be one that seeks after Your presence. Bring us into unity as we seek Your face. Give us Your heart with Your passion in this prayer room, and burden our hearts to reach out to the lost that live here. Help us to fast and pray for transformation in our city. You promise in Your Word that our light will break out like the dawn, Your light will guide us; You will satisfy our needs and strengthen our frame, etc. [Continue praying through Isaiah 58:6-12, bringing before God His promises.]

Help us to fast and pray like Charles Finney, Rees Howells, and You when You fasted forty days and nights. Give us a hunger for prayer. Help us to focus on You alone. Come into the center of our every activity, and remove those things that keep us from encountering You. Capture our hearts, and reveal Yourself to us individually when we are praying alone, and corporately when we are praying together. We want to adore You and be wholly consumed with Your person.

We praise You because You are holy, righteous, good, all loving, merciful, etc. [Pray the attributes of God.] You are our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). You are the ruler of the kings of the earth, the faithful witness, the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty, the Living One (Revelation 1). [Pray the names, descriptions of God, and the Word of God.] We want to be like the woman who took an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume and poured it on Your head because she loved You so much. Help us to love You extravagantly with our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Verses to Memorize

Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always (Psalm 105:2-4). 

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOP-KC

Encountering God – Taking it into the Prayer Room

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11709522_990326201030487_2695539852316010783_nTaking it into the Prayer Room

Get together with those who are interested in a House of Prayer in your city. Have each person complete this assignment personally before meeting together. Be sure to discuss the eighteen benefits of fasting in Isaiah 58:6-12. Choose a day to fast and pray together for a House of Prayer. Before your fast, have each one study and apply “Ways to Adore God in the Prayer Room.” On the day or evening of your fast meet together in the prayer room, whether it is in your church or in a House of Prayer in your city. Meet for at least two hours.

Come prepared with the Bible, music, no unconfessed sin, and a worshipping heart. Have live music or play a CD, and begin a time of worshipping God. Pray the attributes of God and the names and descriptions of God. Take time to pray for each one’s personal needs, especially as relating to encountering God, and together pray “A Prayer for Encountering God.” Incorporate praying the attributes, names, and descriptions of God in your prayer meetings.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

How to Encounter God

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11390094_968828946513546_3817218908514737680_n-2Encountering God Life Application

The prayer room is a place for encountering God. In the prayer room we learn to adore God. And when we combine fasting with prayer, we can encounter God in a deeper dimension. To apply this training on encountering God, prayerfully do the following:

  • Study the benefits of seeking God – Write a paragraph about a time when you sought God’s face in prayer. What did God do in your life as a result?
  • Identify any personal transformation – Can you identify any victory or personal transformation that took place in your life as a result of seeking God? Write about it.
  • Study the eighteen benefits of fasting in Isaiah 58:6-12 – Write down any benefits you have found in your life as a result of fasting?
  • Plan a time of personal fasting – Put it in your schedule for the next week or month. Journal during your fast, writing down
    anything the Lord may be saying to you.
  • Spend extravagant time adoring God for who He is and what He has done in your life – Practice the section called “Ways to Adore God in the Prayer Room” during your fast and every day this week. End with “A Prayer for Encountering God.”

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

How to Encounter God

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Encountering God Life Application

How to Encounter God

The prayer room is a place for encountering God. In the prayer room we learn to adore God. And when we combine fasting with prayer, we can encounter God in a deeper dimension. Now seek to apply this chapter by prayerfully doing the following:

  • Study the benefits of seeking God’s face in this chapter – Write a paragraph about a time when you sought God’s face in prayer. What did God do in your life as a result?
  • Identify any personal transformation – Can you identify any victory or personal transformation that took place as a result of seeking God? Write about it.
  • Study the eighteen benefits of fasting in Isaiah 58:6-12 – Write down any benefits you have found in your life as a result of fasting?
  • Plan a time of personal fasting – Put it in your schedule for the next week or month. Journal during your fast, writing down
    anything the Lord may be saying to you. Take time to study this chapter during your fast.
  • Spend extravagant time adoring God for who He is and what He has done in your life – Practice the section called “Ways to Adore God in the Prayer Room” during your fast and every day this week. End with “A Prayer for Encountering God.”

Taking it into the Prayer Room

Get together with those who are interested in 24/7 prayer in your city. Have each person complete this assignment personally before meeting together. Be sure to discuss the eighteen benefits of fasting in Isaiah 58:6-12. Choose a day to fast and pray together for a House of Prayer. Before your fast, have each one study and apply “Ways to Adore God in the Prayer Room” from this chapter. On the day or evening of your fast meet together in the prayer room, whether it is in your church or in a House of Prayer in your city. Meet for at least two hours.

Come prepared with the Bible, music, no unconfessed sin, and a worshipping heart. Have live music or play a CD, and begin a time of worshipping God. Apply this chapter by praying the attributes of God and the names and descriptions of God. Take time to pray for each one’s personal needs, especially as relating to this chapter, and together pray “A Prayer for Encountering God.” Incorporate praying the attributes, names, and descriptions of God in your prayer meetings.


Our Prayer for Encountering God

Lord, we long to encounter You in our lives. We want to be like Moses who sought you face-to-face. We want our city to be one that seeks after Your presence. Bring us into unity as we seek Your face. Give us Your heart with Your passion in this prayer room, and burden our hearts to reach out to the lost that live here. Help us to fast and pray for transformation in our city. You promise in Your Word that our light will break out like the dawn, Your light will guide us; You will satisfy our needs and strengthen our frame, etc. [Continue praying through Isaiah 58:6-12, bringing before God His promises.]

Help us to fast and pray like Charles Finney, Rees Howells, and You when You fasted forty days and nights. Give us a hunger for prayer. Help us to focus on You alone. Come into the center of our every activity, and remove those things that keep us from encountering You. Capture our hearts, and reveal Yourself to us individually when we are praying alone, and corporately when we are praying together. We want to adore You and be wholly consumed with Your person.

We praise You because You are holy, righteous, good, all loving, merciful, etc. [Pray the attributes of God.] You are our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). You are the ruler of the kings of the earth, the faithful witness, the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty, the Living One (Revelation 1). [Pray the names, descriptions of God, and the Word of God.] We want to be like the woman who took an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume and poured it on Your head because she loved You so much. Help us to love You extravagantly with our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Verses to Memorize

Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
Psalm 105:2-4

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Adoration in Prayer and Worship

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10408578_990317387698035_3758716211840138922_n“The key is to maintain a rhythm, a heartbeat of disciplined prayer, in which I encounter Christ regularly, deliberately, and consciously. The spin-off of these times, as you will see in the character of any older person who has spent a great deal of their lives contemplating Jesus, is that His presence thereby moves by a process of osmosis from the conscious into the subconscious mind. As we open the door, again and again, to Christ, He comes in day by day and eats with us, laughs with us, shares with us, until we acquire His mannerisms and know his very thoughts. A season of 24-7 prayer can be a useful tool for bringing Christ back into the midst of our ongoing lives as individuals and as communities. And prayer rooms are an interesting expression of God’s intention, which has always been to walk in continual communion with His people.” Peter Greig and Dave Roberts

As you and I walk through life we can actually have daily communion with Jesus, the Savior of the world and King of the nations. This is an amazing realization. Let’s learn to do it with a heart of adoration in prayer and worship. In my life I want to keep the rhythm, the heartbeat of prayer, and seek to encounter God on a deeper level. I’m sure you do too.

The prayer room helps us to keep consciously aware of Christ, not only while we are there but also throughout the day. We don’t want to miss the beauty of Jesus in the midst of all of our activities. At a time when everything around us is trying to steal our hearts away from God, we want to learn to behold Him throughout the day as well as in the prayer room. The enemy wants to get us so caught up with busyness that we actually lose our purpose in life.

Let’s make every effort to continue to adore God through prayer and worship, not only on a daily basis but hour-by-hour. It will keep us focused throughout the day and alert us to open doors of ministry and evangelistic opportunities. It will help us to use our tongues wisely and will keep the joy of Jesus in our life during the difficult seasons of life.

The prayer room helps us to live a holy life because we learn to contemplate Christ and Him alone. We learn to focus on him regularly, deliberately, and consciously. We begin to think the way He thinks and act the way He acts. As we discipline our prayer and worship life, we begin to move into a deeper level of adoration. God becomes our all in all.

When we do this we learn to live in a spirit opposite of the world. Instead of taking God out of our life—as the enemy is trying to do everywhere—God infuses our daily activities here on earth. Houses of Prayer help us to experience the presence of God. This is what we are made for! In his book, 24-7 Prayer Manual, Peter Greig encourages pastors and leaders to open 24/7 prayer rooms. He says:

“These 24-7 prayer rooms are fundamentally and simply about the presence of God. Just beneath the surface of the life of every believer and pastor is a desperate longing to be in God’s presence. This is what we were created for! The prayer room is a gentle, humble expression of the heart of the Father. So many people have said, ‘Walking into the room is like walking into the arms of my heavenly Father.’ 24-7 prayer rooms transcend theological differences and worship styles because every room ultimately takes on the personality of the group that uses it. The resulting transformations are highly personal, flowing as they do from a succession of one-on-one encounters with God. I believe the Spirit of God is stirring up an appetite for his presence in this hour, and I encourage every pastor and leader to take the leap of faith and open a 24-7 prayer room.” Peter Greig and David Blackwell

What do we center our lives on?

When I went through cancer, I saw the necessity of being consumed with the person of Christ rather than my own problems. I could easily have gotten centered on the problem, and there were days when I did, but I soon found that choosing to praise and adore God was the key to victory in my life. I encourage you to do the same as you face various issues in your own life. If you and I can move pass our temporary struggles and learn not only to praise God, but also to adore Him for His attributes, we will rise up into a new dimension of relationship with Him. God wants us to be consumed with who He is.

Do you remember how you felt in those first moments after you accepted Christ into your life?

It was a joyful experience for my mother and I. We would talk about what God had done in our lives day and night! Do you remember the sheer amazement and joy of first knowing that you had eternal life? God wants us to recapture adoration in our heart just like the first moments when we were saved out of darkness. Here is a wonderful description of the word “adoration” from The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Take time to read and meditate on this because it is quite powerful.

“Adoration in the distinctively religious sense is the human response to God’s disclosure of Himself in Jesus Christ as the God who, by His free act of grace, is in all His majestic love and power the God who is for mankind… The affections of man are stirred to the limits of their intensity and respond with an unearthly delight, an unspeakable joy, and a peace that surpasses both man’s understanding and his power to articulate. Adoration is the effort of the total man to give total expression to his joyful comprehension and approbation of his vision of God in Jesus Christ. Since his response to this vision never adequately expresses that peace and joy which passes his understanding, he reaches for the liturgical aids of song, music, and symbol.”

Adoration is being wholly consumed with the person of Christ. Adoration is God-centered rather than self-centered. In adoration, just as the encyclopedia says, our affections are stirred to the limits of their intensity and we respond with an unearthly delight and an unspeakable joy and peace.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

The Great Men of the Past and Fasting

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11377238_964162836980157_3468827230354932630_nFasting was popular among many of the men and women that God used throughout Church history. Not only the well-known intercessors like Rees Howells, but also most of the great preachers and evangelists of all time practiced the discipline of fasting and prayer.

Did you know that Charles Finney fasted every week? When he felt less power in his ministry, he would fast two or three days. Then the power would return. Perhaps he is one of the greatest and most anointed soul-winners of all time. John Wesley required all Methodists to fast every Wednesday and Friday until 4:00 P.M. The famous John Knox impacted the nation of Britain through prayer and fasting. Martin Luther fasted one day each week with many additional fasts.

Look at what these men accomplished for God.

Their lives were ones of power. If we look at the Azusa Street Revival in 1906, we must realize that it started as a result of a ten-day period of prayer and fasting. In preparation for this mighty end-time revival and harvest, will it not take men and women from every nation and background fervently praying and fasting in increasing measure for this mighty outpouring of God?

“The trumpet call to fasting is being heard throughout the world. This is the decade of fasting and prayer. ‘Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly’ (Joel 2:15). Today, the trumpet call of the Spirit is clear. We are to prepare for the future with a great deal of prayer and fasting. Congregations and leaders are responding worldwide. Intercessory prayer, joined with fasting, increases the spiritual alertness and effectiveness of God’s people.” Frank Damazio

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOP-KC