Your first hour in the prayer room can be a scary thing, especially
if it’s in the night. It’s a step of faith. You made a commitment to your first hour of prayer all alone in the prayer room, and you have no idea what it will be like. Let this testimony from Peter Greig—founding catalyst of the 24-7 Prayer community who has seen hundreds of 24/7 prayer rooms started all over the world—encourage your heart and the heart of multitudes who are just beginning to discover God in the prayer room.

Here’s the beginning. You arrive and the person prays for you and goes home.

“And that’s the defining moment: the click of the door as the previous person leaves. It’s the moment you find yourself alone in a room with God in the middle of the night, the moment you discover the reality of God’s promise to be found by those who truly seek him with all their hearts (Jeremiah 29:13). Suddenly all the talk about prayer, the guilt at your prayerlessness, the theory, the apathy, the hectic schedule, evaporates. It’s now or never. You and God, face-to-face at last, looking for words in the silence. In a complicated world, this is the simple, inevitable core. When you look at what happened next and the way that a solitary prayer room became a thousand by accident, the only rational explanation is that God turned up in that first 24-7 prayer room and that he has continued to turn up in prayer rooms ever since” Peter Greig and David Blackwell

God wants to show up in prayer rooms all over the world. He wants to transform our lives in so many ways if we seek Him. It’s time to seek His presence. It’s time to obey the first commandment and love God with all our heart (Matthew 22:37-38). He longs for us to develop a deep inner life with Himself and His Spirit. When we do, we receive instruction, strength, and supernatural courage to face everything.

God our Father longs for intimacy with His family.

He wants to bless you with His favor and approval. He is your eternal Father who has prepared an eternal Kingdom for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). He is thinking about you. You can relate to God just like Jesus does. You can call him “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). Jesus wants you to receive the Father’s embrace. He takes all our brokenness and shame when we experience His Father’s touch in our spirit. It empowers us to live victorious lives. We need to know that God our Father is our greatest cheerleader who longs to partner with us in life.

Seeking God’s presence helps us to navigate through the ups and downs in life—times of joy or sadness, prosperity or adversity, love or loneliness. If we set our hearts to seek Him at all costs, we will find strength for any battle and sufficiency of His power for every moment.

Let’s choose to love Him in the good and the bad through this short window of opportunity called life. Let’s fix our hearts to draw near to Him rain or shine. It’s our primary assignment and greatest goal. It makes our obedience easier when we obey out of love rather than duty. We shall be blessed if we do (Isaiah 30:18; Matthew 5:6). Even in difficulty His song shall be with us (Psalm 139:5, 11-12; 42:1-2, 7-8).

Are you one who desires to encounter God in the prayer room? Others will follow you as you do. Let’s learn to seek Him in fasting and adore Him in worship and praise. It’s time to seek His face and know the Father’s love for us personally.

“My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, LORD, I will seek… I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (Psalm27:8, 13-14).

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOP-KC

“Have you ever wondered if it is possible to get God’s attention or attract His presence? And if it is possible, then why don’t we spend more time doing those things that welcome His presence? God’s Word establishes clear principles regarding His presence. There are things that prepare for and welcome the presence of the Lord – things like prayer, unity, worship, and a broken and contrite spirit. There are also things that cause Him to withdraw or remain at a distance.” Rhonda Hughey

Jesus is knocking at the door of our cities. Can you hear His knock? Are you aware that Your King wants to visit your city, but He will not force His way in when there is no invitation. It is the responsibility of the church to welcome His presence into the city. He is the honored guest. We must roll out the royal carpet for our King, and invite His glorious entrance into our cities. We must do this together as the corporate church in the city. The question we must ask ourselves is, “Are we desperate enough?” “Do we long enough for His presence?” “Can we live without Him in our city?” “Are we willing to seek Him together as the city church?

“It’s not possible to have a lasting corporate impact on a city as a single congregation. God hasn’t constructed the rules of life that way. It requires corporate unity and agreement to accomplish corporate results… God has ordained a corporate church in each city! There is something bigger than our local congregations! There should be one Shepherd and one king enthroned in our cities. We must start with a common vision and purpose and then build according to God’s blueprint, not our own. We can’t start with our own empire and then try to build up to who God is. He will step down to us in response to our desperate cry.” Rhonda Hughey

Roadblocks to God’s Presence

“We haven’t yet realized the consequences of our lack of unity and refusal to contend for God’s presence. I want to encourage you to consider the condition of your city: Watch the news, read the newspaper, listen to conversations, and look at the people around you. Let the condition of your city break your heart and draw you into intercession for a breakthrough of God’s presence.” Rhonda Hughey

Just as there are roadblocks keeping you from reaching your destination when driving a car, there are roadblocks to God’s entrance into your city. There are many obstacles to God’s presence. The following are a few key barriers together with verses relating to these obstacles. I encourage you to pray that God removes these roadblocks that keep His presence from entering your city. Pray that God removes them from your own heart.

• Pride – We are often self-righteous and think we are good, but Jesus is our example of humility. God hates pride, and He will not bring His manifest presence into our city when we are walking in pride. We often try to get to the highest position, but Jesus carried a towel and washed His disciple’s feet.“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)
• Idolatry – Idolatry diminishes God’s glory. When the presence of God is not in a city, it is the fault of the churches. We are responsible. Whatever we substitute for our love for God becomes an idol. These idols may be sports, TV, material possessions, etc. Think about where you spend your time, and examine your own heart.”Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3-4).
• Immorality – The temptations towards sexual sin is everywhere. Every believer must guard against this. Pray for purity in the body of Christ. God is revealing sexual sin in his church. He will make His presence known when His church walks in holiness.“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body”
  (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).
• Unbelief – We must believe the promises of God and have faith to believe He will accomplish them. Unbelief denies his promises and power. It will prevent us from entering the promised land. God promises us that if we ask in His name, He will do it (John 14:13-14).“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
• Distractions – Distractions are everywhere. We must give God unhurried time and undistracted hours. We can no longer get busy with secondary things when the King wants our attention. The amazing thing about this month of prayer is that we are learning to focus only on the Lord Himself. God desires that we seek one thing.”One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).
• Luke-warm Hearts – So many in the church have left their first love, and their hearts no longer are passionate towards God. They have settled for a luke-warm life. God wants us to be on fire for Him. One of the recurring prayers during this month is for the fire (fuego) of God!“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either one or the other. So, because you are luke-warm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16).
• Religious Spirit – This is a counterfeit form of life and Godliness. It may look good on the outside, but it is based on human wisdom and agendas. It may have many programs but it is a substitute for Jesus and is totally disconnected with real life.”… having a form of godliness but denying its power” (1 Timothy 3:5).
• Disunity – God will not make His presence known to a disunified church. We must learn to value the other parts of the body of Christ. We must see that we fit together and cannot reach the city by ourselves. We desperately need each other. See Psalm 133.”I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22-23).

One thing that God wants us to realize is how very desperately He cares for the lost in our cities. He is a compassionate God, and the pain and cries in the city have touched His heart deeply. He wants us to partner with Him in bringing hope to our cities, but He cannot do this if there are barriers preventing His presence from entering the place where we live. He is the answer to all the problems and pain. His presence in our cities will make all the difference.

Father, we pray that you would visit us, and make your presence known in our city. Remove the distractions in our churches that keep us from you. We want to seek only one thing – you and your presence. Take away our luke-warm hearts, and set us on fire for you. Forgive our disunity, and bring your church in our city together as one. We repent of any pride in our lives. Teach us to walk in humility. Remove all immorality and sexual sin from our city. Take away our idols. We want to worship only you. Give us faith to believe that you can change the situation in our city. Let your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. We invite you as King into our city. We choose to partner with you for transformation in our city. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

(Pray the above prayer naming your specific city and repenting of any sins and barriers to God’s presence in your city or personal life. Be very specific.)

“When we see the ruined condition of our cities and communities, it should break our hearts and stir us to prayer. We have underestimated the pain in God’s heart over the devastation and brokenness of people who live in darkness. Isaiah 9:2 declares what the result would be when Jesus’ presence came to earth: ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light’. God fully intends to continue to bring hope and restoration to forsaken, desolate communities, and He is looking for those who will partner with Him.” Rhonda Hughey

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

“A city that becomes a ‘crown of glory’ is a city that is consecrated or set apart to the Lord for His purposes, a city with an uncompromised church that is reflecting God’s glory. It’s a city where the church is victorious, the house of the Lord is established, and His presence is tangible in their midst, offering the protection of His presence. It’s a city where the priests are watching and guarding the city and contending for God’s presence, a place where the lost can look at the church and see Jesus and His power at work in life-changing ways.”

Without question, cities begin to change through 24/7 prayer. When we pray in unity day and night, we begin to get a kingdom vision because we start to see everything from God’s perspective. Things that are not essential began to fade into the distance. Our vision begins to sharpen as we see the city in a new way through eyes of faith.

Let’s begin by thinking about what it really means to have a kingdom vision and perspective. We pray about it in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:10, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, but what does this actually mean to us?

Did you realize that the central message of Jesus and the apostles was concerning the Kingdom of God?

Think about this amazing fact. Jesus is the King of kings, and He will one day rule every sphere of society worldwide! The Kingdom is already here in a limited way but it will be fully here when Jesus returns. The centerpiece of God’s eternal purpose is for Jesus to come back to earth to establish His Kingdom rule on earth and join the heavenly and earthly realms (Ephesians 1:9-10). He will rule nations on earth during the 1000-year, Millennium Kingdom where there will be a global blessing of righteousness (Revelation 20:4-6). This will be 1000 years of peace, righteousness, prosperity and blessing throughout the earth.

I lived on a ship as a missionary. This was for over ten years with over 300 people, mainly young, from about 40 different nations. We sailed from country to country spreading the good news about Jesus. One of the songs we liked to sing in those early days was about Habakkuk 2:14:

“The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

I used to like to go out on deck and look at the ocean during many of our calm or sometimes rough voyages. If you’ve never been on a ship, you must try it. Often from east to west and north to south you couldn’t see anything but blue-green sea. There were no ships or land anywhere as far as your eyes could see. The sea was massive – it was impressive – it gave me a picture of how one day the whole earth would see the glory of God and would know about Him!

The heavenly and earthly dimensions will one day come together and fully express the glory of God.

You and I have the privilege to proclaim in our prayers – and through our lives – that Jesus is King and is coming to earth to establish His worldwide Kingdom. We can bring heaven to earth through our prayers. We can proclaim the knowledge of God and spread this Kingdom message with power everywhere we go (1 Corinthians 4:20). He wants us to walk in His authority and power even as we wait for His Kingdom to come in all its fullness (Acts 1:8). He is reconciling all things to Himself (Colossians 1:19-20). All the earth will be filled with His glory (Numbers 14:21, Psalm 72:19, Isaiah 6:3). Our lives should be filled with the knowledge of God.

This must be our focus. 24/7 Houses of Prayer ignite a Kingdom vision and help us to live fully committed lives. As this happens, we shall experience supernatural boldness and authority.

Daniel prophesied of the Messianic Kingdom in Daniel 2 and 7. God’s Kingdom is any sphere of life where God rules over Satan. The Church is the community of the Kingdom, and we spread His Kingdom by living holy lives, praying for the sick, sharing our faith, etc. This is why it is important that we get a vision of the Kingdom of God for our church and the city we live in. Before Jesus returns, the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to the whole world (Matthew 24:14). And God will use us in this great task of making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). We must have vision to see God’s great perspective of the Kingdom. When we see this, we see how important day and night prayer really is.

To understand the end-time scenery, we must understand the book of Revelation. It is our prayer manual for the end-times. If we understand this book, we can live successful through the end time difficulties, and we can know how to pray strategically. We don’t have to be caught off guard like those pilots in Tenerife.

God will use the least severe judgments to reach the greatest amount of people at the deepest level of love. Jesus, our King, will judge everything that opposes love (Revelation 19:11-21). The measure that we develop love, meekness and holiness determines our place and function in His government.

Let’s realize that 24/7 Houses of Prayer will help us know how to live in this 70-year internship that prepares us for life in the age to come (Psalm 90:10). Let’s give God our all now! Let’s look at the future with positive optimism instead of in morbid discouragement. Jesus is King of all, and He has already won the battle at the cross.

A Vienna born psychologist, Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), rejected Freud’s emphasis on the past as being the primary force that forms us in the present. He was a survivor of several Nazi concentration camps. After the war he analyzed the holocaust survivors and categorized them in two categories: Those who were emotionally stable and those who weren’t. The predominant factor was not their experience before or doing the concentration camps. It was what they believed about their future!

Our hope and what we believe about the future matters greatly. We need to see it from God’s perspective and with the hopeful anticipation of Christ’s rule here in earth.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

“God’s kingdom, when it comes, probably won’t arrive in the way we expect or even want it to. But viewing history with the eyes of faith, through the grid of past prayer movements, we can easily see the correlation between seasons of intercession and the extension of God’s kingdom in the world.”

What will your city look like when it has a Kingdom vision and focus? How will it be different than it is right now? Notice the abundant prosperity that God brings to the city in Jeremiah 33:9:

“Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.”

When the believers in a city have a kingdom vision and begin to pray together with eyes of faith, several dramatic changes take place:

• Trust – A new level of trust is developed between believers of different backgrounds. Suspicion is gone. There is the realization that we need one another to reach our city.
• The wisdom of God – The Christians begin seeking heaven’s perspective for their city and heaven’s agenda. They begin seeking the mind of Christ and the wisdom of God for their city.
• Relational unity – The city church begins to want deeper fellowship with other churches. This unity is much deeper than a unity based on an event. It is true friendship.
• Transformation – The believers seek for God to transform their city and revive the city church. They then bring the revival fire into the streets and community. The church begins to influence the city.
• Lovers and worshippers of God – The church becomes a lover of God instead of just a worker for God. They learn to worship God out of intimate fellowship. This pushes out the powers of darkness.
• Kingdom building – There is a willingness to lay down personal agendas and work towards building God’s purposes. The church begins to see the big picture of what God wants to do in the city.
• Presence of God – There begins to be more emphasis upon waiting on God. The presence of God replaces man-made fleshly ideas, programs, and methods.
• Learners of simplicity – The church learns the power and wisdom of simplicity. The way God works is not through a highly intellectual, organized, and complicated program. He works through simplicity.

This is what we must prayer towards. When we had our first one-month 24/7 House of Prayer in southern Spain in 2006, we only started to taste what God wanted for the city. The taste made us desperately hungry for more. It was life changing, and I don’t think any of us could say that we want to go back to the old way. We had just begun to taste what God wanted for the Campo de Gibraltar area. A Kingdom vision was born. But there is so much more.

God is giving incredible grace for prayer at this hour. This vision is spreading far and wide, and we will soon be captured in a movement of prayer and a hunger for His presence that is unstoppable. All over the world there is beginning to be a desperate cry for fervent prayer. Let’s discover how to prepare the way for God’s presence and Kingdom by learning to pray together with churches in our area for extended period of time.

Pray through the above list over and over again for your city. See with eyes of faith what God wants to do. Cry out for Him to ignite a Kingdom vision in your city. The hour calls for it. Your city desperately needs God’s presence. His vision is life changing!

“Without a vision, people are doomed to live mediocre lives, carried along by social influences and self-centered interests. The Bible says, ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 28:18 KJV). Our own vision for our lives cannot sustain us; we must have a vision that originates from the heart of God, from His very throne room. His vision is life-giving, life-changing, and worth abandoning our hearts and lives to.”

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC