Tag Archives: Christ

Enjoyable Prayer + Abiding in Christ = Abundant Fruit

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Our Prayers for Wisdom in Developing a House of PrayerEnjoyable Prayer + Abiding in Christ = Abundant Fruit

Enjoyable prayer and abiding in Christ go together. You can’t have one without the other. It is in that vital union with Christ that our prayers will go forth with power, and our feet will begin to carry the Gospel message with us wherever we go. We have not seen this yet in most countries, but we soon will, because we won’t be able to contain the truth within us any longer. The Good New is just too good! It will bring abundant fruit.

But can we actually begin to enjoy prayer? Prayer does not have to be hard and laborious—it can become something we love doing. We can delight in an intimate relationship with God.

What does it mean to enjoy something? Webster’s Dictionary describes the word “enjoy” as: “something capable of being enjoyed, possessed or used with pleasure, to take pleasure or satisfaction in the experience of, to have, hold or occupy as a good or profitable thing, and to delight in the possession of.” You and I have the privilege of experiencing God in the prayer room. He is capable of being enjoyed. He is truly our satisfaction—He wants us to enjoy prayer and an intimate relationship.

The primary identity of the Church before Jesus returns to earth will be a cherished Bride who has a revelation of Jesus as the passionate Bridegroom. Only enjoyable prayer will sustain us as we enter into day and night prayer. Mike Bickle, who has been involved in non-stop, day and night prayer for many years, says the following:

“The power to engage in night and day prayer is found in having a heart that soars in God.”

Evangelism and joyful intercession stimulate one another. Evangelistic success brings joy to the prayer room; lack of success brings urgency and burden to the prayer room. Either way, our prayers are fired up because we are touching the world that Jesus loves so deeply. And all of this leads to worldwide harvest and missions. We begin to really understand God’s heart. Empowerment comes in the marketplace as we go out of the prayer room, and empowerment comes into the prayer room as we come back. They go together. Jesus wants to fill us with overflowing joy in the prayer room so that we can take it out into the streets and neighborhoods where we live.

Here at IHOP we have an inner-city ministry called Hope City. Prayer meetings are held at the Hope City prayer room from 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. from Monday through Friday. Lunch is served at noon. The prayer room is open to all. Hope City is like a “church on the streets” with two weekly services at night. The services focus on knowing and loving God, developing a relationship with Him, and the end times. Dinner is served after the services. On Monday afternoons healing ministry is available. Through enjoyable prayer and outreach to the poor and needy many lives are dramatically changed.

Prayer together with action brings transformation into the city one person at a time. The following are testimonies from those who have been touched in the inner city through Hope City:

  • Butch (40 years old) – “About three years ago I jumped down some stairs while I was under the influence of drugs, and I hit a concrete wall head first; I was in a coma for four months. I woke up at St. Luke’s Hospital. I lost some of my brain function and was moved into a nursing home where I live now. I’ve been coming to Hope City’s ministry center for about a year. I gave my life to Jesus on the first night.”
  • Kris (20 years old) – “I was homeless, without any family, and living under some stairs when it was zero degrees Fahrenheit outside. Hope City gave me a sleeping bag and some food, then I began attending the prayer meetings. Since then, I have seen the changes Jesus makes in people’s lives and I gave my life to Him. I have to go to rehab for a while, but Hope City continues to be my visiting family, and I can’t wait to get back there and help!”
  • Connie (48 years old) – “I’ve lived over twenty years on the streets as a drug dealer and a drug user. I’ve always wanted God but could never encounter Him in a way that set me free from my issues. I am now glad to say that I am free from some of the things that have had a hold on me. I consider myself a vital part of Hope City’s ministry.”
  • Barbara (54 years old) – “My friend Randy invited me to a ‘church deal’ dinner on Monday night. I liked the surroundings and I liked the people; I have been coming three times a week for about a year. I am a Jewish woman who didn’t realize I needed a savior. I prayed to receive Jesus in my heart about two months ago. I like reading my Bible during the prayer time.”

There are other testimonies, but this should bring great encouragement as to what God can do when our Houses of Prayer lead to heartfelt action that brings forth fruitfulness. Individuals working with Hope City learn how to minister in the city by leading in the prayer room, serving in the soup kitchen, participating in the food distribution project, and ministering to gang members, drug addicts, and the homeless. They focus on a lifestyle of prayer and develop skills they need to minister in the inner city.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

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