Tag Archives: city

Advancing God’s Glory

11141180_990324714363969_18797660765711519_n“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.” Rhonda Hughey

Wouldn’t you like to attract God’s attention to your city? Don’t you want to advance God’s glory where you live? There is an eternal inheritance in every person and city. The possibility for transforma-tion is possible. Isn’t it time to see God invade your city with His glorious presence? This is possible as we build the House of Prayer. God wants to come in, but we have to invite Him.

Jesus is our model as we move forward in Houses of Prayer. The greatest example of the fullness of Christ’s love can be seen in His meekness and servanthood (John 13). He was so strong, and yet He stooped so low. There is a dignity, beauty, and uniqueness about His lowliness (Matthew 11:29; Mark 10:15). Jesus was the servant of all. The weight of God’s glory is His humility.

This humility will confront the pride of the earth (Psalm 113:4-6; Isaiah 2:10-11; 49:5-7). Jesus leads with the strength of meekness and the might of humility. We must do the same. This will be a big key to the success of Houses of Prayer in our cities and churches.

Only Jesus gets the glory. It’s about advancing His glory. It’s not about a person, church, or ministryit’s all about Jesus!  

We must give God time in the prayer room. Houses of Prayer advance God’s glory. Houses of Prayer glorify Jesus.

Houses of Prayer are very do-able. God doesn’t need a large population of Christians in order to bring in His presence. He will work through a few churches that decide to unite in prayer in order to seek His presence for their city. We must have a vision (Proverbs 29:18). We need a world vision, a heavenly revelation, and prophetic insight into what God wants to do in our day. We must be like Moses and cry out to see God’s glory in our city (Exodus 33:18-19). As we do, we know that we are on the right course and are pointing in the direction of bringing glory to God through prayer.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Welcome God into Your City

11742786_990324097697364_5179692257734964616_nAs I traveled from nation to nation on the Doulos, upon arrival in a new country we would often have a great welcome from the people of that city. In New Zealand we experienced a special dance from the Maori Indians. It was quite impressive, and one I will never forget. At the end of that unique tribal dance, the staff and crew of our ship received a beautiful lei of flowers around their neck and the Maori greeting of rubbing noses. It was quite a cultural experience for many of us.

In other countries we had special greetings unique to each culture—everything from other cultural dances, gifts, songs, and banners—that were a beautiful welcome for the ship into their unique city. It made all of us on board feel very welcome in that country and city. It made us deeply desire to stay there and interact with the people.

Perhaps God feels the same way.

When He sees His people eagerly pray for His presence, and welcome Him into their city day and night in prayer, He is delighted and wants to invade that city with His presence. When He sees your desperate cry for His presence, He feels like a welcomed and longed-for guest. He wants to make your city His home.

Begin now to prepare the way for God’s Kingdom and presence in your city. Start with increasing your prayer life, and find a few others who have a vision for transformation in your city. Get together regularly; God will lead you and add others to your prayer meetings. Transformation will occur in your lives, and you will become consumed with a hunger for God’s presence. The Lord will hear your cry for your city, and God will begin to move in your midst.

Early in our month of 24/7 prayer in Spain, God made his presence known to us in a very special way. There was no rain outside; it was completely dry. As I was having my prayer time early in the morning, I suddenly looked out the window and there in the sky surrounding the House of Prayer was a bright rainbow. It was as if God was speaking to me and saying:

“My desire is for citywide, united prayer, and I love your House of Prayer. Keep it up for I shall surely come with my presenceI have heard your cry.”

It is time that we change our lifestyles and become desperate for God and His ways. We must be willing put God first. It is time that we welcome His Kingdom into our neighborhoods, our cities, and our nations.

“To be desperate means to be without hope in your current condition and to know that in your own power you don’t have the necessary resources required to change it. People who are desperate become determined to find help, often taking great risks to meet their desperate need. In the communities where transforming revival has occurred, the people of God were desperate enough to change their lifestyle and their priorities and to commit their time and resources, making everything secondary to the desperate pursuit of God in their midst. They cried out in desperation, and the Lord heard their cry.” Rhonda Hughey

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Steps to Developing a One-Month House of Prayer

Possible Hindrances to Unity in a House of PrayerThese are general guidelines to developing a One-month House of Prayer. I’ve added a few ideas to the list from my experience with other Houses of Prayer. You may want to add more or subtract what does not fit your situation, but the important thing is to begin and make it your own for your city.

Initially concentrate on applying these points, and let the Holy Spirit guide you in every step. You may want to copy this page and give it to others who are praying with you for a House of Prayer in your city. Here are the steps:

  • Pray regularly and diligently for several months before the month of prayer – We, and many of the churches involved, prayed for the month of prayer long before we started it. The congregations in the location began to meet for prayer. In Virginia Beach we prayed daily for the work in Spain. And for several months before the event, we met for prayer every Monday evening with a group of people who had a vision and burden for it. Many of them would eventually join us in Spain. It is important to pray for a prayer event of this size. We found a strong correlation between the success of the Houses of Prayer and the amount of prayer beforehand.
  • Seek God wholeheartedly and become desperate for His presence – A sense among believers that we must know the Lord is the driving force behind the House of Prayer. We need a sense of desperation. We prayed every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning from 5:30-7:30 A.M. for the 24/7 House of Prayer we had in Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, and Richmond (USA) in April of 2007. These prayer meetings were quite fervent. Bathing the area in prayer three to six months beforehand was key for successful corporate prayer.
  • Build trust with local churches – The work in Spain began ten years earlier than the actual time we launched a month of prayer. We talked about initiating a month of 24/7 prayer in the targeted area one year in advance. Before we could do this we met with pastors, spoke in many of the churches about prayer, held training seminars and teaching on prayer, and ministered in other ways. Elijah Company, Inc. had a reputation in the churches of encouraging the congregations and not trying to build its own vision, but it was a united vision of what God wanted to do in that region. We took sufficient time to communicate this to the pastors.
  • Find a group of pastors and leaders who will act as catalysts – Among the fraternity of pastors, there were some who acted as catalysts. The president of the group was a relational person and motivator who effectively shared the vision. The pastors, in turn, took enough time to adequately communicate the vision to their congregations. It takes time to inspire and motivate people to pray, so make sure you take sufficient time for this.
  • Cast the vision for prayer – Teach about prayer from the Bible, cast a vision for the prayer room, recommend books on prayer, and share stories of answered prayer. Encourage everyone to get involved. Link them with resources. Let individuals pledge hours in the prayer room during your House of Prayer. You might have them write down their commitments so as to be accountable. Be careful not to pressure people or put them on guilt trips.
  • Organize a good communication system – We had an excellent means of communicating. A quality website was developed. This site explained the purpose of the effort, location where the event was to be held, who should be involved, registration information and forms, contact information, and payment options for those needing accommodations. We also set up a website for the Virginia House of Prayer and made several thousand attractive brochures to pass out to the churches and to interested individuals. Keep the motivation going, possibly through a newsletter with testimonies of answered prayer, words of encouragement, and updates. Encourage people to visit the website. It will help them to feel a part of what God is doing.
  • Enlist other cities to come and help motivate the Church to pray – International participation in Spain ignited the passion in local believers. They felt that if others were willing to come at their own expense to pray for their area, the Lord must have really spoken to them. Some of those internationals were pacesetters, as they modeled the effectiveness of long hours of prayer through the days and nights. The local people were encouraged to see people able to pray for long periods. Intercessors are a key resource. Increased excitement about prayer is probably an answer to their prayers.
  • Have an on-call team of intercessors – The intercessors were our on-call team to fill in any empty prayer slots a couple days in advance. You want people who don’t mind being on call to pray in an emergency. I found this to be so helpful because emergencies do arise, and not everyone will show up. I would feel relieved because I knew there were people who would fill in any gap of time joyfully. You may want to have different individuals on call daily, with their number and name clearly posted near the prayer room. Then everyone knows who to call if there is an emergency.
  • Write a memo of understanding for all who are involved in praying – A memo of understanding was attached to the website. This made it clear to all involved, both locally and internationally, what we were going to do. Some areas in the memo included: key relationships, goals, motivation, training and equipping, types of prayer, doctrine, the prophetic, team praying, ministry outreach, personal support, personal time, costs, registration, medical coverage, travel arrangements, and arrival and departure dates.
  • Meet with the leadership to pray and debrief together – After your 24/7 House of Prayer finishes, meet together with the leadership team to debrief, pray, and talk about what’s next. How does God want to further develop prayer in your city? Don’t make any big announcements of a long-term House of Prayer too quickly and then not be able to do it. It’s better to go slow and work your way up gradually. You can extend a week or a month at a time or commit to a few hours a week. People will be hungry for more, and there will be no unrealistic expectations and then discouragement.

A one-month House of Prayer welcomes God into your city.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Our Prayer for God’s Kingdom in our City

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Lord, we want Your Kingdom purposes for [Name your city]. Help us to see our city from Your perspective. We pray for day and night prayer. Give us eyes of faith and a vision to see what You can do. Raise up Your Church here, and break through every divisive barrier that is keeping us apart. Revive the churches, and make them an influence in our neighbor-hoods and places of work. Help us all to work together towards a one-month House of Prayer [Pray your specific vision for your city]. Teach us to lay down our personal agendas and see the big picture of what You want to do here. Invade our city with Your glorious presence and Your Kingdom purposes. Help our city grow in trust, wisdom, relational unity, love, worship, Kingdom building, simplicity, and in seeking Your presence.

Teach us how to prepare every detail for a House of Prayer here. Give us Your wisdom as to where we should have it. Give us Your creativity in decorating the prayer room. We pray for favor with Your people as we spread the vision. We believe this is Your will. Break through every obstacle, and show us the steps we need to take. Lay a burden on our hearts to pray together for our city. Bring a core group of people together to pray towards this House of Prayer. Give us Your wisdom and Your heart for united intercession.

We are desperate for Your presence. We welcome you here. Come and dwell among us. Let our city bring You renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things You do for it; and let them be in awe and tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace You provide for it (Jeremiah 33:9). In Jesus’ name, amen.

Verse to Memorize

“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” (Jeremiah 33:9).

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

How to Prepare the Way for God’s Kingdom in Your City

11377238_964162836980157_3468827230354932630_nGod’s Kingdom Life Application

We studied about how a Kingdom vision is ignited through Houses of Prayer, and how to prepare the prayer room and the way for God’s presence. Begin the initial steps in the process of conducting a one-week or one-month House of Prayer. Review carefully before starting, and then answer the following questions:

  • Where is your city or your church as to the possibility of a one-month or one-week House of Prayer? – Evaluate the positives and the negatives in your city or church. What are the obstacles that need to be overcome?
  • How can you personally participate in seeing a one-month House of Prayer started? – Think about how God would want you to be involved (i.e. prayer room decorating, praying, motivating others, gathering a team to plan, and so forth). Write down your ideas regarding your level of involvement, and be willing to share them with others.
  • Evaluate the points carefully – Prayerfully write down anything God may lay on your heart regarding a one-month House of Prayer in your city, or even a one-week House of Prayer in your church. If one week is too much, what about one weekend?
  • Meet with others who may have a desire for a one-month or one-week House of Prayer in your city – Brainstorm and write down the names of any others in your city who may be interested. Purchase a diary or notebook, and have someone write down your ideas as a group. Give a copy to each group member, and prayerfully decide on a date. Have each group member write down ideas, Scriptures, and what they feel God is saying during the week.
  • Study about Houses of Prayer on a regular basis – There are several online resources in addition to this website. Also see the IHOPKC and Intercessors Arise websites.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Preparing the Way for God’s Presence

Developing a Dynamic Prayer Life in the Prayer Room“In every revival in history we read a similar testimony. When God responded to His people by sending His presence, He didn’t just work Himself into their routine religion—He overtook them by His power and glory! He left a trail of glorious chaos in His wake—weeping, repenting, rejoicing, reconciling, changing of habits, healing of families! Nobody wondered if Jesus was involved in these meetings. There was no doubt in their minds and no lack in their hearts.” Rhonda Hughey

God wants to invade our cities with His glorious and powerful presence. He wants to overtake our lives and change our plans and routines so that they are fully in line with His purposes. As we look at the Kingdom of God and preparing the way for God’s holy presence, the Sermon on the Mount is the greatest test to measure and evaluate our personal success.

  • How well do I live out the eight beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 and all of Matthew 5-7?
  • Do I seek to obey God in every area of our life?
  • Do I declare war on all compromise?

This is the test. This is the great personal challenge we are all facing as we prepare for 24/7 prayer. We are made for personal holiness and to intimately know God. This is what is so fantastic about a House of Prayer. God begins to change you, and you begin to prioritize prayer in a way you have never done before—or even imagined possible. Prayer begins to take center stage in your life.

We experienced this at our House of Prayer in Spain. Prayer suddenly became a priority. God began to deal with our lives—our speech, our time, our money, our relationships, and everything else. There was an internal calling from God to love and follow Him with all of our heart. God wanted our hearts and a life of complete obedience so that we would be perfect and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:4).

We were challenged in our prayer lives as the Holy Spirit began to
reinforce the importance of personal prayer and the absolute necessity of corporate prayer for the region. There was a lying down of secondary priorities for many. We were becoming very hungry for Jesus and His presence (Matthew 5:6). Through prayer and praise we were welcoming God into the region. Many of us began to treasure the presence of God above all else, as we realized deep in our hearts the truth of John 15:5, “Without Me you can do nothing.”

That time, and now being based at the International House of Prayer, has personally challenged me to make quality decisions for holiness and to let God challenge my motives on a regular basis. I still have a long way to go, but at least I am on the road. It definitely is a life-long journey. You may be thinking:

“How do I even begin to think about a House of Prayer in my city?”

The first step is to PRAY! You start by praying about a House of Prayer in your city. Even if you are not the one to start it, you can pray for others who will. Pray that God raises up the right ones to begin it, and you can be the one who supports them in prayer. If one month seems too long for you to start with, begin with a one-week House of Prayer. In starting to plan towards a one-month House of Prayer and beyond, there are several initial steps to pray and work towards. Every city needs a House of Prayer, but there always needs to be a few who start it.

Think about some of the things you want to see accomplished. You want to create an unbroken string of focused intense prayer of entreaty to God. Now this may seem overwhelming at first, but you will be surprised at how God helps you. After all, it’s His idea and desire in the first place. You want to provide times and places for many to come together in prayer. You want to ask the Lord to visit your city with His presence. Ultimately, you want to roll out a red carpet for the King of kings, and invite Him to come and do His work.

In Biblical and church history, united prayer has proven to be the single lifesaver of a nation during times of danger and uncertainty. The Lord commands His people to seek His face (2 Chronicles 7:14). Noah was warned by God concerning the flood, even though there was no visible sign of it coming—not even a raindrop! He took heed and diligently constructed and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his family (Hebrews 11:7).

It is difficult to predict exact results in a one-month House of Prayer. The key is to be faithful in doing what God shows you to do in prayer. In our House of Prayer in Spain, I believe that many were radically changed in their prayer lives, but there were also those who went back to their previous lifestyles and life as usual.

We have to be willing to pay the price for God’s continual presence in our city. It’s up to the Church to decide long-term how much of God they really want. It is important that churches and intercessors continue to pray and anticipate the ongoing development of God’s plan and Kingdom purposes for their city while the discipline and blessing of united prayer is still fresh.

In Spain the glory of God was visible in one of the most spiritually needy areas in the world, but the churches needed to continue asking God to help them develop the prayer movement in their area. Outsiders who came to help could not do it. It had to be those who lived in that city. I believe the following results will happen when Christians do accept the challenge of continual united prayer in their city:

  • A united, praying church develops that is pleasing to the Lord.
  • There is a breaking of the spiritual darkness that is invading the nation.
  • The Church demonstrates an example of corporate prayer that challenges others in cities around the country to develop prayer in their region as well.
  • A movement of the Spirit occurs, bringing salvation to thousands of people.
  • A continued growing movement of prayer arises, sweeping thousands of tired Christians into a fresh new excitement and vitality in Christ.

Imagine the future of your city when a House of Prayer is operating day and night. God will pour out His Spirit. There will be the manifest presence of the Lord scattering His enemies and ours. Signs, wonders, healing, and deliverance from demonic oppression will become the norm. There will be the revival of the Church, and it will grow. Sinners will come under conviction and will open their hearts to the message of the Gospel on a regular basis. But you must ask the Lord what you are to do.

What is the blueprint, the plan for building His Kingdom in your city? How can the Church in your city prepare the way for God’s presence?

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Kingdom Vision Ignited

10989172_963507660379008_1774359157626250699_n“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 uncompro-mised 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.” Rhonda Hughey

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 begin to fade into the distance. Our vision begins to sharpen as we see the city in a new way through eyes of faith.

What does 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 know that the central message of Jesus and the apostles concerned the Kingdom of God?

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 thousand-year Millennium Kingdom, and there will be a global blessing of righteousness (Revelation 20:4-6). This will be a thousand years of peace, righteousness, prosperity, and blessing throughout the earth. It will be wonderful.

I lived on a ship. This was for over ten years with over three hundred people, mainly young, from about forty 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 based on Habakkuk 2:14:

“For the earth will 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. 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 scene, 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 difficulties, and we can know how to pray strategically. We don’t have to be caught off guard. We don’t have to fear the tribulation. 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 Houses of Prayer will help us know how to live in this present seventy-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 morbid discourage-ment. 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 that the past is 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 on earth.

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Our Prayer for Heartfelt Action in Our City

10442923_964567430273031_565179192230379316_nDear Lord, help our prayers to lead us to heartfelt action. We want to be transformed into fervent lovers who reach out to the needy and lost in our city. Anoint us to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners (Isaiah 61:1). Help us to abide in you daily (John 15). We want to bear much fruit (John 15:16-17). Teach us enjoyable prayer. We want to always delight and find joy in the prayer room. We want to bring that joy into the streets and into our work places. Show us how to take action in our city and bring forth abundant fruit in Your name. This month we choose to show heartfelt action in our city. [Name what you will do to reach out to your city.] Fill us with Your compassion and love for our city.

Teach us to worship You even in the midst of difficulty, just like Paul and Silas did in prison. Demonstrate Your supernatural power through our lives every day, and bring us into the place of abundance. Change the atmosphere of our city through our prayers. Help us to guard our city as watchmen. Our city belongs to You. [Name your city.] Teach us to continually cover it with praise and worship. Give us insight into how to pray for our city and how to take action as we wait on You. Teach us the secret of travailing prayer.

Give us great faith for revival for our city. We will pray until Your deliverance comes. We choose to give ourselves no rest (Isaiah 62:6-7). We praise You for You are mighty and powerful, and You can do all things. We praise You for what You are going to do in our city as we pray and reach out to the lost. Thank You that we will bear much fruit for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Verses to Memorize

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8).

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

Heartfelt Action – Taking it into the Prayer Room

11329842_966469080082866_4753253200916526631_nTaking it into the Prayer Room

Get together with an individual or group and discuss the application assignment together after first having done it alone. Take extra time to discuss Paul and Silas’s example and how you can bring intercession into your city through the ways suggested. Evaluate your city in the area of watchful prayer. Discuss ways you can take heartfelt action in reaching your city both individually and as a group. Have an action plan of some form of outreach you can do as a group.

Then take it into the prayer room by beginning with a time of praise and worship. Pray through the verses in John 15 about abiding in Christ. Cry out to God to help you learn how to be watchmen for your city. Use the list of questions in this life application, and pray for God’s help to overcome any weaknesses you may each have when you intercede for your city. Pray through the areas where you need walls of protection and boundaries in your city. Ask God to raise up other watchmen for your city. Pray through the various ways you will take heartfelt action in reaching your city. Be specific. Pray through your action plan.

The Night Watch

11144453_965502933512814_2928668468155993148_nMany in the prayer movement will rise up and embrace the lifestyle
of the night watch. Larger Houses of Prayer often requires several people to spend the night hours in the prayer room. Here at the International House of Prayer, there are many who love to pray in the middle of the night. It especially appeals to the youth. The Holy Spirit is raising up a community of people who will pray and contend for the mercy and power of God in the night seasons (Joel 1:13). They will be vigilant and watchful.

Psalm 134 speaks of those in the night watch. This is critical to the divine strategy of God in order to see transformation in our cities. So many evil things happen in the night—murder, theft, immorality, and witchcraft. Light can invade the darkness through prayer and worship.

Recently I heard about how thirteen young people were being trained to pray from about 8:00 P.M. until 3:00 A.M. here at the International House of Prayer. They were training their bodies to adjust to a new time schedule in eating and sleeping so that they could give themselves to prayer in the night season. The commitment of this group of young people to be God’s watchmen should stimulate each one of us to give ourselves to prayer, whether it is in the day or the night.

The urgency of the hour and the present emphasis on prayer makes 24/7 prayer a possibility in this generation. Let’s seek to be people who learn to pray not only in the day but also in the night (Psalm 63:6; 119:55, 148).

As God’s people behold and bless the Lord at night, the spiritual atmosphere changes in the city.      

A few years ago we were praying 24/7 during the month of October in southern Spain. We were praying for the Gibraltar area, including southern Spain and North Africa. I remember a particularly weary time of prayer early in the morning when it was still dark, and when I was feeling very alone in the prayer room. God reminded me of when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and His disciples fell asleep. He had asked them to watch with Him. In the same way, I felt like the Lord was quietly and tenderly speaking to me. I felt he was saying:

“Will you not watch with me one hour? Will you not watch and pray for the land and the salvation of souls here in the dark?”

I realized at that moment that I needed to say, “Yes” to the Lord. He is looking for those who will stand watch even when it is not easy. Will you not also be God’s watchman at such an important hour, even when others are sleeping?

Will you not also pray until God brings deliverance to your city?

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC