Establishing a House of Prayer in every city worldwide is now becoming a real possibility. It’s beginning to happen in various parts of the world. This involves local churches, individuals, prayer groups, and youth groups that unite for day and night prayer on a citywide level. But we must realize that a longer prayer time—for example one month instead of one week—takes a lot more people and planning. It requires working with all your heart for the Lord and for His glory.
We must be willing to count the cost.
You may only need thirty people for a week-long House of Prayer, but you need many more for a month-long House of Prayer, or for a continuous 24/7 in your city. You also must have enough dedicated intercessors. For year long Houses of Prayer, you must plan well and provide adequate motivation and guidance.
Keep in mind that you must continually recruit new intercessors because people do drop out and move away. Try to keep the intercessors encouraged and provide training in prayer for all involved. The Intercessors Arise International Website and this Nations House of Prayer Equipping Center provides training that you can teach and print out for those in your House of Prayer. New material will be continually added to both of these websites for your use.
It’s easy to get under attack or discouraged when involved in 24/7 prayer, and that’s why we emphasized a lot about laying a solid foundation. It takes steadfast and persistent prayer. Start with what you can handle. Ask yourself or your team:
- How strong is the prayer community in our area?
- Are the people used to prayer, or is it new to them?
- Are they mature Christians?
Don’t be overly ambitious if the individual community is not used to praying. Start smaller and work your way up over time. A week may be a good idea in starting. Ask God for the right pace for your community. If you are starting a long-term House of Prayer, start with only a few hours a week. Remember that God is delighted with any increase in prayer, big and small. A successful week of prayer builds momentum for more prayer and delights God’s heart.
Look at the individuals in your community. Some want to pray an hour a day while others will pray once or twice a week. Some people will come once in a while. Some churches will want to take one-hour slots (sets) while others will want two. Then you will find churches that won’t want to get involved at all, at least initially. Some Houses of Prayer will ask churches to pray one day a week or one day a month. It varies everywhere. Some will be more organized and disciplined than others. So if yours is different than in another city, that’s ok.
Rejoice in God’s plan for prayer in your city, and do it with all your heart and strength (Colossians 3:23).
In Gibraltar, the churches started with a one-week House of Prayer. Then they did it again successfully. They want a long-term House of Prayer and several are praying for it. This is exciting because the population of Christians in Gibraltar is very small. They chose a neutral location and picked a conference center called Europa Point, situated at the very uppermost tip of the rock of Gibraltar, overlooking Spain and Morocco. We were recently there praying with several of them at Europa Point. What a great place to pray.
By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOP-KC