Monday, April 6, 2009

24-7 Prayer

Check out this imagery:
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth; and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. (Rev.8:1-5)

I read this passage while praying in our prayer room yesterday at SVC. Our 7-Day Prayer Vigil began at 12:30pm immediately following 2nd service. We filled 336 "30-minute" slots. It was awesome to see how God put this thing together.
I woke up this morning feeling the prayers of the saints...knowing that there is around-the-clock prayer taking place at SVC this week.
I stayed after a special worship service last night for a few hours to let late night pray-ers into the building. It was an honor to open a door for people and then to usher them into a prayer room...need I call it--a sanctuary.
Through email and text messaging, I've received two main responses:
1) 30 minutes isn't long enough. It went by too fast.
2) Can we do this more often?

I love the imagery from Rev. 8. The prayers of the saints come before God and when they are hurled upon the earth there is a collision that takes place. The impact of heaven meeting earth has the power to shake foundations. One thing I'm learning as I journey closer to the heart of God is to never underestimate the magnitude of tapping into the power of God. This week at SVC, I pray for heaven and earth to collide!

5 comments:

  1. Josh, check out the Internatinal House of Prayer in Kansas City. It is a 24-7 prayer house. Absolutely unbelievable!! Their web address is www.ihop.org. It is directed by a guy named Mike Bickle. I have a deep passion for intercessory prayer and I have been wanting to go and experience it for several years now. Another guy you might look into is Pete Grieg. He is out of London, England and has a prayer room there. He has incredible stories! You can go to IHOP on weekends to get a taste of what it is like there. I hope you, Kayci, Truitt, and Baby Ross are doing well!

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  2. I agree that 30 minutes really flies by when in the sanctuary. I left there wanting to sign up for more slots. There was such a feeling of serenity there... like I was in God's presence more than usual.

    Of course that may have something to do with the fact that I have 3 kids and homeschool, so I rarely have that much silent time. :-)

    I hope we do this again...maybe in the fall.

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  3. Lauren, I've heard a lot about IHOP from Seidman. I can't wait to get over to Kansas City to experience it. 24-7-365 prayer sounds powerful.

    Karen,
    I prayed after you yesterday and the walls were still shaking. :)
    I love your heart!

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  4. We have done a 24 hour prayer walk for our kids before school starts. The first time I did it, I walked in thinking it was a great idea and left with tears and chill bumps and was compelled to seek out an empty slot in the wee hours of the morning because of what it did inside me.

    I know the experience for the body there is powerful.

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