What revelation did you get regarding being a house of prayer? I could tell something was dropped on you.
Elijah:
This was a new encounter for me with the Father in that I was speaking with his voice and it was one of stern intensity in corrective discipline. I was honored to be releasing his heart but was gripped by a holy fear because what he was saying was confronting things in me and was flowing from an immense place of still, yet massive power. It was somewhat like when a child disobeys their parent, is being corrected gently in a public place, but eventually, because they are not heeding their parent, the parent takes their child by their arm and forcefully and intentionally lifts/carries/drags their child to a place of more intense and intentionally direct correction! This was Father’s manner, countenance and movement and what he was addressing was a misalignment with his heart: he has called his dwelling place a house of prayer but this was not the stance of his people. We have filled it with all kinds of things, but prayer is a very small percentage of the activity contained IN the mix: it is not the house.
Father showed me his house and the sign above the door said, “House of Prayer”. Then he ripped me through the whole Valley and showed me all the individual meeting places of his people and they all had signs of “House of Worship” above their entrances. Our church had one, too: it wasn’t just “those other people” in the Valley. It was us, too. He then showed me the hearts of his people, mine included, and that they were gathering, being pulled to these places for worship experiences, but prayer was viewed as the bookends, the pieces of bread on either side of the meat of things contained in the majority of what feeds us. Prayer, considered on its own, was seen as an empty “sandwich” with nothing in the middle and very disappointing to the hunger and appetite of those gathering: prayer, by itself, was seen as two, empty, flavorless pieces of bread, eaten at once with nothing in them. The attitude was one of disappointment, confusion and resentment. If the same “sandwich” was eaten with no “bread of prayer”, just the meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato and so on, though, it was considered delightful and nothing was missed; even seen as being healthier because it “focuses on the protein and things that make the body strong”. This is why prayer was being so easily set to the side: it is seen as a supplement that helps hold the “main ingredients” together.
Father then pulled me back to the stage at our church and showed me his house again with the sign “House of Prayer” above the door. The letters were unreadable aside from knowing the Word: Word WAS the sign. This is what Father released in, “My Word says ‘My house is a House of Prayer’.” He then showed me Jesus in his zeal emptying the temple, standing at the entrance and declaring, “My Father’s house will be called a house of prayer for the nations.” The Word is the sign and is one with Father’s identification!
After this, the declaration of, “if it’s not holy then get it out” was followed by a “remodel” of sorts: tough to describe. Jesus drove out the money changers and wouldn’t allow anyone to carry any merchandise through the temple courts. This was not the same with the elements of worship in music, teaching, ministry, prophecy, and so on: they were brought back in, given a place, but they had to go out first. They weren’t just rearranged in the house, they had to be removed! They all went out until there was only one dwelling: a house of prayer that was set apart; a distinction was made. Then each of the elements were brought back in and arranged in the house in its proper place. This process was very forceful! At one point, there were a few things that I wasn’t clearing in my own heart and his eyes said, “You can either get it out or see it destroyed.” At this point it was worship in music: I was singing and declaring, but he kicked the singing and declaring out of me so that only prayer remained. He changed my heart in the very same action but it became prayer.
The whole house had to be made holy in and wholly prayer alone: it was a house of prayer all by itself. Then Father said he would invite elements back in. This is when I began to declare, “This place is a house of prayer” (meaning the place where we were at within our meeting place), and it was: God set it apart by pulling everything outside in the parking lot. I couldn’t make out what all the things were, but there were a lot of objects and things stacked in a disheveled pile in the parking lot (interestingly, right in the middle of the low depression where all the water builds up when we have a lot of rain). These things had not been destroyed but their arrangement communicated forceful haste that placed an emphasis on the house and emptying it rather than a neat arrangement of the things removed: respect was for the house and it’s proper alignment with Father’s identity placed upon it, not the things in it. There was no disrespect or dishonor for the things themselves, only for their lack of alignment with what he has clearly established.
Me:
This is important and not to be overlooked. This is a call and a warning that are out of alignment with Holy Spirit. We have had many such warnings for years, but none so perilous to our church as yours.
I have prayed for years that people would rise up in our church to take on the burden of prayer. I have wept and pleaded to the Lord to burden us with intercession. Where are the intercessors, Lord? Why don't the leaders care? Why don't they attend prayer meetings? Why is prayer so neglected?
I'm making too much of myself, sorry. But what you told me is a "This is that" moment. I can't help but react with a "finally, something's happening."
Or at least I hope it's happening. I've seen many false starts over the years.
Our church is in great danger. Not from the enemy, although he's doing his best to bring confusion. No, we are in danger of discipline, then later, even judgment. We need to receive the Lord’s severity in this matter. Otherwise we'll be nothing more than a pile of things in the parking lot.
Father showed me his house and the sign above the door said, “House of Prayer”. Then he ripped me through the whole Valley and showed me all the individual meeting places of his people and they all had signs of “House of Worship” above their entrances. Our church had one, too: it wasn’t just “those other people” in the Valley. It was us, too. He then showed me the hearts of his people, mine included, and that they were gathering, being pulled to these places for worship experiences, but prayer was viewed as the bookends, the pieces of bread on either side of the meat of things contained in the majority of what feeds us. Prayer, considered on its own, was seen as an empty “sandwich” with nothing in the middle and very disappointing to the hunger and appetite of those gathering: prayer, by itself, was seen as two, empty, flavorless pieces of bread, eaten at once with nothing in them. The attitude was one of disappointment, confusion and resentment. If the same “sandwich” was eaten with no “bread of prayer”, just the meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato and so on, though, it was considered delightful and nothing was missed; even seen as being healthier because it “focuses on the protein and things that make the body strong”. This is why prayer was being so easily set to the side: it is seen as a supplement that helps hold the “main ingredients” together.
Father then pulled me back to the stage at our church and showed me his house again with the sign “House of Prayer” above the door. The letters were unreadable aside from knowing the Word: Word WAS the sign. This is what Father released in, “My Word says ‘My house is a House of Prayer’.” He then showed me Jesus in his zeal emptying the temple, standing at the entrance and declaring, “My Father’s house will be called a house of prayer for the nations.” The Word is the sign and is one with Father’s identification!
After this, the declaration of, “if it’s not holy then get it out” was followed by a “remodel” of sorts: tough to describe. Jesus drove out the money changers and wouldn’t allow anyone to carry any merchandise through the temple courts. This was not the same with the elements of worship in music, teaching, ministry, prophecy, and so on: they were brought back in, given a place, but they had to go out first. They weren’t just rearranged in the house, they had to be removed! They all went out until there was only one dwelling: a house of prayer that was set apart; a distinction was made. Then each of the elements were brought back in and arranged in the house in its proper place. This process was very forceful! At one point, there were a few things that I wasn’t clearing in my own heart and his eyes said, “You can either get it out or see it destroyed.” At this point it was worship in music: I was singing and declaring, but he kicked the singing and declaring out of me so that only prayer remained. He changed my heart in the very same action but it became prayer.
The whole house had to be made holy in and wholly prayer alone: it was a house of prayer all by itself. Then Father said he would invite elements back in. This is when I began to declare, “This place is a house of prayer” (meaning the place where we were at within our meeting place), and it was: God set it apart by pulling everything outside in the parking lot. I couldn’t make out what all the things were, but there were a lot of objects and things stacked in a disheveled pile in the parking lot (interestingly, right in the middle of the low depression where all the water builds up when we have a lot of rain). These things had not been destroyed but their arrangement communicated forceful haste that placed an emphasis on the house and emptying it rather than a neat arrangement of the things removed: respect was for the house and it’s proper alignment with Father’s identity placed upon it, not the things in it. There was no disrespect or dishonor for the things themselves, only for their lack of alignment with what he has clearly established.
Me:
This is important and not to be overlooked. This is a call and a warning that are out of alignment with Holy Spirit. We have had many such warnings for years, but none so perilous to our church as yours.
I have prayed for years that people would rise up in our church to take on the burden of prayer. I have wept and pleaded to the Lord to burden us with intercession. Where are the intercessors, Lord? Why don't the leaders care? Why don't they attend prayer meetings? Why is prayer so neglected?
I'm making too much of myself, sorry. But what you told me is a "This is that" moment. I can't help but react with a "finally, something's happening."
Or at least I hope it's happening. I've seen many false starts over the years.
Our church is in great danger. Not from the enemy, although he's doing his best to bring confusion. No, we are in danger of discipline, then later, even judgment. We need to receive the Lord’s severity in this matter. Otherwise we'll be nothing more than a pile of things in the parking lot.
Heb. 12:5-6 My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.
Elijah:
Obviously, you have been praying for this for some time now, but what is your sense as to what stands in the way of moving forward in prayer as God’s people? What is it that we’re up against?
Me:
It's not an easy answer. I will attempt to answer without making it personal about people.
First, what is the overriding goal of our church? I would answer, "To diligently pursue becoming the church that God has called us to be." (That of course includes a lot of explanation that is not necessary at this point.)
I'm guessing, but I suspect that the leadership would answer in terms of "to have great Sunday services and lots of good connect groups." They might not directly answer this way, but I think it underpins their thinking.
So by that measure, the leadership would conclude we have a healthy church.
In my opinion, the leadership lacks a crucial element, and that is the ability to discern God's opinion about how our church conducts itself. And this is the crux of the matter, I believe. Discernment. Not discernment as the weighing of the prophetic or rooting out false teaching. Discernment as in the ability to clearly see and implement what the Holy Spirit is doing.
This discernment is not only the vision for the church's direction and ministries, but also on-the-spot discernment during worship, church services, and counseling and deliverance times. Both the general and the specific are clouded, confused, and negated by a variety of factors, including doctrine, traditional practice, spiritual dullness, the lack of certain spiritual gifts, and spiritual oppression.
It shouldn't surprise us that the enemy is at work. Especially in witchcraft masquerading as spirituality. People right in our church are witches without even knowing it. This impedes communication, decision-making, and even matters of life and death (We just had a baby still-born and there was no call for prayer or even a consideration of if there were spiritual forces of darkness at work. Marriages failing. Disobedient children.)
And, no prayer ministry.
Second, we have big vision and big ambitions, but don't know how to bring it down to a practical level. The administrative gift in particular is weak, and I would theorize that the pen-and-paper organizational process is minimized as too rigid. So the systems-type guys are pushed out, ignored, or even thought of with suspicion.
Also, biblically speaking, pastors don't lead churches, they don't teach, and they are not CEO leaders. We therefore don't have pastors in the biblical sense, that is, those who care for the flock, comforts them, prays with them, visits them, and protects them.
Now I should say, God can and does overlook our faults. He certainly will work via flawed structures and flawed men. That's a given. But our church's calling and purpose is much higher than a typical average church. So the small things matter much more (Luke 26:10).
And as you just discovered, God is particularly interested in how we pray together as a church. This foundational ministry is the starting point for everything else the church does, but we blow right past it and install all sorts of programs and ministries instead.
This is deception and spiritual blindness. It must not continue.
First, what is the overriding goal of our church? I would answer, "To diligently pursue becoming the church that God has called us to be." (That of course includes a lot of explanation that is not necessary at this point.)
I'm guessing, but I suspect that the leadership would answer in terms of "to have great Sunday services and lots of good connect groups." They might not directly answer this way, but I think it underpins their thinking.
So by that measure, the leadership would conclude we have a healthy church.
In my opinion, the leadership lacks a crucial element, and that is the ability to discern God's opinion about how our church conducts itself. And this is the crux of the matter, I believe. Discernment. Not discernment as the weighing of the prophetic or rooting out false teaching. Discernment as in the ability to clearly see and implement what the Holy Spirit is doing.
This discernment is not only the vision for the church's direction and ministries, but also on-the-spot discernment during worship, church services, and counseling and deliverance times. Both the general and the specific are clouded, confused, and negated by a variety of factors, including doctrine, traditional practice, spiritual dullness, the lack of certain spiritual gifts, and spiritual oppression.
It shouldn't surprise us that the enemy is at work. Especially in witchcraft masquerading as spirituality. People right in our church are witches without even knowing it. This impedes communication, decision-making, and even matters of life and death (We just had a baby still-born and there was no call for prayer or even a consideration of if there were spiritual forces of darkness at work. Marriages failing. Disobedient children.)
And, no prayer ministry.
The thing about becoming a house of prayer is that this is the beginning, not the goal. We cannot even engage the kingdom until we are dedicated to corporate prayer.
We haven't even got to the starting point yet.
Also, biblically speaking, pastors don't lead churches, they don't teach, and they are not CEO leaders. We therefore don't have pastors in the biblical sense, that is, those who care for the flock, comforts them, prays with them, visits them, and protects them.
Now I should say, God can and does overlook our faults. He certainly will work via flawed structures and flawed men. That's a given. But our church's calling and purpose is much higher than a typical average church. So the small things matter much more (Luke 26:10).
And as you just discovered, God is particularly interested in how we pray together as a church. This foundational ministry is the starting point for everything else the church does, but we blow right past it and install all sorts of programs and ministries instead.
This is deception and spiritual blindness. It must not continue.
Elijah:
This is great insight and analysis: thank you for entrusting your insights and wisdom to me. This is precisely the type of clarity and directness that I was hoping for!
I will add this to conversation with the Father! Thank you, again: I am very encouraged!
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