ALL TRIPS ARE NOT EQUAL

And this one certainly wasn't. Last Saturday we made the 278 mile drive to Kansas City to finally see first hand what The In*ternatio*nal Ho*use of Pr*ayer was all about.

(Click on all photos to enlarge)
We have just arrived and got this shot of Mickey as we located Vanessa & her daughter, Savannah. Vanessa is the one who had the vision for an I*H*O*P in our little city of Coweta and is spending a month here in Kansas City in training.

Here is Vanessa & her husband Jeff with Savannah as we were eating in the Sandwich Shop. If you enlarge the picture you can see the shirt Savannah has on.....it shows a child in a wheel chair, a child praying for the child in the wheel chair, and the child who was in the wheel chair walking and pushing the wheel chair!!

I have to share with you about Savannah. She is 6 years old and she has been raised by a mother who loves prayer and prays a lot and shares with Savannah about prayer. Well Saturday night, after services, we got coffee and were sitting and visiting on some outside tables they have set up in an area on the sidewalk. A one point we were talking about an issue and Savannah said, "Let's just pray about that right now!" and this little 6 year old child began praying like you wouldn't believe. Suddenly a hush fell on the people milling about and sitting at other tables as they began to listen to this child pray. It was an unbelievable moment that put goose bumps on me. I thought of the scripture "A little child shall lead them". Praise God......children like this are going to change things and people.



We attended services Saturday evening & Sunday morning before returning to Coweta Sunday afternoon. We were blessed to hear Mike Bi*ckle both services. He had been overseas and had just returned from Egypt.

I hadn't posted about it until now because I had to have time to try and absorb and process what I saw & felt to even try and put it into words. I still can't really do that but wanted to post this before too much more time passed.

I must tell you, it is an awesome thing to see a place where prayer has been going on continuously for 24/7 for 8 years!!!! The worship and teaching were wonderful, but we've been to a lot of meetings where the worship and teaching were wonderful. I think what impressed us the most was the dedication we saw in the people there...all ages, all shapes and sizes, from every background......truly a snapshot of The Body of Christ that has become such a burning reality in my heart and Spirit the past number of years.

I truly feel God is sending out a clarion call to the entire WORLD to pray. I feel our country and our world are in the state they are currently in because we truly do not 1) pray, 2) know how to pray, and 3) most pastors and churches are not teaching and calling their flock to pray. Just stop and think when the last time was you heard a message about praying. Just stop and consider how much time you spend praying. Do you pray daily? Only at meals? How much time do you spend praying? Do you spend all your prayer time just praying for yourself, your family and your loved ones?

Do you flippantly say, "I'll pray for you." and never think about it again. Hard questions I know.........but they truly show the condition we as Christians are in.

God wants us to truly fall in love with Him. We want to spend time with someone we truly love. Talking things over, telling Him how much we love Him, just being in His presence and listening to what He wants to tell us. Most of all God looks at our hearts and wants to show each of us our own heart.

My friend, and fellow pray-er, Ginger has written a wonderful, powerful post on prayer here. I hope you will read it.

I'm just so excited with what I see God doing around this entire world. He is calling people to pray, to be part of preparing the Bride of Christ (The Church) for His soon return.

PLEASE PRAY

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These are a couple of shots of the lovely place and grounds we stayed. I wish we could have stayed a week and absorbed so much more of the flavor of I*H*O*P, but I'm glad we were finally able to see and experience it first hand for ourselves.

Another shot of the worship leader.