Thursday, May 29, 2008

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.

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26 comments:

Michelle-ozark crafter said...

Wow what a wonderful trip! You guys were not so far from us then. We are a couple hours south and a bit east of KC.

Rose of Sharon said...

What a great trip and a great time you had together. Savannah sounds like a little cutie pie! I love the faith of a child!

Hugs, Sharon

Scooterblu's Whimsy~Rhonda said...

Susan, What a wonderful trip! Little Savannah sounds just precious. Nothing can minister to me like the faith of a child! I was an AWANA Director/Commander for 5 years, and I felt I received more of a blessing than the kids did, as I heard them pray and get excited about God's Word, as they recited their Bible Verses each week! I'm not a public cryer, but it would bring tears to my eyes and many of nights, I have found myself choked up, unable to speak!

I, myself, have been very guilty of the..."I'll pray for you, or your in my prayers"...and then it slipped my mind! And I feel absolutley terrible about it! So I have started to pray right then, even if it is a silent prayer. That is not to say I still spend enough time in prayer...do we ever? The prayer group has helped me tremendously to get on a schedule and devote more time to prayer!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! ~Rhonda

Anonymous said...

No prayer request is trivial. God cares about every part of our lives and we can bring the biggest or the smallest requests to His feet and He cares. I pray that your situation works out perfectly, that at the end when you are all settled in your new home you can look back and see God's hand working to make it come together in a way that you could not have managed or even imagined on your own. I pray for peace in your heart and mind and for peace in your family as you go through this transition. I pray that you feel the love of God on your life and through the people who you come in contact with. amen.

Anonymous said...

That comment was meant to go onto another prayer request. I typed it in the wrong box!!!!!

Oh well :)

What I meant to say to you is that I think it is so neat that the little girl prayed so powerfully. She sounds very special.

Tina said...

wonderful post to call us back to pray without ceasing Susan, AND to fall in love with God. That IS what it is all about.. I just got the most amazing book that I am so excited about reading called Crazy Love... Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan. I can't wait to dive into it, it looks so good. This post confirmed what God has already been calling me back to.

Much love,
Tina

... said...

great post, susan. it sounds like you had a wonderful and meaningful trip. glad you were able to go and experience it all first hand.

i'm always a little amazed at how many regular church goers don't know how and/or don't want to pray out loud. our church does preach on prayer and has prayer groups and a prayer chain, but we still have a lot of people who don't pray.

Barbara said...

Todd Bentley is really feeling that this time is the time for the children and that they will rise up in power. Your comment on Savanah confirms that.
Great teashirt.

A Hint of Home said...

I'm glad you had a wonderful trip. We all need to reminded to pray often and without ceasing.

Have a good weekend.

Jill said...

Wow- I can only imagine how awesome that was. And I got goosebumps reading about little Savannah praying. What a blessing!

Dawn said...

It gives me hope to hear about Savannah!

Tammy said...

What a wonderful trip you had, dear Susan! And what a powerful ministry!

MightyMom said...

how wonderful and a great idea!

Momma Roar said...

How awesome that the group has been praying continuously for 8 years! And how amazing about Savannah! So glad you shared all this!

Anonymous said...

A coworker of mine once said that she never offers to pray for others because she always forgets. This just broke my heart. I have learned to stop what I am doing and pray on the spot. I know that way I will not forget to hold true to my word.

Glad you enjoyed your visit to IHOP. What an experience!

Tiffany said...

This is such a moving post. I know this is going to sound weird, but I feel like the Lord's presence settled on me, as I sat here reading it! What an amazing little girl, Savannah must be. Her testimony brought tears to my eyes. I can't believe I spent two years in KC, MO and never knew about the "House of Prayer." I started reading Mike Bickle's book Passion for Jesus, earlier this year. I still have yet to finish it, though. Thank you for sharing this. What a blessing it has been for me today!

Needled Mom said...

It sounds like it was the perfect trip. I am so glad you were able to be there in person.

Nadine said...

Sounds like a wonderful trip. God is truly faithful isn't He. I've heard Mike Bickle speak before, he is quite good.

Frazzled Farm Wife said...

Savannah sounds like a wonderful little girl and is such a tribute to her parents and they wy they raised her.

kc bob said...

You were just a stones throw from our place Susan. I pastor at Mike Bickle's former pre-IHOP church. Let me know the next time you are in town and we can do some coffee.

Blessings, Bob

j said...

Susan you are right. Those were hard questions but they were IMPORTANT questions. I have to hang my head in shame at the answers. God is SO good. He just loves me and blesses me in spite of myself. I LOVE Him DEARLY for that. But I also want to please Him and your words touched a place in my heart. Thank you for sharing and being the 'Nudge' that God placed in my life today toward Him!

Be Blessed.

Jennifer

Jenny said...

Aw, man!! Can I be jealous in a good way?? ;0)

groovyoldlady said...

Hmmm. Just yesterday, God was convicting me because, while I read my Bible faithfully and I DO pray, my prayers are about as fly-by-night as they come. None of that "enjoying time in His presence" stuff going on here. I'm in and I'm out because I am a busy, distracted lady.

Now, of all the blogs I could visit, I come here to yours first today.

Thank You Lord, for loving me and being merciful enough to discipline me even during my "Me" time. It's time I started giving more YOU time!

So, pray for me to pray, REALLY pray, and draw near once again to the Lover of my Soul.

Thanks for this post!

Susan said...

I love it that you did this. What a blessing.

:-) Susan

Mary@notbefore7 said...

What a great trip. What an amazing 6 year old. Let the little children come!

Peculiar Blogs said...

I have a friend who picked up their Tulsa family and moved to IHOP about 2 years ago. The husband works at IHOP as a janitor, I think, to help pay for expenses. Anyway, I didn't know anything about it until reading your post! Now I understand more!!