History of Tabernacle Prayer Over 50 years ago, Dr. Yongghi Cho was praying before he was to start teaching at a pastors’ conference in the country of Formosa. As he was praying, the Lord revealed the Tabernacle to him in a way he never saw before. The Lord showed him how to use the Tabernacle as a prayer pattern or a prayer model. Dr. Cho then began praying the way he heard and saw. He said his whole prayer life dramatically changed. He prays 3-5 hours a day and has seen many marvelous answers to prayer. Today he’s now retired, but for most of his ministry he founded and pastored the world’s largest church in South Korea. Yoido Full Gospel Church has a membership of over 4 million meeting in over 20 satellite churches, 160 branch churches, and over 300 prayer houses. Dr. Cho attributes almost all of this to prayer, especially the “Tabernacle” format of prayer.
What is Tabernacle Prayer? Very simply put, Tabernacle Prayer is a prayer model that uses each of the different stations in the Tabernacle as a prayer focus or prayer guide. Each of the 6 stations represent a different aspect in our walk and our relationship with the Lord. When we follow the pattern of the Tabernacle, we are drawn deeper and closer into a more intimate relationship with the Lord. All prayer is wonderful, there are many ways and many different prayer patterns that can be used. The difference between the Tabernacle and other forms of prayer is that as we follow the Tabernacle Prayer, we become more aware of the Lord’s Presence in every moment of our lives. We also become more aware of what is keeping us from fully entering into the Lord’s Presence in a deeper, richer and fuller way. Tabernacle Prayer has a unique way of transforming our minds, binding us even more closely into God.
Why Study the Tabernacle? The Tabernacle is the first House of Prayer, and the original design came directly from the mouth of God. (Exodus 26) If this came directly from the Lord, shouldn’t we study it, study the design? Shouldn’t we study the purpose of this original House of Prayer? I have a sense this pattern, since it came directly from the mouth of God, might be something we as a body of believers should pay more attention to. There is much to glean from this. Most churches don’t teach on the Tabernacle. If they do, it’s presented just as a “history lesson” from the Old Testament, not as a pattern filled with types and shadows that we can utilize today.
The God we serve is a specific God. The Lord has a specific plan to reveal Himself. Through studying and praying through the Tabernacle, we gain a more comprehensive understanding on the character and nature of God, and how we can enter more fully into intimacy within His Presence. What the Lord is revealing to us is that the Tabernacle, this original House of Prayer should be studied further. We at House of Good Hope are called by the Lord to use this as our prayer model as we spend time in prayer.
Overview of the Tabernacle
See where it is positioned: The location on where the Lord called the Tabernacle to be positioned was right in the middle of the camp with the children of Israel surrounding it.
This speaks of:
God wanting to dwell among us (John 1:14)
In a sense, the Lord has “set up camp” right in the middle of Israel’s camps
In other pagan cultures, their temples or places of worship was at a distance from where they lived. Some have household gods, but they were always in a separate place, they were “venerated”. The whole perspective was the people had to go “up” to a high and holy, unreachable god. But our Lord from the very beginning wants to dwell among us!
Jesus, God in the 2nd Person, set aside His divinity and He dwelt among us…..He TABERNACLED with us.
The Lord is in the MIDST of us! The Lord desires to be involved in our everyday lives. He’s here with us, every day of the week, every moment of the day. We don’t just meet with the Lord periodically, whether its once a week in our houses of worship or in our daily devotional times. He is Yahweh Shammah: the God Who is there. He dwells among us, the Lord has His “tent” set up right next to ours. He wants intimate relationship with us, 24/7. He is LORD and He is not about to be “shoved into a box”. He is God of our everyday, not just our spiritual lives.
I marvel at how specific the Lord is as I look on the setting of the Tabernacle location.
LOCATION OF TRIBES The Lord has been talking to us at House of Good Hope about DIVINE ORDER. The Lord positions each of us exactly where He wants us to be. The positions we hold, whether we are high level leaders or we hold what we consider “low-level jobs”; we are there exactly at that moment in time according to the Lord’s specific agenda. If we are “smack-dab in the center of God’s will”, the Lord positions us to places where we could potentially be extremely powerful and effective. The Lord can (and does) anoint our words that can potentially be flaming arrows piercing the hearts of those around us…..if we are in the center of God’s will. It doesn’t matter where we are or what kind of job we hold. All we are called to do is yield ourselves to the Lord Jesus and allow HIM to position us exactly where we are called to be.
Every person who was part of Israel was strategically placed in exactly the right place where the Lord called them to be. If they weren’t, they were immediately eliminated. (Korah). The children of Israel were separated by tribes and they camped around the Tabernacle in 4 specific locations according to the Lord, 3 tribes on each side. The location of each tribe was specifically chosen by God. All of this paints a picture of heaven.
The Tabernacle is God’s design for HIS House of Prayer and each person in HIS house was was called to live in a specific location, wherever they camped.
The Lord chose heads for each grouping of 3 tribes: Judah on the east, Benjamin on the west, Reuben on the north, and Dan on the south. Interesting how their tribes played out over the years. A son of Judah became king and his children inherited the dynasty, with Jesus born into the tribe of Judah. Benjamin were the only tribes that survived, the other 10 were lost. Saul, Israel’s first king was from the tribe of Benjamin. Also, their flags or banners, as they flew over their camps, were visions that both Ezekiel and John saw when they were translated into heaven: Ox, Lion, Eagle, and Man.
The Gate was opposite of Judah – PRAISE. We had to go through Judah (Praise) in order to get in the door.
The Golden Candlestick was facing Reuben. His banner was Man.
The Table of Showbread was facing Dan. His banner was the Eagle.
The Holy of HOLIES was facing Benjamin. His banner was the Ox.
What does all that mean?
What does Heaven look like? Is the a portrayal of the Tabernacle is the portrayal of positions in heaven? I have a sense this is a picture of what goes on in heaven: The Throne of God in the middle with His people camped out surrounding Him.
Construction of the tabernacle the tabernacle was constructed by two different workman. They were anointed and filled with the Holy Spirit, the first one ever mentioned in the Bible who were filled with the Holy Spirit. The names of these two workmen are found in Exodus 31:1-6. The names of the two workmen were Bezalel and Oholiab. Bezalal means in the shadow of God or God is my protection. Oholiab Means tabernacle or 10th of my father. Ahisamach means brother becomes the habitation of God by the Spirit of God.
Bezalel what is the third generation down from HUR, Who came out of Egypt. If you remember, Hur held Moses’ hands up when Joshua was fighting against their enemies. He was from the tribe of Judah which means praise the measurements of the tabernacle.
WHO WERE THE BUILDERS? THE LORD’S CALLING: Exodus 31:1-6
Bezalel
Aholiab
There is a “Law of First Mention” in the Bible, which I believe in. This is the first time mentioned in the Bible of anyone being “filled with the Spirit”. Bezalel & Aholiab were master craftsmen the Lord put in charge of building the Tabernacle. These men were handpicked by God to build the Tabernacle, it was given to no one else. He who the Lord calls, the Lord equips. These men were equipped through the infilling of Holy Spirit: the Ruach haKodesh.
BEZALEL: the name means “in the shadow of God”, or “God is my provision”. Bezalel was a descendent of Hur, the 3rd generation down. Hur was the first generation man who came out of Egypt, one of the men who held Moses’ arms up during the battle Joshua and the children of Israel fought against the Amelekites.. Exodus 17:12. Hur, and Bezalel were from the tribe of Judah (Praise).
AHOLIAB: His name means “Tabernacle or Tent of my Father”. His father’s name was Ahisamach from the tribe of Dan. Ahisamach means “brother of strength”.
THE UNIQUE GIFTINGS OF AHOLIAB
1.) He was spiritually sensitive to God and responded heartily to the Lord’s call.
2.) Aholiab was called of God to be a “master builder.” He was a designer or “inventer of designs” able to perform every kind of work.
3.) Even as the Lord called or chose Moses and Aaron for the work that they did. God selects men and women to be artisans, or craftsmen or craftswomen for His specific purpose. 4.) Aholiab was both a faber, a master in metal, stone, and woodwork. Because God does not use the general term for “mason,” here, it appears that the reference to stone carving is more to the specialized work, such as that of the breastplate of the High Priest. The Tabernacle, Hebrew “ohel, tent; ‘ohel mo’ed, tent of meeting; ‘ohel ha-‘eduth, tent of the testimony; mishkan, dwelling; mishkan ha- ‘eduth, dwelling of the testimony; mishkan ‘ohel, dwelling of the tent,” was made in such a way that it was a portable sanctuary, which could be moved as the Israelites traveled, with the entrances being made of linen. (Aholiab was a man known of God)
1.) The Lord knows the heart of every man, woman and child. God called him Aholiab by name. He knows where you live and work, just as Yeshua appeared in Acts 9 to instruct Saul of Tarsus to go to Strait Street to the house of a tanner. Aholiab was a sanctified man, consecrated to the work of the Lord, and the Spirit of God came upon both him and Bezalel. Consecrated men are not to be left to themselves, to labor in the ability that they have within themselves or to act out of their own ideas and personal dictates. The Spirit of God came upon him. Why? There was a God given pattern to be carried out. Even the most devoted people, devoted to the cause of Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ cannot do the Lord’s work out of themselves, without the moment by moment anointing of the Spirit of the Lord. Each facet of our lives in the Lord are just that strategic.
The white curtains surrounding the Tabernacle tells us to “keep out, keep out, keep out”.
The colorful Door or Gate attracts us to come in, and there is only one Door we can enter in. There’s no back door, no side door. We can’t dig under the fence. There is only one way in and one way out: through the Gate that faces east.
The Gate faces east, where the sun rises. Also, no matter where you were in the camp, you could see, possibly even smell the Shekinah Glory that was released from the Holy of Holies. Exodus 13:21 “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night”. This describes the Shekinah. It was there before the Tabernacle was built, but when Moses gave the blueprint for the Tabernacle to be built, the Shekinah dwelt there.
Exodus 40:34 “Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle.”
MY ADVENTURES IN JESUS-LAND
Hi, my name is Audrey Church McIntyre and I’m the senior leader of House of Good Hope in Hartford. I’ve written many articles here in the past, but have never written what I consider a formal “blog”. As one of my goals for this year, today, January 1, 2019 I’m starting this blog. This will be about what I call my “Adventures in Jesus-Land”: My personal and ministry walk with the Lord.
My prayer is that you join with me and pray for me as I share my heart with you?
Many years ago the Lord had laid it on my heart to write a book about my spiritual journey. Over the years I’ve written notes in many various places, filled many journals and books with all that I’ve been hearing from the Lord. But the notes were never organized and the book never fully came into fruition. My sister – a web designer and teacher on how to use social media – has been encouraging me to write a blog, One thing she said that especially struck my heart is this: “If you start a blog and faithfully write in it daily, by the end of the year your book would be written.” So here it is, the start of a new year, 1-1-19. Wouldn’t this be a great time to start a blog? I don’t know if I can do this daily, but if I write even just a weekly or monthly blog, this book may finally be born! Whoever reads this, please pray for me? Pray that I be consistent in this new adventure? I’ve started many projects including a YouTube channel, but have never followed through. As you join with me in this journey through my blogging, pray that a book would be born?
Here’s my story:
I’ve always had a passion for Jesus since the day I fully surrendered my life to Him. There was a holy hunger that consumed me. I was madly, passionately in love with the Lord ever since I gave my life to Him and this was never a half-way thing for me. I belonged to Jesus and He belonged to me! That day so long ago, July 22, 1978 was the beginning of a lifelong wild and crazy adventure, and it hasn’t stopped since. I pray that it never stops until the day I meet my beloved Lord and Savior in heaven. There have been excruciatingly dark times in my life, but I’ve always been given a deep joy and hope that always carried me through.
Over the years I became a single mother, along with all of the financial struggles, hard work and the loneliness that accompanies single motherhood. Those years drove me to press into God even more. Many long, lonely hours were spent in relentless travail and prayer. I pressed into God as never before, because as what Simon Peter once said, where else can I go? Who else can I turn to? Through all of the many hours of prayer, the Lord revealed Himself to me in such sweet miraculous ways! I started a small weekly prayer group in my home, and invited my friends to join me in pursuing the Lord through worship and prayer. As we prayed, the Lord started speaking to me about my laying everything down and entering into full-time ministry. He told me He was raising me up in leadership, that what was to be birthed through me would affect the 4 corners of the world. I was astounded when I first started hearing this. I certainly didn’t look like someone the Lord wanted to use in that capacity! I’m a poor single mother, twice divorced. I didn’t think leaders or for that fact, anyone in the organized church ever took me seriously. And the Lord was speaking this….. to me!
One day at sunrise one of my prayer partners and I were prayerwalking a local school as we usually did the weekend before school started. We would pray for the teachers, the schools – for their protection and the Lord would permeate the school grounds. This time Holy Spirit – the Ruach Ha Kodesh came to us as we prayed and He overwhelmed both of us. We both had to hang onto a nearby fence in order to remain upright, His Presence was so heavy upon us!
I heard Holy Spirit ask one question to me:
“Are you willing?”
I wasn’t even sure exactly what the Lord was asking me to do at that time, what it would look like or where I was to go. But whatever it was, I knew it was BIG!!! I told God I was a twice-divorced woman, a single mother with no money. And no one took me seriously! How could I do whatever He was asking me to do? Even though I wasn’t quite sure what was asked of me, I knew it was going to be huge, even worldwide. I was so painfully aware of how incapable I was to accomplish this, whatever it was. I was painfully aware that I couldn’t do it.
Then I heard the question again:
“Are you willing?”
I then raised my hands and said: “Yes Lord, I am willing”. At that moment a heavy burden for the lost overwhelmed my heart. Later that day I was at a store and broke out in tears, on the verge of travailing prayer. The store was packed with people, but how many of them know Jesus? I felt so incapable, yet my heart ached for their souls. I knew at that moment I felt just a small taste of how the Lord’s heart breaks for those who don’t know Him. At that time I wasn’t called to evangelize. I was called to pray.
STARTING HOUSES OF PRAYER
In 2001, the LORD called me to build Him a house of prayer. He kept saying this to me over and over whenever I prayed: “Build ME a House of Prayer”. In 2004, the Lord revealed this house of prayer was to be located in Hartford and it’s name is to be HOUSE OF GOOD HOPE. At about that time I discovered that was the original name of the city of Hartford when it was an old Dutch fort located on the banks of the Connecticut River. I knew that I knew that I knew there was to be a house of prayer in Hartford, Connecticut’s state capital and it was to prophetically take on the original name of it’s settlement. Hartford was to rediscover it’s destiny – it is called to be a city of hope….good hope……GOD’s hope. I saw this as an “intercessory assignment” and began praying it in, asked the Lord to raise up someone who would start this house of prayer. Little did I know the person God wanted to raise up was me! Again I tried to argue with the Lord about His choice. I’m not the “right kind” of person to lead a house of prayer! I’m a poor middle-aged woman who no one took seriously. I didn’t see myself as a good leader, in fact I didn’t even know how to be a leader. Especially a leader of a house of prayer! But the Lord made it very clear to me that I was to move to Hartford and I was to start this house of prayer. Over the years I was given many prophetic words, even those who were my spiritual leaders and authorities asked me when am I moving to Hartford? So, even though I don’t like cities, and especially didn’t like Hartford, in 2005 I sold my home in Stafford and moved to Bloomfield. I felt I needed to move into Hartford by degrees. I needed to get used to this. I was alone, my daughter was in college at that time and the city frightened me. Hartford, with it’s crime and poverty, and not being a “white” city scared me. I’m a country girl from the Midwest, this was something totally out of my paradigm.
In 2007, I was shown a house on Brown Street, and used all of my money to buy it. A house of prayer was finally born in Hartford! I didn’t know how to bring people in and spent many hours praying alone. Every time I did, I declared: “Lord, there is now a House of Prayer in Hartford and there is someone praying in it, even if it’s only me!”
In 2012 HOUSE OF GOOD HOPE was born
I knew I needed to learn how to run a house of prayer, but at that time there were not a lot of manuals written to teach us how to do it. There also were no other prayer houses in Connecticut that I knew of. Where was I going to learn how to do this? Here I am, alone in doing this and not knowing who to ask for help or how to learn to do it. So I started to visit other houses of prayer outside of New England, spent most of my time reading books and watching video teachings from Mike Bickle and the International House of Prayer in Kansas City (IHOPKC). Almost every house of prayer I encountered used the “harp & bowl” format of worship and intercession that came out of IHOPKC . When I visited other houses of prayer, I saw how they all patterned their prayer “sets” or prayer meetings after IHOPKC. They all had at least one prayer meeting using the harp & bowl format of worship and intercession. I love this format, it is so beautiful! It seemed to flow and encourage prayer sets & meetings to last for hours. I saw how it worked for them and I desperately wanted something similar in House of Good Hope. There was such a great longing in me for the harp & bowl format of worship and intercession, I carried this longing inside me for years.
BUT I HAD ONE BIG PROBLEM
Problem is: harp & bowl never worked here, not at House of Good Hope. We don’t have musicians, even though we prayed (and are still praying!) for the Lord to bring them in. Musicians have come and gone during different seasons, but no one stayed. No one caught the vision or had the heart to help with building this house of prayer. The Lord also revealed to me that I’m not to lead worship even though I had been a church worship leader in the past. I’m not to learn to play a guitar or a keyboard, in fact I wasn’t allowed to even purchase a guitar or keyboard for others to use to lead worship. The only thing I’m to do is continue to use YouTube or worship cds. So we continue to pray for musicians. We’ve been praying for musicians for years, and even though we’ve had visiting musicians come in and out, no one stayed. No one became part of House of Good Hope. No one had a vision for this house of prayer or wanted to partner with us in this work. The harp & bowl format really never took off here on a consistent basis. We’ve held many powerful prayer meetings with visiting musicians on special occasions, but that’s it. Also, when musicians did come to lead us, It never was true harp & bowl, just variations and mostly prophetic worship. No one stayed. I wanted musicians so much! I wanted someone to lead us into the Presence of God. I would have even taken a teenager who knew only 2 chords on a guitar! But for some reason no musicians came, and if they did come, they didn’t stay or partner with us. They all left after very short seasons.
NEW REVELATION / NEW SEASON
On my way to church one Sunday morning, I suddenly felt a huge urge to repent. In fact, my heart was so tenderized, I wanted to pull over so I could have a good cry. But I was on the highway, almost to church and was running late. After I got to the church, I took out my notebook and wrote down all that I was hearing the Lord say to me. Tears came to my eyes as I wrote this:
“Audrey, stop trying to copy someone else’s format and someone else’s blueprint of a house of prayer. I want to give you a NEW blueprint, but you keep trying to copy others! Do not use what others have done. Your house of prayer is called to be different. You are called to be unique. Dare to be different. Dare to imagine! Dare to be unique!.
I am redesigning you. I am redesigning House of Prayer, the whole House of Prayer movement. Would you dare to go in a different way…..for ME??
Use what I am giving you. I am opening a door to show you what I am calling you to do. Would you dare to go through that open door? Would you dare to be different? Do you have the courage to be unique?
I’m giving you a blueprint for prayer. Look in MY Word for the blueprint. Look at the Tabernacle. This is MY blueprint. This is the blueprint I had designed and I gave it to Moses. Now I give this to you.
The harp & bowl blueprint is what I gave to someone else. This prayer model is from ME, and yes, it’s beautiful, powerful and effective. But I did not give it to you, I gave it to someone else. I am now giving something different to you. Would you dare to use it? Do you have the courage to develop it? Do you have the courage to break the mold?
Develop the Tabernacle format of worship, prayer and intercession. Take it further. Use it.
Behold I’ve given you Bible verses to use in the Tabernacle. I will give you more. Tabernacle prayer and worship is throughout My word but it has yet to be fully discovered by My people. Will you go on a treasure hunt with Me? Will you be willing to look for this, use this and teach it to your people?
Take your people into the Tabernacle. Take your people into the Holy of Holies. I DARE you to use this! I will show you how to use this. Take it further than Cho. Dare to use this in every prayer that you lead.
• I am giving this to you. • It is My gift to you. • Steward this well. • Develop this well.
It is MY Gift and I give it to you. Use it.
DR. CHO’S TABERNACLE PRAYER PATTERN
Over the last several years I’ve used many different prayer patterns as I lead prayer – from John Eckhardt and Cindy Trimm’s prophetic declaration and spiritual warfare models to the Courts of Heaven. I even used ancient prayer models such as contemplative prayer or Lectio Divina.
One of the prayer models we used was developed by Dr Yongghi Cho in South Korea, called the “Tabernacle Prayer”. This is an anointed prayer revealed by Holy Spirit to Dr. David Yongghi Cho. Dr Cho is the pastor of Yoido Full Gospel, a Korean church that is one of the largest churches in the world today with over 4 million members. God revealed this prayer to Dr. Cho over 50 years ago in the country of Formosa when he was teaching ministers how to preach and how to pray. He says that prayer is like “jogging: you decide the course or track to follow before you start.” He’s a strong believer in the use of prayer patterns or prayer models on a daily basis. He believes we all need some sort of prayer structure to keep us focused. “You cannot pray effectively unless you decide the course to take”. Now Dr. Cho attributes the success of his 50 years of ministry efforts to faithfully worshipping God and praying using the Tabernacle format during his devotional times. He’s taught this prayer model to many others, including Marilyn Hickey.
In my next blog, I will start sharing what Holy Spirit has been teaching us on how to use the Tabernacle Prayer model and what has happened when we use it.
Again I ask whoever reads this, please pray for me?
CT Capitol Prayer Walkers April 2018 Newsletter Robin Hansen, Lucy Snow – Team Leaders
Praise God and thank you for your faithfulness in praying for our state … and there is a lot happening! First … we are revamping the ministry of the CT Capitol Prayer Walkers. Nothing dramatic – just tidying up a little. For over 10 years, Lucy Snow has been the Coordinator of this ministry. She has done an incredible job, but it is a lot of work, so as of 2018, Robin Hansen will be co-coordinating with Lucy. Robin has been a prayer walker for over 4 years & is thrilled and excited to come alongside & partner with Lucy to help share these responsibilities. In the next couple of months, we will be creating a new brochure, hosting a “Info Session” at the Capitol, renovating our web page on the House of Good Hope’s website, and doing a radio interview on Christian Radio Station WIHS, 104.9FM. Details to follow… We will also be creating a newsletter that will contain current prayer needs and other information. The Newsletter will probably be every other month (we’ll see) And … we are working on a Facebook page – stay tuned!! 2018 provides a unique & powerful opportunity as all of the following are up for election:
ALL 151 seats in the State House of Representatives ALL 36 seats in the State Senate All 6 State Constitutional Offices: Governor & Lieutenant Governor Secretary of the State State Comptroller, Treasurer & Atty General ALL 5 of Connecticut’s U.S. Representatives PRAY – Get the word out about this – VOTE
67th Annual National Day of Prayer Thursday, May 3, 2018
National Day of Prayer events will take place in over 160 locations throughout our state & throughout the day at various times. Get involved & tell others! Attend one of more events and make a public witness for Jesus! For the nearest location(s) to you visit www.nationaldayofprayer.org CONNECTICUT PRAYS – This is part of New England Prays, the Prayer Initiative to have New England covered in prayer 24/7/365 until Jesus returns. The goal is to have our state covered in prayer by uniting churches across Connecticut to participate. There are currently over 25 churches across our state that are involved! Maybe YOUR church wants to get involved? For more information &/or to get your church involved, visit www.ctprays.org
CT Capitol Prayer Breakfast – On Tuesday, April 24th the Connecticut Capitol Prayer Network, along with several State Senators, are hosting the Connecticut Capitol Prayer Breakfast at the State Capitol. All State Senators and State Legislators are being mailed official invitations. (this event is not open to the public) Personally invite YOUR Legislators by writing a note, sending an email or calling their office — they are much more encouraged to attend if they are personally invitedby the very people they represent!! Prayer Points 1. PRAY God will raise up bold, born-again Christians to serve in our State Government!! 2. PRAY Christians will spread the word about this year’s election & VOTE!! 3. PRAY for supernatural intervention at each event on the National Day of Prayer! And for great weather!! 4. PRAY hundreds of churches across CT will get involved with Connecticut Prays!! 5. PRAY every state citizen personally invites their Representatives AND that every single state legislator attends the breakfast & joins as we pray in the Name of Jesus!! 6. PRAY God’s protection and wisdom for Peter Wolfgang and the Family Institute of CT. 7. PRAY for God’s protection for local Christian Radio Station WIHS – 104.9FM. PRAY for His wisdom and guidance for the WIHS Board of Directors!
Please feel free to submit your suggestions, ideas & input for the CT Capitol Prayer Walkers. Email us at ctprayerwalkers@gmail.com Connecticut Capitol Prayer Walkers is a ministry of House of Good Hope/Hartford House of Prayer. For more information visit www.hartfordprayer.com
“.…And who knows whether you have not come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14b (RSV)
Last Saturday night at the conference I attended, the worship was so exquisite! In fact, the atmosphere of the room became more of an intercessory worship more than just a congregation in worship, loving on Jesus. We all began to scream, cry out, dance and sing our prayers & intercession. It was raw, noisy and raucous and wonderful! I’ve been in that place many times before, mostly with the group of people I was with that night. Many of us have been friends and prayer partners for years, some for decades. The sanctuary was filled with intercessors with a burdened passion to pray for the next Great Awakening in New England. We all were of one heart, one mind, one spirit. I cried out , begged the Lord to increase my passion for prayer. I asked the Lord again to put a birthing travailaing prayer for New England back in my gut. Over the years I found that I’ve grown tired, bitter and cold. I found that I was better at organizing prayer rather than entering into the place of deep intercession. But that is not where I want to be. I know that the Lord wants to take me into the deeper places of intercession: to be prayer rather than to “do” prayer. Organizing another prayer meeting won’t do it. Teaching on prayer won’t do it. I need to pray. I need to travail in prayer. I know the Lord has been calling me to this, but somewhere along the line I got burned out. My cry has been “RE-FIRE ME Lord!” I need that passion, that burning passion back in my gut again.
A few years ago the Lord had me study the process it takes to be an excellent marathon runner. My daughter at that time was training to run the half-marathon and she shared her experiences with me every step of the way. Through her sharing this with me, I heard God’s voice. I heard and began to understand that this thing that I’ve spent my life doing is going to be a lifetime work. I need to know that one short prayer meeting is not going to bring in revival. It’s going to take a lifetime of prayer. There is no magic formula for this. There will be years of hard work, little or no recognition, and many many tears of intercession. I need to be trained well in this. I need to learn the value of living in constant repentance, and constant humility. Many will not understand what I’m doing or why I’m doing what I’m doing, they may even try to tell me not to waste my time. They may even make fun of me. But no matter what, I’m to continue in prayer and intercession, no matter if I have to do this alone. The years have been long,and it has been exhausting. And, as in a marathon, I know the culmination is about to come. I also know that it gets even more exhausting just before we reach the finish line. I must not give up. What I’ve been praying and travailing for in intercession is about to break through! I cannot quit yet. I also cannot coast or be half-hearted. I cannot organize another prayer meeting and rely on the others to do the praying for me. I must run this race to the end.
That was the cry of my heart Saturday night. I found myself face-down on the floor, prostrate in worship and in prayer. It’s been a long time since I’ve been at the front of a church face-down on the carpet. It felt good! As I was lying on the floor, I suddenly felt something covering my legs. Someone dropped a “cover cloth” on me. As it hit my legs, the Lord told me this was His prayer mantle He was placing on me. This was His “tallit”. He was giving me His mantle of intercession and travail once again. A sweet sense of peace overwhelmed me! Even though I had been “slacking”, the Lord has not forgotten me! The Lord has not turned aside looking for others to do what He has called me to do. I heard the Lord calling me once again to the place of intercession and travail that He placed in me when I first moved to Connecticut almost 31 years ago. It seems so many years ago that I had to pull over to the side of the road as I was driving because I was crying in travail so deeply for this state, for these people!
Because of the Lord’s word, it was a little disappointing to see that it was just a “cover cloth” many churches have, not actually a tallit that covered my legs. But the cloth was a brilliant red filled with sparkles. Somehow I had a sense there was something to the color, at first I didn’t quite get it. The next morning I was listening to John Paul Jackson as I traveled to another prayer gathering. He said the color red was the color of anointing. I didn’t know that! How reassuring! So there was a glittering RED tallit covering me! A re-establishment of anointing!
So, dear intercessor, to all of you who are reading this: Be encouraged in and through all of your prayer and intercession. You are not forgotten! This intercessory ministry at times may be hard, difficult, even lonely. But the Lord has called you to a special place. You are “famous” in the eyes of the Lord rather than famous in the eyes of man. That’s a uniquely special place to be! Also remember that the most powerful position you can ever hold is flat on your face in deep intercession. People may not know what you’re doing, but God does. Great is your reward in heaven!
Wherever you are…..keep praying! Do not stop! In fact, increase your prayer. Pick up the pace a bit. The finish line is within sight! The answer to your intercession is right there!
As we pray for the city of Hartford, we were given a mandate by the Lord to pray for the street gangs in the city. There are as many as 12-27 gangs in Hartford alone that we know about. Below is a list of the gangs we’ve been praying for:
NorthSide / North End:Blue Hills / Bloody Hills / Chappelle Gardens / Tuscan Homes (Montville) / Backyards (Soldier City) / Albany / Money Green Gang (Bedroc/Bedford Gardens, Magnolia Side) / and more
East Hartford: Deerfield Park Projects / Burn Side Zone 1-4 / Wickham Gardens (Wick Town / Parkview Gardens) / Easton Projects
SouthSide / South End: Los Solidos (Franklin Ave / South Green Park) / Zion Hill (Trig Town / Park Terrace) / Netas / Latin Kings (New Britian Ave) / Sur 13 (Sur Side) / Flatbush Mob / and more
West End: Orange Street / Park Ville / Cap Town / New Park
The video below was made a few years ago, it gives you an idea on how dangerous some of these gangs are, especially how the youth get drawn into them Watch it as you pray for our capital city.
The following prayer points was written by Lucy Snow, one of the House of Good Hope intercessors. Use these prayer points as you pray for Connecticut’s state government:
PRAYER POINTS FOR CONNECTICUT’S GOVERNMENT
Psalm 18:49 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.
Psalm 21:13 Be exalted in your strength, Lord; we will sing and praise your might.
Nehemiah 1:5-7New International Version (NIV) 5 Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
Zechariah 1:17: Cry yet, saying Thus said the Lord of Hosts, My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
Lord you are the giver of life! We declare and decree this is your word! It is written that you give life and you have defeated the power of death.
John 10:10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it tothefull.
PRAYER POINTS:
Father Lord, by your mighty power, by the power in the Blood of Jesus, Fire of Holy Ghost, scatter and destroy any hindering spirit around us, in the name of Jesus.
Father Lord, scatter and destroy the power of devouring spirit and limitation, in the name of Jesus.
Father Lord, any decree made upon destroying of life, let it be revoked in Jesus’ name.
We declare in the blood of Jesus you have defeated death on the cross!
Father Lord, let our lives be anointed and washed by your blood to lead me to peaceful places, in the name of Jesus.
Father Lord, release the spirit of carpenter upon us to destroy the horns of enemies, in the name of Jesus.
Any decree to cause satanic road-block in our way of breakthrough, be scattered by the blood of Jesus. We declare and decree you have broken all satanic power.
Father Lord, come and be our shepherd, to keep us together and save us from thieves, in Jesus’ name.
Every satanic or collective power that wants to scatter what I have gathered, I command you to fall down and die, in the name of Jesus.
Association of evil gang-up or witchcraft power to cause derailment in our lives; scatter by the blood of Jesus and in His powerful name.
Lord we worship you and pray that you lead us to repentance, give us your revelation and guidance. We seek to partner with you, we want to see your kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven for your glory and our good.
Thank you that in worship we can put aside the uncertainties of this world and rest upon the certainties of the Kingdom for your promises are not changeable as those of a Statesmen might be but immovable and eternal.
Thank you that we can bring to your feet all the hurts and fears that trouble us and leave them there
knowing that your strength and assurance are all that we require
Thank you that as we draw near in worship we are transported from a world of concerns and fears
to a place where we can be at peace in your presence find healing, wholeness and refreshment.
We praise you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All honor and glory belong to our GOD! Amen.
