Kansas City, Here I Come!
Sorry, it's going to be all camera phone, folks.
Welcome to those of you who haven’t visited my blog before. Esther’s is a place for discussion about women and faith. Anyone’s welcome to read and comment (comments are moderated). Just as a refresher, Esther’s is based on the story in the Book of Esther (in the Bible), about a common girl from a barely tolerated people group who wound up becoming a queen. In the process of her preparation to meet the king of Persia, who wanted to choose a new queen, she was part of a harem of women all undergoing a year of intense beauty treatments and training in courtly life. We imagine it must have had its perks, but that daily life must have been as mundane as ours in a certain sense. We also imagine that lots of talk went on about, well, being women, about spiritual matters, and what they observed in the world around them. That’s the essence of the blog as well. By way of reminder, also, you are welcome to submit articles for consideration. I’m not the only blogger on the column. The most valuable thing, though is the discussion that happens in the comments area. So go ahead–join us! (If you’re shy, you can write in “anonymous”.)
Well, I’m beginning a 4 or 5 part daily series blogging my trip here in Kansas City at IHOP–Prayer, not Pancakes. :) I won’t go too deep in explaining it, but you can read more about IHOP here. In short, it’s a 24 hour, 7 day a week prayer “furnace” that has been running for almost 10 years without a stop. Prayer takes place in the context of musical worship, which is incredibly enjoyable and sustainable. My husband and I came here a year ago for some training in a certain model of leading musical worship, and we (and our kids) fell in love with it. Ben and I did several overnight “night watches”, praying through the night fairly effortlessly for 10, 11, 12 hours at a stretch and hating to go back to the hotel, other than the need for, you know, sleep. You might think of IHOP as a modern monastic movement–it’s not a church, and you can visit here as freely as you want to, but there is a community of folks that dedicate themselves to a life of prayer and service (the service coming out of a life of intimate communion with God).
I’m here on this trip partly because I simply was aching to come back (I’ve always had a touch of the monastic urge in me…and yes, some orders allow marriage…I never planned to be celibate, thank goodness!), but also because I had read about an even called a Prophetic Evangelism Summit. This appealed to me, because when I met the Man Christ Jesus almost 16 years ago, I knew that if others could only meet Him, they would find the freedom that I did. Hence the Evangelism component–sharing the “evangel”, or “good news”. I’ve even had the immense privilege of putting others’ hands in His hand a few times, and I am so grateful. But I want to get better at it. The Prophetic component has to do with listening to what the Lord might be saying for the person one is sharing that good news with–in other words, bringing it to a personal level, not a formulaic one, where the person really understands that this is about a relationship with a God who is pursuing them, not “signing people up” for a “religion”. And to be someone who operates prophetically, involves training oneself to listen keenly for the Lord’s voice, which is why this whole thing takes place in the context of saturating prayer.
Well, the Summit was cancelled, so I called the Evangelism department and asked whether they might allow me to tag along with them anyway, which they graciously allowed. So that is what I am going to do, starting tomorrow at 10 am. Stay tuned! I’ll also try to Twitter a bit, too. So right now it’s a bite to eat in their terrific cafe, and then a nice time in the Prayer Room until the painkiller wears off from my lower back injury. Ahhh…we shall see! Good night for now!
(PS, if you are ever considering visiting IHOP, I recommend the guest apartments. They are very reasonable, very clean and have more amenities than one of those DIY hotels. They also have a pool and playground.)
April 16th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I pray you will be blessed during your time with the Lord at IHOP!