From Kara: Last Friday we had our orientation for IHOP and we will begin to have a full week of our regular schedule this upcoming week beginning Tuesday, July 6th. Mondays will be our Sabbath and we will be at IHOP Tuesday through Sunday, in the prayer room, going through teachings with our group (about 75+ people) and being involved in helping out around the house of prayer.
Thanks to Drew Pick (one of our friends at Imago Dei Vancouver, our home church in Washington) who unknowingly inspired our title for this blog. I laughed when he termed IHOP "International House of Prayercakes," as a combination of IHOP the pancake house and IHOP the prayer house :). Wit and humor included, I thought this is a great title! And to draw even more depth out of this clever term, "prayercakes" brought to mind the image of the Lord providing manna from heaven for the Israelites as they were positioned in the wilderness. As the Lord provided these "cakes" from heaven for his people, so my prayer is that we can offer worship/praise/proclamations of His worthiness back to God in this season.
All that to say, Drew Pick, you are a funny, funny man.
I find my heart in a tough place and not so easily drawn into the atmosphere of surrender and grace that IHOP provides. The leaders at IHOP are true servants and have a passion and fire for the Lord that is encouraging during this season. The fast paced, task focused track that I have been on for the past few years seems to have made my heart less pliable than I thought. I know the Lord will be working on softening and opening me to himself, but it will take some time. I guess that's why John Piper fittingly described prayer as an act of waiting. My old "friends" Anxiety, Doubt, and Comfort still call from the corners of my mind and tempt me to sit with them for awhile. Lord, please help me to find company in the rest of your arms and be content with waiting under the shadow of your wing.
Friends and family, thanks for walking with us during this time. We love you all and as the Lord walks with each of you, let us know how we can be of support through intercession on your behalf.
Glad you guys made it there safely, it sounds like a really cool thing to be involved in and I'll be excited to hear more through your blog about what you're learning. Thanks for offering to pray, I'll email you some requests and take you up on it. It seems like a pretty sure bet to get prayed for :)
ReplyDeleteoh wow, all of the many things to get involved in our age, and you two move to KC to be used in a prayer community. Prayercakes = yum. Every time I now eat pancakes (more often than you think) I'll pray God does use you mightily there, and uses your hearts to share love in your daily interactions, and lets you see more of the glimpses of his beauty. I heard an interesting thought this week from a pastor at Bethel Church. He shared the verse "and the train of his robe fills the temple with glory..." and how the word "fills" literally means "has completely filled, and yet is still filling," which means Gods glory is here in the fullest extent we can imagine, yet...he's still entering the room with more of his presence. haha.
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