Presence Pioneers: A Worship, Prayer and Revival Podcast

In this episode, Matthew goes over the lessons for how to pray in the Lord's Prayer with his 12 year old.

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

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MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

1. Praise - "Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name"

This is a space for coming into God's presence with thanksgiving and praise.

2. Intercession - "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done"

Intercession is praying for others first, before yourself.

3. Petition - "Give us this day our daily bread"

This is where you ask for what you need - in Jesus' example, He has it 3rd in line, even though this is the only type of prayer a lot of people are aware of. It's also not just about physical needs - more often we need some emotional or mental needs met, and He is able to do it!

4. Repentance - "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us"

This is where "if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive them". This is also a good place to let go of offenses that have piled up!

5. Spiritual Warfare - "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"

This is where you can take an active role in the spiritual battles happening in your life.

6, Praise (again!) - For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the Glory forever and ever"

This is a space to re-center your heart. it can be more prayers, or it can be music, or some other expression of praise between you and God.

Shiloh's take-away advice is not to worry about exactly what you say - God's happy you're talking to Him! Matthew comments that He likes how Shiloh prays because it's very natural, like talking to a friend, to which Shiloh says "Well, He is a friend."

In today's episode, Matthew gets to interview Ray Hughes, worshiper and teacher for many decades. Ray has inspired many, including Matthew, who first heard of the Tabernacle of David from Ray.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

Ray's Website • https://www.rayhughes.org/

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL • http://eepurl.com/gfw9vH

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

To start off, Matthew asks Ray if King David was the first person ever to form a band,sort of as a joke - but of course Ray knows the answer- it was Samuel! He formed what was called a "band of prophets", which would've been a group of musicians, walking in a straight line and worshiping into the atmosphere. David would definitely have been influenced by this set up!

Next, Matthew brings up Ray's book, 107 Things I Forgot to Say the Last Time I Talked About Worship, Creativity, and Music. Ray's first point in the book is "If we change the way the Church thinks about music and worship, we'll change the way the World encounters God". Matthew asks simply, why is that the case? Ray says we've learned everything we know about music from more Greek lineages, instead of Biblical ones. He believes there is a lot we're missing about what David's worship actually looked like. True biblical worship reveals truths about God.

One of the things Ray is known for is his pursuit of Creativity in worship - Matthew quotes this book again, number 34 - "You think you're not creative, but you are. You may not be artistic, but you're creative." So what's the difference? Ray puts it this way - Art is not decoration; art is exploration. He argues that we wrongly believe that perfectionism and excellence are the same thing - but they're not! Everything God created, creates. It's not about what you produce - it's about walking through the process and being in partnership with the Creator.

When it comes to worship and the Church specifically, Matthew wonders if Ray has suggestions for bringing creativity into those environments. Ray says it's about building a sense of community where there can be an authentic and humble atmosphere. As he puts it, we're worshiping God, not tip-toeing through the tithers. It can be a challenge to pastor creative people, he admits, but it's where the Church needs to go.If you see the manifest presence of God, Ray says, I challenge you to go away unchanged!

In Ray's experience, in 50 years of being in church, Matthew asks what is happening now. He sees a lot of it moving in seasons, but warns that worship is NOT seasonal - it's eternal. He sees a tendency to copy and paste cultural truths into our services and beliefs. He points out that the Church is typically 20 years behind the world in creativity, and we need to be more open to trusting the creativity in the Church to take that back. What he warns about happening is the casualness of modern Church, where we forget who God is, and downplay His Holiness and Majesty.

Last question - Matthew asks Ray what he'd say to himself 45 years ago as a young guy starting out in ministry. Ray says the main thing is that ministry is never about success - it's about sacrifice. If you know that going in, you'll face a lot less disappointment when a dream doesn't come true. But, he says, dreams don't have to come true to be valuable. God will use those dreams to give you hope and sustain you through the dark times. He says he seldom knows what's next, but he knows it starts with him saying yes.

In today's episode, Matthew interviews Dick Eastman, international president of Every Home for Christ.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

Every Home for Christ • http://everyhome.org

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL • http://eepurl.com/gfw9vH

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

Every Home for Christ actually started in the 1940's in Canada as a radio show! At the time, people were more likely to be handed communist pamphlets than a piece of Christian literature, and this radio show host wanted to change that. Then, on a missions trip in Japan, the founder of Every Home noticed that for every one person they could engage, ten got past them. Seeking God for help, they were pointed to Acts, where the disciples preached the gospel in the temple courtyard and "from house to house" - and their ministry blueprint was set.

Matthew first asks Dick how we should be praying right now, looking at the crisis in Afghanistan. He says first of all, to actually pray! Just thinking about praying isn't enough. He says that we need to pray for the protection of the Christians there, since they are a direct threat to the Taliban's way of thinking. We should pray that God can take this curse and tun it into a blessing. He believes we are in a battle spiritually, and we need to show up and pray.

Next, Matthew asks Dick to share something encouraging from their ministry. Dick says openly that in April 2020, they had to really look at their ministry's supplies and finances and wonder if they would even exist by the end of the year. Covid initially knocked down some of their supporters' businesses, and made it hard to replenish printed supplies. But as time went on, they realized that while most officials we scared to travel and provide transportation, their staff and volunteers were ready to go. They were able to help in practical ways, like transporting medical staff, while also being allowed to share the gospel everywhere they went.

Going from there, Matthew says he's curious to know more about the Prayer Corps that Dick started. In the 60's, as the Jesus Movement was breaking out, Dick was a youth pastor in California. They were seeing growth, and seeing kids get saved, but he felt like there was something else they needed to do. He organized a prayer retreat up in the mountains for any of the youth that were interested. Only 22 signed up, but he went ahead anyway. It started normal and awkward, but God broke through and these 13-17 year olds got caught up in all night intercession! The Prayer Corps was born out of this youth group - the calling was to take a year between high school and college and sustain a year of night and day prayer. The Change the World School that came out of the Prayer Corps went on to touch future leaders like Mike Bickle and Lou Engle!

So looking ahead - Matthew asks "Where do we go from here?" Dick insists that we need to pray consistently, not just count on "crisis prayers". He recalls a time in prayer where he felt burdened by all the things NOT happening in the world because people weren't praying. He decided then he'd memorize all the nations of the world so he could pray for them every day - and he has. His encouragement to those in the prayer movement is to actually pray! And to those not in the prayer movement who have a heart for prayer, he encourages you to find like-minded people to join in with. He also suggests diving into books on prayer, to read the stories of those who have gone before, to "pour gasoline" on your fire.

In this short teaching, Matthew discusses our two options in prayer according to Matthew 6 - to please people, or to please God.

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL • http://eepurl.com/gfw9vH

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

Something that stands out to Matthew as we look at Matthew 6 and what Jesus says about prayer, is the emphasis on a secret place. He believes that there is a real need (especially for worshipers ) to cultivate intimacy with God through this secret place.

In this passage, Jesus really gets into HOW we should pray. There is a temptation to get prideful and self-righteous if we devote ourselves to prayer - but the correct posture is always humility. The challenge is, simply, that it's hard. We feel weak, or get bored, or get antsy - and that's where our pride starts to die. That's where Jesus can step in and satisfy. There's a promise in Matthew 6 that you will receive your reward when you pray in the secret place, and Matthew believes that reward is the Father Himself.

We may go through seasons where we feel overlooked or abandoned, but when we are finding our joy in the secret place with Jesus, we know that God sees us. He never overlooks us. Think of David, totally alone on the hills in the obscurity of being just another shepherd boy - his own father didn't think of him when Samuel came to anoint the new king! But God had not overlooked him. He was prepared in that season of solitude to step into His very public calling.

When we reach a place of intimacy with God from the secret place, it doesn't matter if anyone ever sees us. We're set free from all other ambition and worry, because we know we're a son or daughter and our Father is pleased.

When Jesus talks about the vain repetition or empty phrases, He's not saying to pray less. He's pointing out that we don't have to earn our way into God's presence. He's made the way for us, and we can simply come in. Trying to earn God's favor through "praying harder" is pride. Jesus does teach us in other passages to press in and be persistent, but that's about spending time with your Father, not getting to Him.

Jesus goes on to say that God knows what we need before we ask, and most people would go from there to say "well, then, we don't need to pray" - but Jesus does the opposite. He goes on to say "therefore, pray like this" - and gives us The Lord's Prayer. When we can come humbly to God like a loved child, we are set free from pride if people exalt us, and pain if they reject us. That's the power of the secret place.

In today's episode, Matthew goes over 5 benefits of fasting regularly. Fasting is catching on as a way of eating in our culture for health reasons, but Matthew has some spiritual benefits as well.

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL • http://eepurl.com/gfw9vH

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

For the purposes of this talk, Matthew points out that fasting in the Bible typically means not eating food. There's a place for giving up things like TV or social media, but that wasn't the biblical context. Also, he submits that this is normal Christianity - not just for the extreme people. In Matthew 6, Jesus lumps fasting in with serving and praying, as a typical part of daily life.

So, on to the benefits:

1. Intimacy with God. Fasting is a way of drawing closer to God. It's not just to get breakthrough or answers to prayer (although those are good things and often do happen), it's about gaining intimacy with God as our Father and Jesus as our bridegroom.

2. Hunger for God. Something that happens when you're hungry physically on a fast is that out of that discomfort and dissatisfaction, God can bring comfort and satisfaction that causes us to want more of Him.

3. It Sustains and Prepares Us. Matthew references Anna in Luke 2 as a foreshadowing of the Church. Fasting doesn't earn us the good things that come with it, but it does make space so that we can receive those good things that God's been wanting to give us while our hands were full of less valuable things.

4. It Give us Faith. In Matthew 17, the disciples couldn't get the demon to come out, but Jesus showed up and could do it. He rebuked them with the famous words, "some only come out by prayer and fasting". What this suggests is that Jesus was living a lifestyle of prayer and regular fasting, since He was successful at removing the demon. It links the faith to preform miracles with that lifestyle of fasting.

5. It Helps Launch Us into Our Mission. In Acts 13, they were ministering to God with worship, praying and fasting - and that's where Paul and Barnabas were sent out as the first missionaries. When we fast, God can speak into our hearts and also position our hearts for what He's calling us to.

There are many more benefits, and also lots of practical wisdom Matthew could bring to the table for those interested in fasting as a lifestyle. Definitely reach out if this content was helpful to you and you'd like him to do more teaching on this subject!

In this episode, Matthew has a chat with Jeremiah Johnson, founder of The Altar Global and well-known prophet.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

The Altar Global • http://www.thealtarglobal.com

Houses of Glory • https://www.amazon.com/Houses-Glory-Prophetic-Strategies-Entering/dp/0768457335

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL • http://eepurl.com/gfw9vH

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

Jeremiah was raised in a charismatic household with a preacher for a father, so the supernatural was never a weird idea for him. He grew up in that arena and then went on to bible college, starting a church that now has two campuses in Florida, and then moved to the Charlotte, NC area in 2020 and started The Altar Global.

Moving on to Jeremiah's book, Houses of Glory, Matthew asks what prompted this book. It really came out of a burden he feels the Lord gave him for the Church. He began to see the Church being exposed in some weak places, specifically the reliance on leaders instead of God and the celebrity culture that surrounds a lot of pastors and worship leaders. The book is a response to that exposure and what God's solution is.

Next, Matthew asks about King David, and what his significance is to this book and to Jeremiah personally. To Jeremiah, David is a man of one thing. He is a prototype for us. However, what is significant to him is the contrast between David and Saul. Jeremiah sees Saul as a representation of the religious spirit, relying more on his own talent than on God. Within the Church, Jeremiah sees a clear war between the "house of David" and the "house of Saul", which became more heightened during the lockdowns in 2020.

As Jeremiah puts it, Saul had position and David had Presence. And yet, David still had to serve Saul first, before becoming King. There are seasons when a pioneer will have to submit to others, and Jeremiah points out that these seasons are planned by God and are for your good. He urges you to remember that the pain has a purpose, and once you've walked through the pain of a difficult leader, you'll never hurt someone that way when you are the one leading.

So what can a Pioneer do when they're in that "Saul season", when they're still waiting for their vision to be realized? Humility is the name of the game. He submits that the healthiest form of criticism is building something better, instead of tearing down the original. If you don't like the way something is, just focus on what God's given you the grace to build, and let that do the talking.

You also have to build relationships and history in the place you want to pioneer. Reach out to leaders and those who have been in that place for a long time, and just take the first step and go out to lunch or grab coffee. Pioneering is not for the faint of heart, he says, and people may not understand what you're called to, but God will take care of it and you. So instead of being distracted by "Saul", or those who are having success, just lean in to what God has called you to and let Him do what He does.

Lastly, Matthew asks Jeremiah about "upper room DNA". Jeremiah's dad was involved relationally with lots of people who were part of the beginning of IHOP-KC. He remembers family vacations when he was a teenager being going to IHOP and spending time in the prayer room! He believes learning this priestly ministry before the prophetic ministry has helped him through the last season of his life. God is also bringing him "back to his roots" of this priestly lifestyle now. His "prayer movement" friends are the ones who reached out to him when he was under intense scrutiny for the fall out from the 2020 election - as he puts it, his roots reached out to rescue him.

To close, Matthew asks for Jeremiah's thoughts on the focus on Jesus' return in the prayer movement and beyond. Jeremiah's passion for it comes from an encounter in 2018 where he feels God commissioned him to raise up end time leaders, a call he feels he stepped away from when he stepped into politics. Matthew points out that all the scriptures used by the prayer movement to show the necessity of day and night prayer connect that necessity for prayer to the return of Jesus - as he puts it, they're inseparable now. Jeremiah takes it one step farther, that the return of Jesus was at the forefront of everything the original Church did. His vision is that it would be at the forefront of the Church again.

There is a new move on the Earth, with new songs and new connections between Heaven and Earth. In today's episode, Matthew discusses what this spontaneous and prophetic worship really looks like, and what the Bible says about it.

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL • http://eepurl.com/gfw9vH

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

The Bible uses the word "praise" more often than "worship" to describe what we now call worship, but if you look at the original Hebrew, there are actually 7 different words that all end up translated to the English word "praise".

One of these words is "tehillah" - it means "song", but it has a connotation of a spontaneous song. It's often the word used when you see the phrase "sing a new song" in scripture. In Psalm 40, this is the word used to encourage God's people to sing a new song.

What's interesting is that many verses that indicate that God's presence comes when we praise use this word "Tehillah" - spontaneous songs. This would show that biblically, this singing from your heart, new song type of worship brings God's presence in a unique way. It truly engages your heart in a way that a pre-written songs cannot.

So spontaneous worship is just the outpouring of our own hearts, singing a new song straight to God. Prophetic worship is singing God's heart to someone else. The point is not to try to analyze what's spontaneous versus prophetic, or try to conjure up something new - it's simply aligning with God's heart and singing what He wants to sing. It's opening our hearts and spirits, and then opening our mouths.

In Colossians and Ephesians, Paul encourages believers to sing "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs". Matthew believes that these "spiritual songs" are the "tehillah", or the spontaneous songs. Psalms would be singing the Bible, and the hymns would be any pre-written worship song - old or new.

In Ephesians, Paul says to be filled with the Spirit and sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. In Colossians, he says "let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly", and that will bring the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. So it's the Word, or the Bible, and the Holy Spirit that fuel this worship. The scripture gives us language, and the Spirit empowers us to sing God's heart.

It's not just a new thing that some charismatic churches invented - this is completely Biblical, Old and New Testament, and it's a way God longs to connect His heart with the hearts of His people.

***More resources for worship leaders, singers and musicians***

The Ultimate Guide to Spontaneous & Prophetic Worship (ARTICLE)

https://presencepioneer.com/spontaneous-and-prophetic-worship/

Sing A New Song: Four Keys to Unlock Spontaneous and Prophetic Worship (PDF)

https://mailchi.mp/88d890568da2/sing-a-new-song-pdf

Spontaneous & Prophetic Worship Workshop (VIDEO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzh-IvJU6Do

In this quick episode, Matthew discusses the accusation against the prayer movement that says they are good at ministry, but bad at caring for people. He'll talk about what it looks like to do the ministry part AND love people well.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

Discipleship Begins with Beholding • http://amazon.com/Discipleship-Begins-Beholding-Samuel-Whitefield/dp/173534544X/

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL • http://eepurl.com/gfw9vH

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

To start, Matthew explains the "up, in and out" phrase. The prayer movement primarily focuses on "up", since their focus is prayer and ministry to God. The "in" would be how we relate to each other as believers, such as in a local church setting; the "out", then, refers to missions and evangelism. Healthy Christianity, or a healthy church or ministry, operates in all 3.

So you have this explosion of the prayer movement in 1999, and all these houses of prayer start popping up all over the place, with a primarily "up" focus. Fast forward 10 years, and you begin to see some justice and outreach ministry growing out of the prayer movement, and some unifying with missions organizations as the built their "out" ministry.

Keeping with the 10 year trend, we can look at 2019. In 2018, IHOP-KC held their last One Thing Conference, and Mike Bickle wrote that they were doing this because the Lord had emphasized to them that there was a seat for everyone at the family table. He also said that they needed to take time to forge a new relationship with God and renewed zeal in their love for God and also for each other - that the "vertical" love must flourish, but equally their love for each other should flourish as well. You can hear the heart in this that the "in" ministry has been the weakest in the prayer movement, but that God is moving to make it stronger.

The lines are also blurring between houses of prayer and local churches. 20 years ago, houses of prayer were almost always a separate parachurch ministry. This trend of churches (like the Upper Room in Dallas or IHOP Atlanta)with the "DNA" of worship and prayer being central, but in the context of family and community, is what Matthew believes God is wanting to bring more of in the coming years.

When Jesus says His Church will be a "house of prayer for all the nations", Matthew points out that calling it a house would indicate a "household", or a family. Jesus' desire is a Family that is centered around God's presence, and since it's for all nations there must be an element of missions and sending. That's all 3 - Up, In, and Out in Jesus's vision for His Church.

In this encore of episode 28, Matthew interviews David Bradshaw of Awaken the Dawn. David starts off by reviewing the last episode, leading up to the event on the national mall that launched Awaken The Dawn. David talks about what it means to “disciple America in hosting the presence of God”.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

Awaken the Dawn • http://awakenthedawn.com

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL • http://eepurl.com/gfw9vH

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

In this encore of episode 25, Matthew and Lisa Koons discuss more practical tips as well as the on-the-ground work that comes from hosting prayer locally. She dives into the "mission and justice" side of the 24-7 Prayer movement.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

24-7 Prayer USA - http://247prayerusa.com

The Presence Pioneers podcast exists to help YOU and your community experience and host the presence of God through day & night worship & prayer – because we believe God’s presence changes everything. Hosted by Matthew Lilley, episodes feature short Bible teachings and interviews with key leaders in the prayer & worship movement.

SUBSCRIBE • http://eepurl.com/geDMQX

MORE RESOURCES FROM MATTHEW • http://presencepioneer.com

INSTAGRAM • http://instagram.com/presencepioneers/

FACEBOOK • http://facebook.com/presencepioneers/

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

This time, Matthew asks Lisa to go into the Mission and Justice part of the mission statement of 247 Prayer.

Prayer is breathing in, Mission and Justice is breathing out. Lisa believes that if we’re spending time in communion with God, we’ll come out of it with a passion for mission and justice because it’s on His heart. For them, it’s a natural progression and prayer is only half the story.

Lisa said that they’ve experienced a lot of people meeting Jesus for the first time in the prayer rooms! Something about the low-pressure, intimate, creative space makes way for people to open up to Him. They also have mission teams they send out, which you can see on their website.

Lisa says looking at the Bible, her take away is that God says that if we want to be more effective in prayer and in our own life, we need to have a heart for justice - for the marginalized people and the dark places. She said that God’s heart seems to be sending us out to those places that we are praying for! “God’s heart bursts to bring light to places of darkness”

Lisa tells a story of when the prayer room was pretty new, about a year old. She describes it as in between corporate America and the Hood. They decided their first Justice project would be “adopting” this fragile neighborhood - “praying as if it all depended on God and working as if it all depended on us”. They sent out a team of 300 to meet people in the neighborhood, develop relationship, and help where they could. They created a neighborhood association, started bible studies, fixed up people’s houses who couldn’t afford to, and began addressing some of the racial issues in the area as well. They saw salvations, healings, racial reconciliation, crack houses shut down, and transvestite hookers spending time in the prayer room. Basically, God improved the quality of life for everyone in the neighborhood so much that a team from the city who came to study it couldn’t believe the upward trajectory.

So how do you jump in? She encourages anyone to host a temporary prayer room. Set aside a room for a few days/hours and find some friends who want to take an hour shift here and there. There are resources on their website to help you! There are also initiatives on their website for mission and justice that you can sign up for. All the resources are free, and available to help you be the boots on the ground in your city.

They have an event coming up this summer in Portland, Oregon - everyone is invited! It starts July 29th, and tickets are available here