Jim & Al's Excellent Adventure Pt. IV

It's 6:15 a.m. The sun is beginning to rise and as I drive up to the prayer room at IHOP, there are several dozen cars in the parking lot. I go in through the doors, which have screws drilled into the locking mechanisms of the crash bars, preventing the doors from ever being locked.

As I walk into the prayer room, there are about 150 people praying and worshiping along with the worship team. The back sections of chairs are roped off except for a couple of rows of people who are in the designated area for prayers for healing. There are about a dozen or more people sitting and soaking, being prayed for by people standing behind them.

On each side of the room there are tables and chairs set up and they are filled with people using laptops, with their Bibles open, studying the Scriptures and praying. It's powerful to see so many people reading and studying their Bibles as they worship and pray!

Right now, as I type this, there is a young woman praying on the microphone for small fledgeling houses of prayer, just getting started in other cities and nations. This will be the theme for the next while. I'm thinking of HoPE and the beginnings of the House of Prayer in Edmonton.

Earlier in the morning there was an emphasis on praying for people in the work place. After some lengthy intercession for those going to work today, they invited people who are on their way to work, to stand and to have people gather around them, praying for their day and for God to use them and open doors for ministry in the midst of their various places of work. There are a good number of people who stand. To my left in the row behind me, there is a young man in a business suit praying. I found it amazing to see the number of people who came to IHOP before they go to work. This is a daily emphasis during the 6-8 a.m. prayer block during the work week.

Al and I are leaving Kansas City today to head back home. We're planning to drive to Grand Forks today and stay overnight and then do a longer day of driving from Grand Forks back to Edmonton tomorrow.

I wanted to get up and come to IHOP one last time before I have to leave.