Last night, (which just happened to be the beginning of Yom Kippur) Love HOP kicked off their 40 days of prayer and fasting for the City of Long Beach. They’re praying for 24 hour prayer to be released and the Spirit of Love to be poured out over the City.
I have a confession to make – when I first heard of the Love HOP, I noticed it and pretty much dismissed it, thinking it was a bunch of kids and would burn out their enthusiasm quickly. Please forgive me, I was so wrong. I have had opportunity to pray in several venues with several of the young people involved with this movement and they love the Lord with all their hearts and are passionate to see Him move in this City. They are grounded in Him and rooted in His Word. And they are committed to prayer. If you want your faith stirred and revived, come pray with these kids as they enter the throne-rooms of heaven!
Last night began with acoustic worship, simple and profound, and went into confession and repentance: personal, identificational, generational, racial and gender specific. We confessed for ourselves, we confessed on behalf of that portion of society we represent and blessed and forgave one another. The Lord convicted us of sin and provided the way for us “to confess our sins to one another”. For me personally, there was reconnection with a very special young man I had lost touch with through neglect on my part.
There was a “sound” released calling out for the Presence of Jesus in our midst. I think that if you listen closely, you’ll hear the sound stirring in your belly. “How blessed are the people who hear joyful sound.” Ps.89:15 – it is a reference to the shout of the people to the Lord or the sound of the shofar blowing at the feasts of Israel
I have been attending a church called The Light on Signal Hill where I have been touched by the Lord every week. Kingdom Causes has a monthly prayer meeting on Second Saturdays in Signal Hill. There is a group praying and prayer-walking the City that meets on some Fridays in the Kingdom Causes offices on Signal Hill. That group is putting together a grass-roots worship happening in Bixby Park on October 24 at 7am. And then there is Love HOP meeting in our upstairs offices, again, on Signal Hill.
There is a common thread and as I attend each one I see them woven together in prayer over the City. There are common themes and I see prayers prayed in one venue and answered in another. There are connections being made between pray-ers who have been praying alone for a long time and now are praying in community. From our watchtower on Signal, we are praying blessing over the city of Long Beach and for connection between believers from every walk of life. Is this what Jesus prayed in John 17?
Last night was a convergence of old and young, many ethnicities, many congregations, many “unchurched”, male and female, many of whom had never prayed together before. And the Spirit of the Living God showed up and inhabited the praises of His people and tabernacled among us. Blessings to you from Signal Hill!
2 comments:
Hi Judy,
Thank you so much for coming and supporting us in our 40 days of prayer and fasting. It's always really awesome to see the older ones coming to pray with us. And I forgive you- and I'm sure the rest of us as well- for thinking that about the youths in LoveHOP.
Sometimes I do wonder if people/churches would think that about us and because of that, they don't want to pray with us. However, our core leaders are not entirely committed to LoveHOP forever but to the Lord, Jesus Christ. And because God has called us there and confirmed it through signs, we will stay there as long as He wants. I also believe in the core leaders because we love God, and we love each other deeply. Because our focus is on God, I believe that LoveHOP will continue on even if the rest of us are called elsewhere because I have no doubt that it is God's work. We are just a people that love God and we are committed to minister to the Lord all the days of our lives. We don't have an agenda to further LoveHOP but God's kingdom.
There have been many times we promote LoveHOP not because of the name but because of what it stands for and its mission. We want to be able to provide a platform- or basically a place- where people from various denominations can come together and seek God. It is solely kept for the presence of God in the spirit of the Tabernacle of David.
I also want to clear out a possible misunderstanding about us as well. We are not given entirely to contend or pray for revival to be in Long Beach or Signal Hill but we are a people that seek God's glory/presence like Moses up on the mountain (Exodus 33:12-23) and follow Him wherever He leads. We believe that from seeking God's presence, revival and such would come. Basically, revival is just one of the by-products of seeking God’s presence. Like Lou Engle says, "Revival is God's arrival."
Besides that, I'm looking forward to seeing LoveHOP become 24-7 (prayer/worship non-stop 24 hours a day/7 days a week) because we believe that prayer, fasting, and worship will be key in sustaining the revival that God wants to pour out in the region that would impact the world.
God bless Judy!
Tammy Dao
I'm a BIG believer in Love House of Prayer! Every time I see someone walk past my office to spend time in prayer for Long Beach and our campuses my heart soars.
This is the real work of expanding God's kingdom...everything else is mopping up afterward.
I spent a few days with the 24/7 Prayer leaders this month in england and I think this movement is God's preparation for the great things that are about to come.
Keep up the good work.
Neil
Post a Comment