joyful in His house of prayer

Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer…
Isaiah 56:7a (NKJV)

This is for all of you who are called to intercession, I pray you find encouragement from this.

Today I went through an intense time of prayer, followed by an intense time of doubting if my prayers even matter. God, I asked, can one person's prayers really make a difference in the Kingdom? Whether you are called to intercession or not, I’m sure you can relate.

As I sought God on this, He answered me pretty quickly. He is such a good and faithful God. He showed me an instance where He had used my prayers, along with others, to bring about redemption. The effect on me was strong. I don't want to doubt, I want to trust in how He uses prayer.

So thank you, to those of you reading this who have given your lives over to God for intercession. God sees your sacrifice. And I believe He is calling even more of you out to be intercessors. Thank you for your tears, for all the times you have felt hopelessness, thank you. Your time has not been wasted. It is for now. God is rallying the troops of this generation; you are needed!

Most intercessors know well Isaiah 62:6-7:

I have set watchman on your walls,
O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night,
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent
And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

It's easy to have the tendency to see our reward in breakthrough. We are constantly reminding Him of His promises, asking Him to make good on them. When He does, we are thrilled…but it’s still not enough to keep us going.

I believe our reward is in knowing God intimately. That has to be it. Isaiah 62:5 is a better focus for us:
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride;
So shall your God rejoice over you.

Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer, talks about enjoyable prayer. He says, “Enjoyable prayer is prayer that flows under the inspiration of prophetic singers and musicians. It's not prayer devoid of the beauty realm and separated from the worship and music ministries, but it's the prophetic anointing on the musicians and singers, combined with the prayer ministry. That's enjoyable prayer - lovesick worshippers of God soaring in the beauty realm."

When you have enjoyable prayer, it leads to day and night prayer, as in the watchman who never hold their peace. God is doing this. He is building it in our cities. Rev. 12:10 tells us the devil is accusing night and day. And so we need day and night prayer.

Be encouraged in how He is building His house, one living stone at a time. Day and night prayer moves the heart of God. Enjoyable prayer, flowing out of the beauty realm of God's throne room. God is establishing it in our cities. He is changing the spiritual atmosphere by His hand.

“Behold I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great will be the peace of your children.”
Isaiah 54:11,13 (NKJV)