Over the years I've discovered several keys to building our Father's house of prayer.  But today I am going to share a key that I've never seen addressed.  It has to do with the role of the kings and priests.  It's based upon a pattern King David first modeled.  It's the blue print for our strategy.  By 2012 leaders from over 38 nations had reported it had been responsible for establishing 31 houses of prayer from which 40+ churches were birthed.  However, there have been hundreds if not thousands of places  un-impacted because the did not follow the pattern. 

I'm going to share it today and risk offending you because I love my heavenly Father, I love His Church, His people, and the world. David's pattern is the key to the end time harvest of souls.  So with that in mind...

Every reformer in scripture followed King David's plan for inviting God's abiding presence on MT Zion.  What King David did on Zion in his tabernacle provides us the keys.  It is the pattern and that is why God says through Acts 15:16-17 that in the latter days David's tabernacle would be restored.  What is the purpose?  So that the rest of mankind can seek the Lord.   

Who are some of the reformers?  Solomon, Asa, Josiah, Ezra, Nehemiah and Hezekiah!  What is the pattern?  

Kings Initiated the Building of God's House!
The pattern begins with kings, not priests, who initiate building the house of God.  King David's first decision as king was to invite God's abiding presence through 24/7 prayer, praise and worship (1 Chronicles 13:1-2).  That decision included the king inviting other leaders to join him. The priests were charged with overseeing the building of this house of prayer and the kings and leaders gave first to this effort.  In other words, they put their money where their mouth was. There was action behind their words that God and men could see.

In 2 Samuel 6 we find his David's first attempt failed as they began with music and moving the Ark of the Covenant (type of God's presence) on a new cart.  Uzzah died when he touched the ark so the move of God had to stop.  It spent 3 months in Obededum's house before David discovered the proper way.  

David discovered that the ark had to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites which are a type of the fivefold ministry today (this topic is addressed in "Addressing the Issue of Pay to Pray).  The next key was modeled in 2 Samuel 6:13. They took six paces and then sacrificed offerings. 

Offerings are worship and one of the important signs of covenant to God from man.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  The passion for God's presence will be reflected in your giving of time and your monies.  These actions reflect what is really in your heart.  Jesus says in John 15:13 that greater love has no one than this, than to lay his life down for his friends.  Then Jesus proceeded to the cross.  He love and He gave.  Bottom line, love gives their life and this includes time and money. 

Someone shared with me about a ministry concept that involved a team of ministers who would offer a "courts of heaven session" which I assume meant they'd interceded upon someone's behalf and utilize their gifts to hear what God's decision was and then then pray, declare or proclaim in response to that to the word of the Lord.  This kind of ministry has actually been offered for centuries through those with a prophetic gift.  Only in the last two decades has intercession begun to be explained from a courts of heaven perspective.  I believe it is part of the manifold wisdom of God being revealed in this day.  It's a new look at an old discipline from a different perspective.

Candidly, I distinctly remember God speaking to me about this concept in the early 2000s and the ORT/1Church1Day prayer strategy incorporates that revelation. In the strategy continual prayer, praise and worship seats the courtroom of heaven so you can come and plead your case and await to hear God's decision.  Now, back to the purpose of this article.

As I recall, they said something to the effect that there was a fee and that it just did not seem right to them.  They were uncomfortable with it as it seemed like they were charging for prayer.  It seemed like "pay to pray."  

When they asked me about it I had to qualify my answer because I did not have time to address this subject and cover all the bases.  You see, I was hearing things second hand and I did not have all of the information.  I did not know the motive of the ministers nor how things were actually being handled.  But I can tell you the way it was presented did not sound good to me either. 

It caused me to remember prosperity ministers who would use manipulation and violate trust in order to get more for themselves kind of like Eli's sons did in 1 Samuel 2:38-30.  Eli's sons took the very best for themselves.  Their greed defiled the altar.  Greed is typically accompanied by compromise and manipulation.  Why Paul even warns in 1 Timothy 6:5 that in the last days corrupt men would seek to use godliness as a means of gain.  But let me be clear, I do not know if that was the motive of the ministers offering the service.  It was the statement of "pay to pray" that inspired that the thought.  (Click here for Purifying the Altar.  This book impacted my thoughts about the minister's responsibilities years ago.)

The Bible is also clear that the the giver has responsibilities as well.  It is possible for the worshiper to have wrong motives and which is manifested when they try to use their offering to manipulate God or the ministry.  It's one thing to appeal to God's covenant exercising your faith but it is quite another to resort to a formula devoid of relationship with God.  This often descends into a form of witchcraft if left unchecked over time.  Galatians 5:9 teaches us that faith works by love while James 2:20 teaches us that faith without works is dead.  

Why we had a donor just weeks ago attempt to do that very thing.  They thought the could use their large offering they gave months before as leverage to manipulate our ministry into compromise.  Here's the truth.  

Do you know what KLI did?  Why we gave the offering back with a stern warning to never ever do that again. It was a  defiled offering which could lead to a defiled altar had we allowed it to lead us to compromise. 

The reason I am focusing on offerings and worship is because I have found this to be one of the consistent keys to answered prayer.  It has to do with honor and covenant.  You see, God is seeking those who will worship Him "in spirit and in truth."  

The Goal is to Hit the Mark!
Our adversary the devil seeks to make people sin.  People includes the ministers who are responsible for the altar and everyone else. Satan seeks weaknesses to exploit.  Sin literally means to miss the mark.  I don't care if you go to far to the right, or to far to the left, or to low or to high these all miss the mark.  The goal is to hit the bullseye.  

Personally, I like to use the term "hit the mark."  God's word is my standard and defines the mark.  In my worldview, the Creator of the Universe designed all natural and spiritual laws.  The Bible is like the manufacturer's warranty and owner operators manual.  It describes how things work and what will happen if I operate life within the parameters of the Creator's design and what the consequences are of operating outside of designed parameters.  

Candidly, I have found that tithes, offerings, first-fruits and alms speak to the four basic types of giving in the Bible.  These are signs of a people keeping covenant with God.  With each form of giving you will find God gives the worshiper a covenant promise to go with it.   The reason I share this is because I've discovered that when handled rightly, these are some of the important keys to answered prayer which I've observed over the last twenty seven years in ministry.

Here are the challenges we face: imperfect people, ignorance, mis-understandings, demonic influence.... and the list goes on.  Our goal is to hit the mark.  

Have you noticed how many Christians, well actually, how many ministers seem to struggle with keeping their word?  I have!  It grieves my heart and it grieves the heart our heavenly Father as well. Why is this?

At the start of this year the Lord gave me a word saying it was time to recalibrate our moral compass due to deviation introduced through the magnetism of the world. Three days later God marked that message with a sign and wonder at the North Pole (click here). 

Bottom line, the world was losing its way because their moral compass was skewed.  It was skewed because they had a wrong worldview and I don't think that it is their fault.  It's the Church's fault because one of the roles of the Church should be to serve as a conscience for the nation they reside in. However, I lay the majority of the blame at the feet of those who stand in the pulpit.  We've failed to make disciples and to speak the truth.  

The Church lost her influence because of compromise in the pulpit.  Forgive me!  Forgive us for failing to make real disciples.  

It seems as it the world has become more successful at influencing the Church more than the Church is at influencing the world.   This is a leadership crisis.  We've failed to disciple people after our Lord Jesus Christ.  He was the Word made flesh in John 1:14.   Did you get that!  Jesus, was the WORD, made flesh.  He was in the beginning (John 1:1)​ and in fact Hebrews 1:3 reveals that everything in this world is upheld by the "word of His power."  Check this out! 

The Scripture Says:

God's word says in Acts 15:16-17 and in Amos 9:11-13 that in the latter days God would rebuild David's tabernacle and set it up so the rest of mankind could seek the Lord.  The restoration of David's tabernacle is the key to the end time harvest.

Now, when I say David's tabernacle, I'm not talking about the literal tabernacle.  You see the main thing was not the tent as much as it was what King David did to make God's abiding presence welcome on MT Zion, in the city of Jerusalem in Israel.  He tasked the Levites, who are a type of the five-fold ministry, with the responsibility or organizing teams of people to offer up continual prayer, praise and worship.  By continual I mean 24/7/365 prayer, praise and worship.

Why?  Because David and the leaders determined in 1 Chronicles 13:2, that God's abiding presence was essential to their success and survival.  Therefore, they sought to make God's presence welcome by recreating the atmosphere of heaven on earth through continual prayer, praise and worship.  

God's plan is for His house to be a house of prayer for all nations.  

Isaiah 56:7
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

The house of prayer is God's vision.  I sincerely believe that what David did his tabernacle on MT Zion was the blue print for this house of prayer.  That's what 1Church1Day is all about.  Mobilizing, coordinating, facilitating teams of teams such that continual prayer, praise and worship is offered up in a city, region, county, state or nation. 

Three Critical Elements Found in David's Pattern 

1. The king and the leaders both civil and religious decided God's presence was absolutely essential.  1 Chronicles 13:2
2. The whole process was kicked off and maintained with extravagant worship.  2 Samuel 6:13
3. The first thing the King did once it was set up is he delivered his first Psalm to Asaph.  1 Chronicles 16:7

In Hebraic culture kings and elders sat in the gates and made decisions with prophets giving God's counsel.  Elders consisted of civil and religious leaders.  These leaders decided to bring back God's presence. 

The second part of these three critical elements I rarely emphasize but it is a vital part.  In 2nd Samuel 6 David begins to bring back the ark of the God on a new cart.  They are thousands of people along with lots of instruments, singing etc. But it did not work as when the ox stumbled Uzzah put out his hand to steady the ark.  He died.  David had to leave the ark of the Lord in the house of Obed-Edom for three months until they had consulted the Lord on the right way to handle God's presence.  

We find two things in 1 Chronicles 15 and 2 Samuel 6:13-18.  First, the ark of the Lord had to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites.  The second thing that was missing was offerings.  David began the second successful attempt with offerings.  

On June 18th I saw this Charisma Magazine article and shared it on KLI's Facebook page saying:

Attention KLI & 1Church1Day practitioners!

This article highlights and encourages actions that the 1Church1Day strategy systematically empowers leaders to employ.  It equips them with the tools and strategic plan to mobilize their congregation, or the Church in a city, county, state or region to do EXACTLY what this former satanic high priest says we need to do to stop the devil dead in his tracks and hinder evil.  

Some love the testimonies of the individual encounters when in truth, it is the day in and day out discipline of standing your watch, praying, lifting up a canopy of informed intercession for your family, neighborhood, city, county, state and nation that makes the difference. This requires TEAMWORK which is part of what the very effective 1Church1Day strategy provides. It is an apostolic mobilization and communication plan which assists leaders in forming up the army of the Lord in their church and community so they can pray and act strategically to enforce the will of King Jesus. 

Here's a couple of excerpts from the article which really help underscore what we empower people to do who use 1Church1Day.  The underlines are mine. 

Excerpt 1: I wrote this book because I wanted Christians to know that [there's] not only a defense spiritual warfare, but there's an offense spiritual warfare," he told CBN News. "We need to keep the devil, the devil in his place."

Excerpt 2: Ramirez now encourages Christians to broaden their prayers and to be sensitive to pray for the nation, schools and other areas.

The Times of Israel reported in US funds aided 2015 campaign to oust Netanyahu, Senate probe finds "the US government supported a group that tried to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year to the tune of nearly $350,000.."   This act triggered a oft ignored spiritual law found in Genesis 12:1-3 that invited God Himself to interfere with the United States 2016 presidential election. 

My friends, spiritual laws work like the natural law of gravity.  They are always there.  They always work.  If you are wise you work with them.  If you are foolish or ignorant then you will suffer the consequences. If you are smart, you work with them.

President Obama authorized the use of tax payer dollars to interfere is Israel's election.  Yes, interference in another nation's election.  But in this case, not just any nation.  It was the nation and land which God promised to Abram.  Israel! 

In spite of all the issues, accusations, hoaxes, lies, mis-information and or truths surrounding the 2016 election one thing is certain.  The spiritual laws found in Genesis 12:3 as well as in Galatians 6:7 went into effect the moment President Obama interfered with Israel's election and that act invited God to interfere with ours.  

Spiritual Laws

This article was first published on Kingdom League's old blog in 2011.  I'm re-posting it here because 1Church1Day is the same strategy as ORT.  It's just a different name and the lessons learned are still true 14 years later.  ​

It’s been over six years since God spoke to me on December 14, 2004 about the Operation Rolling Thunder (ORT) strategy.  I spoke that strategy first to three leaders.  It is October 5, 2011 today.  I quit trying to keep up with all the statistics in participation in 2009. It became overwhelming.  By then we'd seen leaders in 23+ nations and over 10,000+ churches participate.  At last count leaders in 34+ nations have utilized this strategy to mobilize and deploy the body of Christ to engage the seven spheres of society and to establish 24/7/365 prayer in a city or region.

Proven Results
Recently our National CONECTer in Kenya, Pastor Thomas and our National CONECTer in Myanmar, Apostle John Mark provided me an updated report.  Between these two updated reports we discovered that there are churches from 21+ denominations, in 35 cities, with over 61 churches working together, 25 city prayer centers launched, and 19 church plants between them.  Neither time nor space permits me to share the supernatural signs, salivations, water baptisms, and healings that they report as well.

Corporate intimacy with our heavenly Father produces supernatural corporate fruit.  Operation Rolling Thunder (ORT) is a strategy going strong and serving those who utilize the wisdom of God's strategy found in it.  At the same time I could point to numerous examples where the strategy seemingly only worked for a short time or failed.

Lessons Learned
After 6+ years of overseeing ORT, training and consulting with ministers, mayors, state representatives, fire chiefs, business leaders, doctors, etc. I've learned some lessons about that is takes to begin to transform and continue that transformation process long term.  In fact, I will share some common characteristics and lessons learned from churches, cities, counties and states where in we see long term results that we'd all agree speak to some level of transformation (ie. decreasing crime, church growth, economy effected, abortion rates decline, adoption rates rise, etc.).

It's amazing what God's people can accomplish when we collaborate together.  In the last 36 days we saw those using the 1Church1Day app mobilize: 

• 1000 hours of prayer
• 3 Churches/Ministries taking a day of prayer
• 108 new people
• 6 Churches/Ministries 

To cover one month in prayer requires 744 hours.  Each person who simply reported the time they prayed using the app says we mobilized the equivalent of 41.66 days of prayer.  Add in the 3 from the churches and ministries who took a day of prayer and that raises it to 44.66 days of prayer.  But then If we add in the corporate prayer calls or prayer gatherings which included ministries like Washington State Prayer Caucus, Prayer Strike Force, Church of Truth, the WA ST Business Council, Father's House, The King's Fisher we add in another 153 hours.  This brings our total days of prayer to 51 days of prayer.  

That's a lot of power and it only comes when we the Church cooperate, collaborate and communicate together.  Now this is just a SMALL FRACTION of what is available.  If you understand the principle of exponential power found in God's word then you will understand just how important your prayer watch, or adding your voice to a prayer alert is.  Click here for the Revelation of the Power of One More!

Prayer Power + Honoring Jurisdictions = Results 
That's a lot of "prayer power."  We saw 9 new testimonies or answers to prayer recorded during this same time period as well.  We pray for results and the strategic councils we are forming (Church, Government, Business, Family, Life and Evangelism so far) help direct our prayers with insight gleaned from leaders within that sphere with actual jurisdiction.

Isaiah 2:2-3 says:

On this Sunday which we celebrate our Lord's resurrection from the dead I'd like to share with you the daily teaching I get from Al Houghton's Word at Work.  You can sign up for his daily teaching here at The Word at Work.  Here's the main point I want you to hear.  He says, "it can't flow through us if we don't welcome it to us."  

The Word at Work by Al Houghton, April 21, 2019
Scripture: Luke 4: 6-8. 

We see this principal again in Luke 4:6-8. This passage says, “And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship (proskuneo) before me, all will be Yours.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve.’” Proskuneo means bow your knee, like a puppy, expecting to get food from the master’s hand and submitting to the master. There it is again, the same thing. Bow your knee and submit. If we as believers steadfastly refuse to bow our knee and submit to the devil and we only bow our knee to God, then we have the authority to cause others to bow their knee or flee. That is the only way we get it. Walking in power and authority is a product of Who we worship! Who do we yield to? Do we bring ourselves under God’s authority? That is the test! It can’t flow through us if we don’t welcome it to us. Over and over again Jesus makes this point! Yielding to the Spirit guarantees power! Moses, Samuel and the prophets all had to learn this Biblical truth! End of Al’s message.

In this scripture “led” implies submission and it illustrates how our submission to God’s authority, not only gives us authority but qualifies us to share in His glory. The glory Jesus prayed we’d share with Him in John 17. I find the following scriptures very appropriate on this Resurrection Sunday.  

The books of Ezra, Esther, Daniel and Jonah all share a common truth very clearly and that is, kings issue decrees.  King David even has some of His decrees proclaimed through the Psalms. Decrees are always written under the order of the king.  In Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 we find that Jesus has called us as kings and priests. 

Jesus provides us the best example of the role of a king in Revelation 19:11 where it says …”in righteousness He judges and makes war.”  In other words, He makes decisions based upon what is right and then wars to enforce it. 

I learned through the Navy War College that armies exist to project power to enforce the will of the government they represent.  That is why Jesus taught us to pray “kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven” in Matthew 6:10. The word “kingdom” introduces jurisdiction.  It’s the authorized domain the king is responsible for.  This is why in the 1Church1Day strategy we seek to form councils within these two domains or jurisdictions in mind.
​

1. Geographic – Cities, counties, provinces, states or nations.
2. Spheres or Mountains of Cultural Influence – Family, Religion, Government, Business, Media/Arts/Entertainment, Education & Healthcare

​You’ll find all through scripture that boundaries serve as lines of jurisdiction.  There is a place for every family, tribe (Numbers 2), nation (Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua) and people (Acts 17:26) on earth.  Many have asked why God allows certain evil events to occur on earth!  It’s because of He has delegated that responsibility to mankind.  Psalms 115:16 says:

“The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; But the earth He has given to the children of men.”

Since Christ has called us as “kings” and “priests,” we are called to make decisions about what to pray and proclaim.  To do that as effectively as possible we need to draw upon God’s wisdom.

​The Process of Developing a Decree