Every week we begin our worship service with corporate intercessory worship.
We are indebted to Mike Bickle and the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. They developed the form we utilize.
What is harp & bowl?
– And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song… (Revelation 5:7)
At the revelation of the Lamb’s authority the most spiritually mature beings in the universe worship God with a harp in one hand and a bowl of incense in the other.
The “harp” represents worship, the “incense” represents prayer.
Values and Skill:
Our first value is “worship”.
The second is that the Scriptures are valuable for the framing of prayer that pleases God. In fact, the framing of priestly prayer comes from the heart of the Word. When we submit our prayers to the Word of the Lord, we are taking our cues from the apostles. As we conform our ‘form’ of worship and intercession to the revelation of heavenly worship and prayer, we are taking our cues from the angels and the spirits of just men made perfect.
Another value is that of Faith. It takes faith in the revealed Word to believe that this is worthwhile. The exercise of faith is necessary for the priestly ministry to be truly valued as the foundation for the next level of prophetic intercession.
For this to take place ministry skills of leading and flexible loyal cooperation must be developed. The heart of the Servant, Jesus, is highly esteemed for these skills to be developed.
How is this done at Restoration Fellowship?
The form we employ is comprised of several components.
First, we worship, we minister to the Lord. We gather, and are gathered, as one Body, to Him
Then the worship team chooses a simple chord progression and the congregation and singers are encouraged to sing a new song, singing in the spirit and singing special portions of Scripture. This serves two purposes – the first goal is to release our spirits to the Lord, singing to Him. The second is so the prayer/singers may become familiar with the progression and find melodies that they may employ during intercession.
Afterwards the prayer leader opens the Word and reads the portion of Biblical prayer he wishes to pray through and begins to pray it. The prayer leader is releasing his heart and burden, informed by the text, to the LORD. Then follows a season of antiphonal prayer between prayer leader and singers.
As this develops, spontaneous choruses are chosen and the worship leader or chorus leader will lead singers and congregation into a season of singing petition or praise together to the Lord.
Humility:
In all of this, loving humility is exercised. It is seen in the following ways:
The prayer leader, who may be used to praying his own burden, is under the Word. The leader is exalting the Scriptures and not merely the burden of his own heart.
Meanwhile, the singers are humbling themselves as they sing in harmony with the heart of the prayer leader.
At the same time, the worship team is serving both the singers and the leader. The worship team is playing the same simple chord progressions, providing a foundation for the singers and the prayer leader to bring united prayer.
The congregation is participating in agreement as they say yes to the prayer and worship, entering into the choruses chosen by the chorus leader.
Open Microphone and Closing Declarations:
After our initial set we have a time when the microphone is open to any who want to come and offer prayer, praise or proclamation on the topic upon which we’re concentrating.
At the end of this there is a member of our fellowship who is called upon to end the time of prayer with declarations of faith and praise.
Our Topics:
Join us as we pray for the believers in Israel, the persecuted church, our nation’s government, and national revival.
-David Harwood