IHOP- Kansas City Missouri

Have you ever gone to the International House of Prayer, or perhaps visited their site or listened to their music? Well, I have always wanted to go. I have heard so many people talk about what a great experience it is. I will post pictures a bit later.

The weekend of April 30th-May 3rd my roommates and I went on an adventure. This was an adventure that had no boundaries where God was concerned. We literally did not know what to expect. This may be a bit lengthy, but here is our story in a nutshell:

On Friday morning we set out a little before 5am. We packed the car, and off we went. It was a great time of good conversation, laughter and many pit stops. ;-) Anyway, it took about 9.5 hours to get there. Our friend Kari's mom took us in and let us stay at her beautiful home and we are all so thankful for that. She made us dinner and we sat and talked for a while, then went to join a service at IHOP.
We arrived at IHOP around 8:40ish and found that it was closed. Some girls saw us walk around and asked if we were looking for the Prayer Room and directed us to get on a shuttle to go to a different location. So off we went. There were a couple of people already on the bus, and the guy that sat behind us asked if he could pray over us. It was a great prayer and a perfect "entry" time into the Holy of Holy's.
When we entered the building, we could already hear worship music, and a bunch of people singing and talking. The place was packed!! We looked around for a place to sit to no avail. After a while, we decided that we just needed to find a place to put our stuff, because we knew we wouldn't be sitting much.

To reflect on what was going on Friday night, I was having a hard time getting into worship at first. Things were a bit distracting with people singing and having conversations around the room. I cannot remember how long it took, maybe 10 minutes, but I started feeling God pulling on my heart to pray. It was from then on that God began to move in such a mighty way that I have yet to process it all. I won't share all the intimate things that happened with me and God on this post, but let me tell you, I don't think I can go back to the "Old Me" any more.

There were so many things happening around the room that from a mortal’s eyes, it boggled my brain. I have seen God move in several different way’s in times of ministry and prayer. A lot of the things that I have experienced I saw there, but there was much more. There were different types of anointing that I have yet to understand. People’s bodies were moving in ways that I have never seen. At one point I questioned some of it and wondered what was going on. As I prayed through my confusion and continued to watch the move of God in the room, I realized that what I was seeing was truly from God, but my little brain could not comprehend it. I look forward to the understanding that God is currently giving me and will give me in the future on those things I have yet to understand.

So, Friday we stayed at IHOP until close to midnight and didn't get back to the house until around 12:30am. On Saturday morning, we were off again. We had an appointment for personal ministry time from 9:30am-11:30am to receive a prophetic word. They took our names and we sat in a waiting area just soaking on the Lord and listening to worship. I think around 10am they called me and my roommates into a room together and told us that while one person was being prayed over, the other 2 could be writing down what was being said. God's presence was so intense in that room, that it was a bit difficult to get everything that was spoken written down. Whooo!!!! I cannot tell you how right-on the prophetic words were. These people who were praying over us were so filled with God's spirit, it was over-whelming. Even as I write this I am in awe of God and His continuous work in my life. I am so thankful for Him and His encouragement!! THANK YOU JESUS!!!!

Once our prayer time was over, we experienced such an intense dowsing of the Holy Spirit that God touched us with Holy laughter. Now let me tell you, this is an interesting experience. For those of you reading this, if you have ever experienced this, you will know how silly it looks. For those of you who have yet to receive his Laughter Anointing, I pray that you will soon. Even as you read this, I pray that God will place His hand upon you and show you the fullness of Him. Even then, there is so much yet to see of who He truly is.

Ok, so I just went on a rabbit trail there; back to the story. So, we were touched by the laughter anointing and we were so loud, they moved us into a private room. We could not stop laughing (I am talking about loud, cackling, full stomach hilarity). All we had to do was hear the other person laughing and it was all we could do to not fall off our chairs!!!! The guy who told us to move made it a point to say "This is a good thing, and we want you to receive His spirit, but we also need to make sure that we do not distract the other's who are praying". This made us laugh even more. My goodness, my face hurt and I could feel my stomach muscles working from all the laughing. I am not sure exactly how long we were "out of it" in our “Holy Spirit Guffaw”, but we felt pretty good once it was over. ;-)
After our lovely time in our private room, we ate lunch then visited the IHOP bookstore. Around 2pm, we went to listen to a worship concert for a time of rest. I was so exhausted by that time I decided to take a short nap in the Mini Van. It was a great time of relaxation. There was a cool breeze blowing and the smell of fresh air made me relax.

Around 4:30 we decided to go downtown and have dinner and do some shopping. We wanted to get something nice for the lady who let us stay in her home. We found this really pretty plant at Home Depot. Then we went to the mall where we were going to have dinner. We arrived at our destination and it was really neat to see old Train's and other attractions that they had around. The place where we ate was called Fritzes. It was in the mall we went to but it was decorated with trains. Our food was delivered via train tracks on the top of the wall and then lowered down to our table. A waiter brought us our food and took our picture for us. We were probably the silliest adults in the restaurant because we wore the paper hats that they gave us. LOL! I remember seeing this mom sitting close to us giving us this smile that said “Oh you silly girls!!”. HA HA! It was a fun experience though.
Anyway, once we were done eating, we went back to IHOP for more Holy Spirit dowsing. When we arrived, they were having a church service and the guy who spoke was pretty funny. It was a good change for me. So, after the sermon they began worshiping again and throughout the service, people were being slain in the Spirit, receiving the Laughter Anointing, and being healed all over the room. It really was an amazing thing to see God move in such miraculous ways that I have never seen before. We again didn’t leave the service until a little before midnight.
In conclusion, on Sunday we had to leave. After we were on the road I began to feel sad that we were leaving and I didn’t want to go back home to the hum drum of everyday life. I wanted to continue to experience His presence like we did at IHOP. The cool thing is though; God doesn’t JUST show up in Kansas City MO, He shows up wherever He is invited. I am so excited to see what He is going to do from here on out. I don’t have to go to some special place to be anointed or hear from him, I can commune with Him every day, anywhere and anytime. This of course isn’t a surprise to me; I have always known this, but it is good to be reminded from time to time. ;-)