Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Midwest Prayer Center? 
2. What is "the WFM Missions Base"? 
3. What is an "intercessory missionary"? 
4. Where is the concept of the house of prayer found in the Bible? 
5. What are some examples of houses of prayer through history up to the present time? 
6. Is a certain format important? 
7. Is a building or single location important for a house of prayer? 
8. Is 24/7/365 day and night prayer important? 
9. Why are the concepts of "beauty"and "enjoyable prayer" important for the house of prayer?
10. How does music and singing fit into the Midwest Prayer Center? 
11. Harp And Bowl Model of Worship 
12. How can I learn more about the Midwest Prayer Center? 
13. Do all houses of prayer or prayer centers function or look the same? 
14. What is the relationship between the WFM Missions Base and... 
    • ...Eastern Iowa 's local churches and ministries? 
    • ...Pastors and ministry leaders? 
    • ...Iowa 's intercessors? 
    • ... Iowa 's musicians? 
    • ...Eastern Iowa 's artists? 
    • ... Iowa 's children, teens, and college students? 
    • ...Iowa 's civic leaders and politicians? 
    • ... Iowa 's businesses and business leaders? 
    • ... Iowa 's sick and physically-impaired? 
    • ...non-Christians? 
15. What does the schedule/format for the Midwest Prayer Center look like? 
16. What does the "Harp and Bowl" model of prayer look like? 
17. What things are prayed for on a consistent basis in your meetings? 
18. How can I participate in the Midwest Prayer Center? 
19. What is appropriate when I'm in the Midwest Prayer Center? 
20. What is inappropriate when I'm in the Midwest Prayer Center? 

What is the Midwest Prayer Center?

A Midwest Prayer Center is a facility on the WFM Missions Base that hosts a mandate of night and day prayer and worship.   It is a House of prayer where groups of Christian believers in our Midwest region who spend a great amount of time worshipping God, thanking Him, enjoying His presence and praying to Him in partnership for the many things on His heart. The prayer movement is unusual in that its extravagance is expressed in the passion of prayer, the humility of the pray-ers, the continuous nature of prayer and worship, and the focus on the Word that undergirds the worship and prayer.  

The Midwest Prayer Center is the core and heartbeat of the Missions Base. This centerpiece facility is the planter for the value of night and day prayer. We "behold Him and then reveal Him". We believe the greatest Harvesters will be those who passionately love Him in the place of prayer and intimacy.

What is "the WFM Missions Base"?

The WFM Prayer Missions Base is volunteer relational structure woven with a fabric of prayer. The Missions Base is not a church but is comprised of distinct volunteer ministries that enjoy a gracious cooperation as one spiritual family within the larger body of Christ. Each of our volunteers remains in their own local fellowship of believers.  The centerpiece of this Missions Base is the Midwest Prayer Center, a 24/7 prayer facility. This community of urban prayer missionaries is being raised up to operate in the maturity of spiritual character and in the nature of Jesus Christ, secure both in identity and in relationship .

HISTORY: In 1727, an Intercessory Missions Base was established in Germany by Count Zinzendorf. They began prayer meetings that continued twenty-four hours a day for over one hundred years, resulting in the first Protestant missions movement in history, known as the Moravians. They discovered that night and day prayer releases evangelism and missions. To this we say, "Yes, Lord. Do this all over the earth, even in our day!" 

What is an "intercessory missionary"?

Intercessory missionaries are, like action missionaries, called to take the Gospel, the testimony of Jesus, to the ends of the earth. But intercessory missionaries are connected to centers of prayer and keep intimacy, devotion, communion, and prayer as the core of all they do.

Where is the concept of the house of prayer found in the Bible?

This is a pretty extensive topic! However, here's a quick overview. The phrase "house of prayer" is drawn from Isaiah 56:7, where it is used twice:  Even those (foreigners) I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

Jesus refers to this verse when casting the money changers from the temple, as recorded in Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17, and Luke 19:46:  And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: ?My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it ?a den of robbers.'"

The heart of the Midwest Prayer Center is perhaps best captured by David's heart cry in Psalm 27: One thing I ask of the Lord this is what I seek:  that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in His temple.

King David actually established one example of a house of prayer, called the "Tabernacle of David".

While referred to in many parts of the Bible, the best description of this biblical house of prayer is found in I Chronicles 16:

(1) And they brought in the ark of God and set inside the tent which David had pitched for it...(4) Moreover, David appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel...(37) So David left Asaph and his brethren there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister continually before the ark as each day required...

While the Midwest Prayer Center is not seeking to exactly recreate the past Tabernacle of David, we believe God is restoring the spirit and type of this expression of worship and prayer in a physical location.

We believe this current expression helps us to "practice for" the future worship scene that is our destiny, as described in the book of Revelation. Indeed, the best picture of what the Midwest Prayer Center strives for can be found in the book of Revelation, in the many descriptions of the redeemed gathered before the throne of God, such as:

...the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:

"You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seal, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation..."  (REVELATION 5:8-9)

What are some examples of houses of prayer through history up to the present time? 

Contemplative and continuous prayer are relatively new concepts for many modern-day Protestants, but they have been fostered in the Catholic church for centuries. Most cities (including Eastern Iowa ) have at least one Catholic church that practices "perpetual adoration", which involves 24/7/365 reverence and prayer before the Eucharistic host, usually in a set apart chapel/prayer room. Our Midwest Prayer Center differs somewhat from Catholic perpetual adoration in that it is multi-denominational and involves a concept of team prayer and worship. Three fairly well-known examples of this type of house of prayer are the Moravians, Taize, and the Kansas City IHOP.

The reformed Moravian community, founded by Count Zinzendorf in Germany in 1727, is well known for two things: a prayer meeting that lasted over 100 years, and the creation of the modern missions movement through the sending of missionaries into nations all around the earth (for more info. see www.countzinzendorf.org/moravians/).

The community dedicated to reconciliation and prayer that is currently located in Taize , France was founded by some Swiss Reformed Protestants in 1940. It currently has over 100 brothers from both the Protestant and Catholic church who live together and meet for prayer three times every day. Every year, millions of youth from all over Europe and the world who are seeking God visit Taize to participate in the prayer and observe the rule of silence and contemplation (for more info. see www.taize.fr/).

The International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City began praying 18 hours a day in May 1999, and has been 24/7/365 since September 1999. It is well known for its teachings on the "bridal paradigm" of prayer (that prayer and worship arises most effectively from a solid grounding in the favored position that individual believers and the church hold before God as the Bride of Christ) and for the "Harp and Bowl" prayer model, which blends contemporary worship songs with sung and spoken prayers and spontaneous songs (for more info. see www.ihop.org).

Is a certain format important?

It's important for the Midwest Prayer Center to be organized enough that there is not confusion for leaders and participants (ie. What are we supposed to be doing right now?)We believe God works through anointed leadership and that this actually allows "freedom in the Spirit". While He is the Head, He looks to partner with us while we are here on the earth.  

The WFM Missions Base is a full organization with government that serves leadership, stewardship, vision and support to the staff.  While anybody can come and consume the fruit of the Lord in an environment of prayer, those who serve in the Midwest Prayer Center are staff.  Staff are those who have enlisted for a period of service and flow in the commitments of staff of the Missions Base.

Every house of prayer in every city functions somewhat differently from the others and usually takes on the "flavor" of the region for which they are contending. The format carried in the Midwest Prayer Center is 84 two-hour weekly prayer and worship sessions. Most of our sessions use the "Harp and Bowl" model (the combination of worship and prayer), but some will have their own expressions apart from this. In all of our sessions, we are committed to praying the Word as our basis.

Is a building or single location important for a house of prayer?

It would be difficult for a retreat center or outreach to the poor to exist without a building to facilitate its ministry. Similarly, we believe it's necessary to have a "command central", a common location in which to pray.

We believe it actually helps facilitate unity because of the cross-church relationships of the prayer teams coming and going. There is a comfort for both believers and non-believers to know a place is always open where they can always go to and participate in and receive prayer. A single location is also a powerful statement of multi-church unity in a city.  

The WFM Missions Base has staff from many local churches.  WFM works to insure that the Midwest Prayer Center does not become a 'switching station' for sheep from area churches.  We ask that our staff not, in anyway, invite WFM staff who attend a different church or ministry to their preferred church or ministry.   We do this in order to insure that the local pastors needn't be concerned that their sheep will be lured into other flocks.   We also ask that each staff stay in right relationship with a local fellowship of believers.   We are not a local church.

Is 24/7/365 day and night prayer important?

Absolutely! We believe that day and night prayer is non-negotiable. It is near and dear to the Lord's heart.

The only promise in the New Testament of revival in our cities is intricately linked with day and night prayer. In Luke 18, Jesus promises to "speedily send justice (revival)" upon us when there is day and night crying out to Him.

In Isaiah 62, God speaks that He has posted watchmen (intercessors) on the wall (of prayer) who will not cease praying day and night until He makes their city a place of praise in the earth. We believe the spirit of prayer will cover the globe before the Lord's return. We also know that God is raising up a "counter" to the day and night accusation of the enemy against God and His people. The Lord is raising up those who (instead of cursing and accusing ) choose loving and blessing God day and night. It is so necessary. We believe that at least in the USA there is a spiritual dynamic released when a house of prayer reaches 24/7/365, because one of the primary idols in American culture is time, and involvement in continuous prayer directly confronts and challenges this idol. Visitors to the IHOP in Kansas City consistently comment, "It's so comforting even when we're not at IHOP to realize that at any moment of the day or night someone there is worshiping God and praying for the city." It should be a matter of embarrassment to the church in America that while there is a plethora of 24/7 institutions of lesser value in our society, burning love expressed in worship and prayer is difficult to find on a 24/7 basis in most cities.

Why are the concepts of "beauty"and "enjoyable prayer" important for the house of prayer?

The emotion probably most commonly associated with prayer is shame. Most people feel ashamed at their own feeling of "spiritual bankruptcy" when they stand before the Father at His throne. The throne of grace looks more to them like a throne of condemnation. This was never the design of the Creator God of Heaven. Shame is a wrong motivation for people to pray more, and a house of prayer built on this foundation will result in quick burnout.

Beauty and shame are opposites. The highest expressions of beauty are the beauty of God (Psalm 27:4) and the beauty he imparts to the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:27, Psalm 149:4). These two realms of beauty provide a  solid foundation and fuel to practice day and night prayer.

Fascination: The heart of man was designed to be fascinated with who God is and what He looks like, never to be dull and lifeless. Part of our journey is rediscovering how amazingly beautiful and fascinating He is.                 

Confidence: As we begin to understand how amazingly beautiful He is, we also begin to understand that He has passed on to us His own beauty. We stand confident in His love and grace, sustained in affection, not shame or fleshly motivations.

Pleasure and joy are indispensable to the house of prayer. He assured us through the prophet Isaiah that He would give us joy in the place of prayer (Is. 56:7). The psalmist said that "at His right hand are pleasures forevermore".

In the house of prayer, we are operating under a paradigm of a God who is beautiful, fascinating and full of delightful pleasures. These qualities are inexhaustible on this side of eternity and are a worthy and wise pursuit for the human heart.

How does music and singing fit into the Midwest Prayer Center?

We are in the midst of a global worship movement. This movement has everything to do with prayer and intimacy.

We believe that part of prayer becoming enjoyable has everything to do with a spirit of devotion being mixed with worship and prayer. Many of us have tried "rock-pile" prayer meetings, where we just feel like we're chipping away little by little at the resistance around us with very little anointing and power. Suddenly, when worship and song becomes a part of our prayers, life erupts corporately in those meetings. This is by God's sovereign design. Music awakens the heart to beauty, and since God is a musical Being and we have been created in His very image, we've been made with a musical spirit. Almost every person finds solace, comfort or expression in music. Again, this is God's design. In Heaven, music and verbal expression (prayer) are never separated from one another. We base most of our prayer meetings in the Midwest Prayer Center upon this concept and value. King David upon instituting the Tabernacle knew that worship and devotion were major components of day and night intimacy and prayer. Deep revelation must have come to him of "how heaven hosts a prayer meeting." We are seeking this heavenly model, found in Rev. 5:8. We call this particular model: Harp and Bowl.

HARP AND BOWL

Revelation 5:8 "...the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one having a harp and a golden bowl full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song..."

The harp stands for the worship or music of God and the bowls are the intercession of the saints. In heaven, there is a marriage between prayer and worship. Our cry is, "So let it be on earth."

The apostle Paul spoke to the early church in Colossae to "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 4:16) Worship was never a separate, compartmentalized, pre-teaching, warm-up time. It was intricate in their walks with the Lord. How do we encourage one another today with "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs"? We believe that the singing of psalms is the singing of the literal word of God, and that the singing of hymns stand for our modern day worship songs, and spiritual songs are spontaneous new songs that arise from our hearts of worship. We seek to apply these three elements into our prayer meetings: the singing of worship songs, singing spontaneously, and singing and ministering the Word of God.

How can I learn more about the Midwest Prayer Center?

There is really no substitute for experiencing a house of prayer. It is best "caught" by going and checking it out.

We encourage you to come and sit at the feet of Jesus and see what life in the Midwest Prayer Center is like..

Do all houses of prayer or prayer centers function or look the same?

No. There is no franchise on this movement. Each city and geographic region has a different "flavor" and needs that to affect the expression of the house of prayer. The house of prayer in each region will be different, according to the will of God, the character of the church in that region, and the "personality" of the city itself. The key is to find out what God has for your particular region, while adapting the many models out there that make sense and make life in the house of prayer more enjoyable.

What is the relationship between the WFM Missions Base and...

...Eastern Iowa 's local churches and ministries?

We don't want to do this apart from the involvement of local churches and ministries in our city. Local churches find this a safe place to send "their sheep". We encourage local churches to participate in the WFM Missions Base by providing teams to fill two-hour worship/prayer time slots, asking their congregants to consider coming at least once a week to a session in prayer.

...Pastors and ministry leaders?

One of our main values is unity in the Body of Christ. We are here to be a resource, not a burden, to already busy church leaders in the city. We are friends and champions of the men and women leading the Body of Christ in this region and are here to be a support to them. Pastors are welcome to be involved in WFM activities as their schedules and inclinations allow. As the Missions Base matures, we hope it becomes something of a retreat for pastors where they know they can study, write, seek God through prayer, and be prayed for.

...Iowa's intercessors?

WFM provides many different opportunities for intercessors to be involved, whether individually or with teams. It is one place for the Annas and Mary of Bethanies in our city to fulfill their calling to be regularly before the Lord "in the temple". Some intercessors just come and go as they participate in our corporate (for revival) or devotional/contemplative (sitting at His feet) prayer times; some choose to volunteer a few hours a week through being trained up as a prayer leader or prayer room assistant. Some choose to come on staff part-time or full-time as an "intercessory missionary" and devote larger chunks of time to the prayer room. Intercessory Missionaries are committed to the Great Commission primarily through intercession and seeking God's face and from that place going out and touching the poor and lost. Intercessory Missionaries value the lifestyle of living in the prayer room and then reaching out to a dying world. Please see one of the staff or staff leaders for most information. Applications are available on-line or at the information area in the lobby.

...Iowa's musicians?

Opportunities for musicians to be involved on teams are virtually limitless...24 hours a day, seven days a week is a lot of time, and the worship is so key to all that we are doing in the Midwest Prayer Center. The Prayer WFM has a place for musicians and musical teams of varying styles, instruments, backgrounds, and time preferences.

...Eastern Iowa's artists?

We value the place of the arts and the whole creative realm in the Midwest Prayer Center. We believe that a divine atmosphere of continuous prayer, devotion and worship should be a breeding ground for works of beauty in our day, since God is the True Author of inspiration, creativity and beauty. We welcome any artist who longs to worship the Lord in this way. We eventually want to have a section set aside for artists to come and paint under the inspiration of the Lord and for dancers to minister to the Lord in the "beauty of holiness".

...Iowa's children, teens, and college students?

We are convinced that it is the youth who will fuel this movement through living radical lives of abandoned worship before Jesus. We want this to be a child and youth-friendly atmosphere. Already, our young people are playing a major role in what's happening here. We want to be training up children teams to minister in the Midwest Prayer Center through prayer leading, worship leading and singing. College students are encouraged to come and soak or get involved in a few sessions each week.

...Iowa's civic leaders and politicians?

We are committed to praying for our governmental leaders in this city and asking for God's blessing and wisdom to rest upon them. We hope that the Midwest Prayer Center becomes a place where they can seek refuge in the midst of their busy schedule.

...Iowa's businesses and business leaders?

We will pray regularly for Eastern Iowa commerce and their leaders, so that Eastern Iowa might be a "city of refuge" in the days to come. We would like to see the Midwest Prayer Center supported financially by business leaders in Iowa.

...Iowa 's sick and physically-impaired?

We believe in laying hands on the sick and praying for them according to Scripture. This is a location that is handicap accessible and suitable for the sick to come and soak in His healing presence. We pray for the sick throughout the day and always upon request. We have a several Freedom rooms in the Midwest Prayer Center and you can schedule online for a personal time of prayer..

...non-Christians?

The WFM Missions Base and the Midwest Prayer Center is not "inter-faith", in the sense of encompassing prayer from religious traditions other than Christianity. However, all people regardless of belief are welcome to come to the Midwest Prayer Center, hopefully all who enter will encounter the one true God and His Son Jesus. All are also welcome to receive prayer upon request.

What does the schedule/format for the Midwest Prayer Center look like?

The eventual schedule will be 84 two-hour weekly prayer/worship meetings led by worship leaders, prayer leaders and worship teams. Most teams will incorporate the "Harp and Bowl" model of worship songs, spontaneous singing, and singing/praying the Word of God. Most sessions involve some type of small group prayer (praying for the sick, praying for a nation, etc.). Sessions are either Corporate (entire room participating, open microphone) or Devotional (closed microphone, time to sit at His feet, soak or study) in nature. Corporate meetings usually focus on revival for that region or a specific focus or passage of scripture. Devotional Sessions create an anointed environment that is conducive to "acquiring oil in our lamps", with those in attendance expected to engage personally (in private prayer, journaling, rest, etc.) rather than engage publicly and corporately.

What does the "Harp and Bowl" model of prayer look like?

Its values are based on the following:

• Team prayer ministry-emphasis on many short prayers from different team members, rather than a focus on a single leader
• Blending singing and praying-the music never stops, and the prayers are prayed by intercessors and then sung by the singers
• Praying scriptural prayers-praying the prayers that are found in Scripture, a devotion to the Word, such as praying from the Book of Revelation, Psalms, and the prayers of Jesus and Paul.
• Spontaneous singing-singing prayers or responses to God from the heart spontaneously, as "new songs"

A typical Harp and Bowl cycle might look like this:

• The worship leader leads out 2-3 worship songs
• Everyone participates in spontaneous singing, by lifting up your voice with a new song to the Lord
• The prayer leader, worship leader and designated singers pray and sing through a scriptural prayer  (such as Eph. 1:17-19)
• The Worship leader returns to the original worship song and then proceeds to a new cycle.
• Intercessors from the room can then be invited to come up and pray related prayers based on Scripture.
• One team usually leads 4-5 of these cycles in a two-hour session.

What things are prayed for on a consistent basis in your meetings?

While the leaders of any session have freedom to pray as the Spirit and their hearts lead, the following are areas that we are consistently contending for in the Midwest Prayer Center:

• Pastors and local churches in the city
• Praying for the sick
• Requests up on the prayer board in the prayer room
• The nations and the persecuted church
• Revival and renewal
• Israel
• City and State government
• The Youth
• Transformation of our Geographic Region
• Unity in the Body of Christ

How can I participate in the Midwest Prayer Center?

Anyone can come to the Midwest Prayer Center at any time. You can pop in and out as you need to. You are not bound by time requirements here and can come and go as you please. We would only ask for your sensitivity to the leadership offered by those staffing the Midwest Prayer Center at that given time. If you desire to become more involved or be a part of the staff, we have special needs for:

• Local churches and pastors - Raising awareness of the opportunity to join in a regional prayer effort.
• Local church worshippers - Filling a regular time slot to lead worship/prayer sessions
• Intercessors - Can come and pray corporately or silently, or join a team for team ministry
• Musicians - We need you! Various teams at different times have needs for musicians
• Watchmen - We really need you, the Watchmen are responsible for the internal operations of a session and serve from the ISLAND at the center of the Midwest Prayer Center.
• Financial supporters - ; every cheerful giver is much appreciated!

It is important for us to stress that your involvement here be an overflow, not a replacement for, your ongoing service in your local church community.

What is appropriate when I'm in the Midwest Prayer Center?

You will have a lot of joy and freedom as you participate in various prayer sessions. When you come to the Midwest Prayer Center, you might join in a worship song, then retire to the back to read Scripture, then come forward to pray for the city, then join in on more worship. There are different styles of leadership and different types of sessions in the Midwest Prayer Center.  What's important is to be sensitive to the requests and direction of the leaders, and to prefer your neighbor. Common activities in the Midwest Prayer Center (besides active engagement with the current prayer session) include: reading, silent prayer, small group prayer (when directed by leaders), meditation and contemplation, resting/soaking, writing, journaling, Bible study, drawing, painting, sculpting, dancing and even working on your laptop computer.

What is inappropriate when I'm in the Midwest Prayer Center?

• speaking critically of your church, other churches or other ministries.
• distracting conversations (there's a back cafe where you can fellowship)
• cell phones and pagers (please turn them off)
• pulling the room's attention away from the Lord and onto yourself as the center (we're each responsible to administrate our conduct in a way that keeps the room's focus on pursuit of Jesus, while maintaining lots of freedom)
• eating; no food please in the main prayer room area however, you may have food and coffee back in the Cafe. (drinking is fine if you have a lid, no open containers please)
• sleeping (we want to stay engaged, even in devotion here)