IHOP - an eyewitness account

[Esaias]

Early this morning I watched the live stream from IHOP-KC from the prayer room.

I saw 9 people on the stage, and thee people in the 'audience'. One guy was standing, wearing a hat, listening to the music. Another guy was sitting, zoned out. Another guy wearing a hat was sitting, looking at his phone. That guy sat there for a few minutes then eventually got up and walked away out of sight of the camera. The 'audience' appeared essentially bored with what was going on.

On stage were 8 young women, and a guy (wearing a hat) playing drums in a glass-enclosed drum room. One of the women may have been a guy, he/she was obscured by another person so I am not sure...

They played a four-chord progression in what might be a 'minor key' (?), the same 4 chords, for approximately 25 minutes (about how long I watched). A young lady was standing at a microphone offering prayer for various and sundry things, especially for 'the people in the city'. Her prayer was very inclusive and exhaustive, she hit just about every possible category and 'need' imaginable. Three other young ladies sat at microphones and would occasionally take her prayer statements and sing them back, they would often alternate various statements.

The ones they chose to sing were things like 'Exalt strength' and 'We lean into your glory' and other such statements. Some times it seems as if they were coordinated before hand, their singing preceded the prayer's requests, other times the order was reversed. It appeared to me they had rehearsed this method before (in other words, they are good at improvising together).

NOBODY appeared to be genuinely moved by the Spirit. They did appear to be moved by the music somewhat. It honestly looked like a jazz improv.

My impression of the praying? About what you'd get at a typical Baptist or Lutheran or mainline Methodist church. No power in prayer, nobody prayed as if they genuinely FELT anything. I honestly think these young people at this particular prayer session have never experienced a real, 'old time Pentecostal prayer meeting'. Most of them were not praying anyway, they were just 'soaking' in the music (ie enjoying the mood, doing what is called in the secular world 'chillout').

The lady's prayers were certainly things worth praying for, and I commend the effort on their part to have 'continuous prayer' (something the catholic and eastern orthodox churches strive for as well, and have been doing since the early middle ages). But I do not think their methods are effective or Biblical.

I DO see they have a zeal, they seem to be wanting to sincerely do what they believe God would have them to do. They just do not seem to have a zeal according to knowledge.

Again, I am not understanding how people think something like this is superior to even basic, standard, 'nothing special' prayer service in a genuinely Pentecostal meeting?

I have been to charismatic meetings. Although people act all 'blown away' nobody really was blown away by anything. I have been to Pentecostal meetings however where unrepentant and hardened sinners LITERALLY FLED THE SCENE RUNNING and when I asked them what the problem was they were SCARED, shaken, and said 'there's something in that meeting that I just can't handle, it's waaaaaay too heavy'. I have seen people practically DIE (spiritually) under conviction and the fear of God and wondrously saved, praying through shouting the victory in other tongues, prophesying, magnifying God so much it's a wonder they didn't have a stroke or aneurysm from the intensity of what was happening. I have seen numerous times where everyone spontaneously falls down on their faces in pure adoration towards Jesus Christ and you literally could not stand up if you wanted to.

And I have seen people's LIVES CHANGE PERMANENTLY, as they abandoned sin and selfishness and were DRAWN CLOSER TO GOD and conformed more fully to His Word, as evidenced even years later in their lives.

It is true - a lot of Pentecostal churches nowadays are Pentecostal in name only, it seems, having dried up, leaving only a shell of their former reality. But having a mind-numbing rock concert, light show, hypno-session does not a good replacement make.

I do not understand (well, actually I do...) the emphasis on MUSIC to 'get the Spirit moving' found in almost ALL charismatic churches. Yes, I am aware that many Pentecostal and apostolic churches have made the same mistake (just with a different genre of music). But it seems like mood music has become a crutch, a substitute for a genuine heart-cry to God and a genuine meeting with Christ.

I think I may in the near future take a trip to Dallas to the local IHOP or IHOP affiliated 'center' and meet and speak to the people there. I'd like to pray with them, too.

One of the best ways to get to know someone is to pray with them.