Matthew Lilley's Blog

In September of 2007 I quit my job to go into vocational prayer ministry – without a job offer and with no promise of a paycheck. I was going to try to raise support like a missionary. The next month I proposed to my wife, and she actually said yes! She at least knew what she was getting into. We were married by the end of the year. This has been our life together from the beginning – “presence pioneering” by faith, the best we can. Trusting God for provision. Trusting the body of Christ to partner with us and sow into Davidic worship and prayer. Making mistakes but not quitting (despite trying many times ).

Some of the backstory…

16 years ago I was working a full-time administrative job at a healthcare facility. I started helping with billing too and got a raise to $15 an hour! I worked hard and efficiently so there was some downtime in the office. I would usually use the time for one of two things:

1) Check, send and respond to ministry related emails.

2) Use the yellow legal pads to write down prayers, journals, ideas and vision for ministry

I had the admin job to pay bills, but ministry was what I was really excited about. I had already spent a few years doing ministry (unpaid) 30-40 hour a week. I was leading and teaching at the church youth group on Wednesday nights, meeting with students during the week and helping lead worship on Sunday mornings (+ a rehearsal night). We had our 6:22 Friday night worship gatherings (2-3hrs of prophetic worship & prayer). There was separate band practice for those nights plus 6:22 leadership meetings. Plus my private time in worship, prayer, Bible study, music practice, songwriting, etc.

I was working the equivalent of two full time jobs. I was in my early 20s without a family, so I had plenty of time. I didn’t feel burned out. I was going hard for Jesus. I was young and stupid but also passionate, sincere and even a little anointed. And I knew I was called.

After a few years of longing for vocational ministry, I felt a “release” to do prayer & worship ministry as my job. Because neither my church or 6:22 could pay me, it required that I start raising support. Like I said, I was already doing full time ministry “on the side”, so I didn’t need more work to do. I just wanted to be focused and give more time to do it.

At the same time, there was already a desire for something “more” growing in my heart. Part of what God was showing me prophetically in those years was a “David’s tent” in eastern North Carolina. A house of prayer. Day and night worship. A dwelling place for God’s presence. A people who minister to Him, host His presence, pray for revival and go from His presence to impact others.

Four Houses of Prayer

By God’s grace, since that time, I have been involved in some level of leadership with four houses of prayer in this area over the years. Here is a snapshot of those four prayer rooms.

10 months of 24/7 prayer at a Pentecostal church (2008)

Shepard & I joined a small Pentecostal church right after getting married. They had already planned a month of 24/7 prayer in early 2008. We jumped in excitedly, of course. After a month, they kept going, and I was quickly put into oversight for the 24/7 prayer team (we had one person praying at a time in the church sanctuary). It lasted about 10 months, I think. Unfortunately, this was not a healthy situation, and we had to leave in less than a year due to spiritual abuse. The day & night prayer also stopped when we left.

The Boiler Room (2009-2016)

After the previous experience, we were disillusioned for a few months in early 2009, but we kept the house of prayer vision in our hearts. We were also hosting 24hr worship & prayer weekends (i.e. burns) at various churches to keep building momentum. By April 2009, God had spoken audibly to a man about a place of worship & prayer in downtown Greenville. The Boiler Room launched in July of 2009 and lasted seven years. It was a small missions base above a skateboard shop downtown with about 20-25 hours of live worship & prayer each week, lots of teaching and training, plus events for the city and region. God led us to end the Boiler Room lease in 2016, which was really hard. But we did continue doing burn events for a bit. We soon realized that God was uprooting us to send us to Durham, NC. I passed off the Greenville Burn leadership to Gary Edwards before we moved.

The Burning Room (2017-2020)

I did not intend to lead or launch anything when we arrived in the Raleigh-Durham area in 2017. But it didn’t take long. We started helping folks who were already hosting burn events, and then they soon asked me to take the lead. From there, we started also doing weekly worship & prayer hours at our church, which we called the Burn(ing) Room – about 10 hours per week led by volunteers. After three years in Durham, God sent us back home to the Greenville area. I passed off leadership of the Burn(ing) community to Lee Winters, and we moved back home in 2020 – in the midst of COVID. (Sorry Lee! Worst timing for a leadership handoff ever. )

Opendoor Prayer Room (2022-Current)

Everything was shut down when we moved back, but within a year or so, things were brewing for a house of prayer again. In early 2022, our local church launched its first public worship-based prayer meeting. In September, the downtown prayer room location opened – only two blocks from where the Boiler Room was. We’re now doing three hours a week there.

I thanked God for all of this today and asked Him for grace for sixteen more years. I have no idea what secrets those upcoming years may hold, but we will keep moving forward as we have from the beginning. Pursuing God. Trying to follow Jesus. Rooted in prayer. Listening to His voice. Taking steps of faith as He speaks. Trusting His provision for the journey.

The post Sixteen Years of Full-Time Ministry & Four Houses of Prayer appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

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There are some common ways that the enemy tries to discourage prayer and worship, whether it is accusations against existing prayer ministries or unbiblical mindsets that hinder believers from entering into the life of prayer and worship that God has for them. Thankfully, the truth of God’s word is a battering ram to these lies. Be encouraged today as you read through this list. Satan does not want us praying and worshiping because it is powerful and transformative!

Lie #1: Extravagant Worship Is A Waste The Truth: Extravagant worship is beautiful to Jesus

Throughout the Bible, extravagant worship is met with pushback. If you begin to pursue God in a more radical way, whether individually or corporately, you will inevitably experience accusations against the wisdom of your choices. Either an internal or external voice will begin to question if the hours spent singing, praying and meditating on Scripture are worth it.

The story of the woman who poured the alabaster jar on the feet of Jesus makes it very clear how Jesus feels about costly, extravagant expressions of worship and adoration. After pouring a year’s salary worth of ointment on the feet of Jesus, the disciples were indignant with the wasteful display. Their accusation is one you may be hearing yourself: “Why this waste?“ (Matthew 26:8). Did Jesus agree that her offering was foolish? On the contrary, he defended her act of worship and said:  

“Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.”

Matthew 26:10

Jesus described extravagant worship and prayer as beautiful. Whether it was the woman breaking the alabaster jar or David training 4,000 musicians to minister to the Lord in his tent at Jerusalem or Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet or the 10,000+ choir that sings “holy, holy, holy!” 24/7 in the heavenly throne room, the Bible always celebrates and memorializes extravagant worship. 

The religious spirit hates extravagant worship. When David danced and rejoiced and sang on the way to Jerusalem, his wife Michael despised him in her heart. When Mary anointed the feet of Jesus, Judas said they should have sold the ointment. The enemy tries to use “wisdom” to moderate our sacrifice. But the worth of Jesus demands an offering in proportion to His worth — everything! He is worthy of extravagant worship.

Lie #2 : Intercessory Prayer is Striving Truth: Intercession is partnership with God in prayer

I’m convinced that the enemy wants to hijack the prayer movement by belittling the importance of intercessory prayer. Any Christian will defend the value of prayer, but some believers get a little hesitant when it comes to the idea of intercessory prayer. Despite the New Testament’s admonish to offer God intercessory prayer (I Timothy 2:1), many unbiblical ideas have crept into some streams of the Church that question the value and importance of intercession. Without a biblical understanding of the nature of prayer, it is very easy for people to get turned off to intercession because they mistakenly believe that it is religiously striving in our own strength to get something from God.

True intercessory prayer is not about twisting God’s arm to accomplish our purposes. Intercession is partnering with God in prayer to accomplish His purposes. The key word here is partnership. When we talk about partnering with God, we don’t bring anything to the equation. It is not that God does 50% of the work and we do 50% of the work. God does 100% of the work, but we are his children and He wants us involved. Like a Father who invites his son to “help” him with a home project (which usually just slows things down and causes more problems), God invites His kids to join Him in a global project called “Heaven On Earth”. 

God’s invitation to engage in intercession is an invitation to be close to Him, to know His heart and to be co-laborers with Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9) in bringing heaven to earth. It’s not striving at all. God is going to do it; He just wants us to do it with Him. Religious striving is doing things for God. Relational partnership is doing things with God

And how do we do it with Him? We simply ask.

Jesus taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10). James says we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2). We are instructed to persistently ask, seek and knock (Luke 11:9). Not decree and declare. Not hope. Not imagine. But ask.

In fact, within the Trinity, God the Son asks God the Father for things. If there’s any place that no religious striving is taking place, it is surely within the heart of God! Yet even within the persons of God, Psalm 2:8 describes the Father inviting Jesus to ask Him for the nations.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Psalm 2:8

Is the Father making Jesus “earn” the nations by his asking? Of course not. Is Jesus “twisting the Father’s arm” to get His way? That’s ridiculous. This is simply the nature of God and His kingdom. Things happen in God’s kingdom through relationship. Through intercession. Through asking. Through partnership with God in prayer.

Lie #3: Prayer Should Always be Private Truth: Christianity is meant to happen in community

It is very easy to read the Bible and interpret every instruction or story through the lens of our western individualism. We do not even realize how quickly we apply biblical truth to ourselves, as individuals, rather than understanding the context of the Bible passage. Christianity is personal, but it is not individualistic. We can not follow Jesus on our own. Being a Christian means being a part of the Church. We are all parts of His body, and we need each other.

When you read Paul’s epistles, remember that they were written to local church communities. When Paul says things like pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), be anxious for nothing but instead pray (Philippians 4:6), pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication (Ephesians 6:18) — he’s writing to groups, not individuals. These were instructions that local churches needed to obey collectively.

When Jesus left his disciples and ascended to heaven, he told them to wait and pray together until the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Church was born out of a ten-day prayer meeting. And I don’t think the upper room was meant to be a good story, but also a prototype for how the kingdom of God expands into cities and nations.

“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.”

Acts 1:14, 2:1

The early Church followed Jesus together, and one of the key ways that did this was through corporate prayer. A quick read through the book of Acts makes it clear that prayer not only birthed the Church but it sustained the Church in those early decades.

Obviously, our personal time alone with God is vital. Jesus taught us to go to the secret place and pray (Matthew 6). We need to take responsibility for our own relationship with God. But we are not alone. We are called to follow Jesus together and to pray together. We need more families praying together. We need more prayer meetings and prayer rooms. The corporate prayer meeting has become a lost art in most churches. Even houses of prayer, which are focused on hosting multiple prayer meetings each week, are notoriously under-attended. The enemy wants our prayer rooms to stay empty, but Jesus wants His house to be a house of prayer.

Lie #4 : Repetition Is Religious Truth: Repetition can be an expression of faith and a doorway into encounter with God

One thing you will find in communities that are pursuing extravagant worship and prayer is a lot of repetition. Inevitably, songs will be stretched out with choruses and bridges that are sung over and over again to fill the hours of prayer and worship. Not only will there be a lot of repetition within a prayer meeting or a worship night, but houses of prayer that are hosting meetings multiple times each week will offer the same prayers and songs to God every day.

What is the point of this repetition, and didn’t Jesus tell us to not offer repetitive prayers like the Pharisees? Let’s examine what Jesus actually said:

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Matthew 6:7-8

Matthew 6:7-8 [NKJV]

Jesus does condemn vain repetition, but this does not mean that any repetition is wrong. The important word here is “vain.” The context of this verse shows that Jesus was condemning the hypocrisy and religiosity of the Pharisees who are praying publicly and repetitively in order to impress others. A few verses earlier Jesus describes them praying “standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets”. 

The issue was not repetition, the issue was their hearts. They were not trying to commune with God in His word and cultivate an intimate relationship with their Father. They were self-righteously performing their ritualistic prayers to be seen by men. The ESV translation renders “vain repetition” as “empty phrases”. They were saying a lot of words, but they were not truly praying. Their self-centered religiosity was being rebuked, not the fact that they repeated themselves. 

When we continue to examine Scripture, we find loads of repetition of worship and prayer. In the heavenly throne room, the heavenly beings are singing “holy, holy holy” to the Lord day and night (Revelation 4:8) — and Jesus told us to pray for heaven to come to earth. Jesus also encourages his followers to be persistent in prayer (Luke 18:1-8) — to ask, seek and knock (Luke 11:9). The Psalms tell us to meditate on Scripture day and night (Psalm 1:2), which inevitably includes speaking, writing and singing the truths of Scripture. When we sing the same songs and pray the same prayers, the revelation found in God’s word goes beyond surface level. Repetitive worship and prayer, based in God’s word, facilitates our roots going down deep in God, keeps us in the conversation with Him and acts as a battering ram to the strongholds of the enemy.

Lie #5: Too Much Worship & Prayer Hinders Evangelism Truth: Real ministry to the Lord fuels powerful ministry to others

One accusation that is levied against the prayer movement is that Christians are hiding out in prayer rooms, ministering to God, at the neglect of other important ministries such as evangelism and missions. However, the Bible does not see various expressions of ministry at odds with one another. In Scripture, prayer, worship, evangelism and missions flow together to facilitate the coming of God’s kingdom to the earth.

When Jesus looked out to the harvest field of souls that were far from God, his heart began to break. Yet, his first response wasn’t organizing an evangelistic campaign. He said the harvest was great, but the laborers were few, therefore the disciples needed to pray for the Lord of harvest to send laborers into the harvest (Matthew 9:35-38). 

In fact, true worship and prayer will fuel ministry to others. As John Piper has said, “Worship is the fuel and the goal of missions.” Spending time with Jesus awakens our love for Jesus, connects us to His heart for the lost and propels our zeal to reach those far from Him. When it comes to worship and missions, it’s not either/or, it’s both/and. We minister to God and minister to others.

I think of this like a slingshot. As we press into God’s heart through prayer, the slingshot is pulled back. The harder we press into God, the further we will eventually be launched into God’s purposes for our lives. God loves people more than we do! And if we connect to Him, He will lead us into love for others.

The post Five Common Lies about Prayer and Worship appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

Phrases like “presence-centered community” or “culture of prayer” or “prioritize God’s presence” mean different things to different people. Is a presence-centered community one where God is doing miracles, healing bodies and releasing his power as people lay hands on each other? Are we prioritizing God’s presence because we do 45 minutes of worship on Sunday instead of 20? Do we have a culture of prayer because we have launched a prayer meeting or two? Do we have to pray and worship together every day for it to count? Do we have to go 24/7 for it to be a culture of prayer? Or do our Sunday church services have to feel like prayer meetings? Where do we draw the lines and how do we explain what we mean?

These phrases are not biblical phrases, so we can’t look at biblical definitions. But we can look at biblical examples to demonstrate what we mean. Below are three biblical examples that I would give to explain what I mean by “presence-centered community.” 

The Heavenly Throne Room. Revelation 4-5 describes the heavenly scene where everything orients around the One on the throne and the Lamb. Musical, antiphonal, extravagant, day & night praise, worship and prayer are happening constantly. All eyes are on Him. The heavenly community is “presence-centered”, to say the least. Jesus taught us to pray for earth to be like heaven. Heaven is our north star in all of this.David’s Tabernacle. During his reign, King David revolutionized Israel’s worship to reflect the heavenly throne room. He instituted musical, antiphonal, extravagant, day & night praise, worship and prayer around the Ark of the Covenant in his tent in Jerusalem. I Chronicles describes Israel’s resources and priority going towards ministering to the Lord and sustaining that tent/tabernacle of worship. This foreshadowed the Christian worship that Jesus is awakening across the nations of the earth. The Church at Antioch. Acts 13 describes the believers at Antioch uniquely embracing ministry to the Lord, with fasting and prayer, in an ongoing way. I believe that Antioch is the prototype for a mature Christian church in the New Testament, even more so than Jerusalem. Their church was embracing the values of the tabernacle of David in the New Covenant. Antioch became the birthplace of cross-cultural Christian missions ministry and Paul’s apostolic missions base.

So when I say “presence-centered” or “culture of prayer” I mean churches and ministries that are aiming to build in a way that reflects these three communities in Scripture. A presence-centered community is heavenly, Davidic and Antiochian in its collective values, culture and practices.

One of the distinctives of these communities is that they consistently and corporately engaged with God through worship and prayer as their primary activity. In God’s presence together, He would speak to them and lead them into their (individual and corporate) ministry assignments. As I’ve said before, prayer was not on their agenda, prayer set the agenda. That’s the difference between enjoying God’s presence vs. being presence centered. Or between having a prayer ministry vs. having a prayer culture. Most churches and ministries acknowledge that prayer and worship are important. Far fewer are willing to slow down, pray first, seek Him and let Him lead them together from His presence into mission.

The post What is A “Presence-Centered” Community? appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

Something incredible is happening at Asbury University. It is a great moment to take a look at the potential prophetic significance of the student-led move of God that has spontaneously emerged there. There are a number of indicators that something bigger is going on. It’s also a great moment to talk about revival — what it is and how it comes. I share below why I’m cautious to call this a revival (yet), but why I’m also very encouraged and enthusiastic about what is stirring.

Spontaneous 80-Hour Prayer Meeting at Asbury

On Wednesday, a normal 10am chapel at Asbury University started and has not stopped. After the meeting ended, the student-led worship team continued to play while a few students lingered to pray. They kept going. Other students felt drawn by the Holy Spirit to go back to the auditorium. Word spread around campus and more students came. They started taking shifts leading worship. Prayer continued. Reconciliation, confession of sin, testimonies and repentance began to flow. And it has not stopped.

Worship and prayer have continued for over 80 hours, with students from other colleges coming to visit in van loads. Hungry believers are driving in from across state lines to visit. Physical healings are breaking out. According to this video, a student with an Achilles tendon injury was able to run for ten minutes without pain after being prayed over. I got a testimony via text from a man who talked to a student there who had a tumor disappear. There is some order and direction being given by the school leadership, but they have generally been non-controlling. There is deep trust between the students and the adults. 

As I’m typing this, I’m getting an update from a friend that the auditorium is overflowing as they are taking communion. The reports I’m reading and watching are that this whole thing is spontaneous and led by the Holy Spirit. There is nothing weird or hyped. It is simple, authentic and pure. It is amazing, and I would love to go visit. My commitments and responsibilities are way too much for me to get away any time soon. But if it tarries, I will likely go check it out. I am praying from a distance.

The “R” Word

I would not call what’s happening at Asbury “revival“. Yet. That’s not to minimize what is happening, but I try not to overuse that word. It has been so overused in western evangelicalism that it’s nearly meaningless.

Here are some examples of what I consider revival…

Acts 2 in JerusalemActs 11-13 at AntiochGreat Awakenings in the USALayman’s Prayer RevivalWales RevivalAzusa StreetJesus People MovementArgentina Revival of 1940sBrownsville FL RevivalIHOP-KC awakening

Have you read about these? When you hear reports of what has taken place in revivals of the past, you realize that it is much more than good church meetings. I think sometimes we set the bar too low. We throw around “revival”, “awakening” and “movement” so much that we lose faith for what is really possible in a city, region or nation.

To me, full-scale revival includes:

God awakening His people — prayer, worship, repentance, reconciliation, healing, unitySalvation & deliverance of the lost — a harvest of new souls coming into the kingdomTransformation of communities — justice, prosperity, righteousness in culture

There are times when God does #1 in a localized way, and that is amazing. That seems to be what is happening so far at Asbury. If we also begin to see #2 emerging in a widespread way, then I would be much more comfortable calling this a revival.

A truly awakened Church will impact the world, but whether this stirring at Asbury grows into a notable revival that reaches the lost and transforms the world is yet to be seen. The long-term outcome probably depends on some kind of mysterious mix of God’s sovereignty and the Church’s response to what the Holy Spirit is doing.

I think what is happening at Asbury is already a mix of a sovereign outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit in partnership with those on the campus who have prayed and prepared themselves for this. According to these testimonies, students have been praying for revival every week since August, and another group of freshmen guys started praying together just one month ago.  Prayer always precedes great moves of God.

And what they are doing now is essentially an ongoing prayer meeting. It’s what we have called a “Burn” for years. And I think it is the biblical way we create a landing pad for full-blown revival. The New Testament pattern begins with the Upper Room, which acts as a prototype for Christian revival.  United, non-stop worship & prayer. Humility. Repentance. Hunger for God. This is the way. And we can enter into these things wherever we are, and prepare ourselves for God to move in our lives, cities and nations.

As the following blog stated, after visiting Asbury:

In some ways, it is a worship-based, Spirit-led, Scripture-fed prayer gathering… It is just what we should be doing all the time: waiting before God, worshiping Him, praying to Him, listening to Him, responding to Him, and being shepherded by wise leaders who see themselves merely as facilitators of God’s activity.

The Significant Timing: What Else Is Happening In This Season

With my limited viewpoint, I see a number of other things happening that make this particular outpouring at Asbury very interesting. To me, it appears to be part of the divine poetry that God writes when He is unfolding His storyline into the earth. Here are some other things I’ve noted that may relate.

Our Tent America team with ATD was feeling going into 2023 that “capitals & campuses” would be important again this year, similar to 2018. God is doing it!We just gathered with hundreds of prayer movement leaders in Atlanta for two days the weekend before this. Much time was spent in repentance and travailing intercession for revival. Something is stirring!The 200th Collegiate Day of Prayer is scheduled for February 23, and the CDOP team had already scheduled to do a livestream of 24hrs of worship & prayer at Asbury on that day. Wow!The Circuit Riders (a ministry of YWAM) are doing multiple “Carry the Love” tours on college campuses right now. Pray for an outpouring everywhere they go!Lou Engle has called his annual 40-day global Jesus fast to begin the day before Collegiate Date of Prayer – on February 22nd. Let’s press in!The Jesus Revolution film, about the Jesus People movement of the 70s, starts having showings on February 22nd. Let’s pray for another Jesus movement!I’m an advisor for a new initiative launching this fall to see united 24/7 prayer on college campuses across the nation. Now is the time!

Let’s thank God for the stirring at Asbury, ask for it to spread and press in for the fullness of revival.

The post Is Revival Breaking Out at Asbury? Some Encouragements and Cautions appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

In 2009, I helped organize a series of united youth gatherings in our city. I had a handful of youth pastor friends, and we agreed to bring together students monthly for worship, rotating among each other’s church buildings for 5-6 months. We called the meetings “Dwell” based on Psalm 133 where God says it is good and pleasing where brothers DWELL together in unity.

I was supposed to teach for one of the meetings, and my plan was to lay out the vision of Psalm 133. As I began studying, the Holy Spirit led me to read the chapter right before it. Psalm 132 was not about us dwelling together but about God dwelling among His people. I realized that in order for us to dwell together, God had to dwell among us. I saw that unity was only possible if we united around the presence of God. I saw that God was building us together as living stones to become a temple of His glory on the earth —  a royal priesthood, a dwelling place in the Spirit, a house of prayer, a tabernacle of David.

Those With Psalm 132 In Their Hearts

Preparing my teaching for the Dwell event all those years ago was what began my journey into a chapter that is now one of the most important portions of Scripture to me —  Psalm 132. For a number of years after that night, though, I didn’t focus on that chapter very much. However, about four years later, on a personal prayer retreat, the Holy Spirit brought it to my remembrance.

At that retreat in 2013, I had an encounter with God in prayer where the Holy Spirit said “Psalm 132, 133 and 134 together”. 

At that point, I had actually forgotten what Psalm 132 was about and I also couldn’t remember what Psalm 134 was either. The only chapter I knew the theme of off the top of my head was Psalm 133. I grabbed my Bible and looked them up. Revelation started flooding my mind again. Psalm 132 was David’s vow to prepare a resting place for God. Psalm 133 was about God’s people in unity. Psalm 134 was about those who ministered to God through the night watch. I began to wonder and ask God how these chapters were connected. What was He saying?

I heard the Lord speak again, so clearly: “Find those with Psalm 132 in their hearts, get them in Psalm 133 unity in order to see Psalm 134.”

The Presence Pioneers

Wow! What did that mean? I had a few ideas. At that time, I had already begun to build relationships with leaders of houses of prayer in North Carolina. I had gotten a prophetic word to do so, and it was something that seemed exciting to me anyway. I was wondering… maybe he’s talking about the relationships I’m building with other house of prayer leaders? I was also serving the Burn 24-7 movement at the time as a regional director in the southeast USA. Maybe He was talking about building unity among Burn leaders? What exactly was I being invited into?

I asked God what He meant when He said “those with Psalm 132 in their hearts.” Who are those people you want in unity?

He said, “they are the presence pioneers.”

God was saying that “those with Psalm 132 in their hearts” are those like King David who long for a resting place for God in their city. They are the pioneers who are hosting the presence of the Lord with worship and prayer in order to see revival. They are the leaders who are yearning for the manifest presence of God to take center stage in the Church again. God called them “presence pioneers“ to me. There were no organizational or geographic boundaries to this. This was not about ministry affiliation or even geopolitical borders. This was about the hearts of pioneering leaders everywhere who were willing to do what it takes to have God in their cities and nations.

Nearly ten years later, I’m still convinced that those people — the presence pioneers — need to find each other, know each other, love each other, stay connected, serve each other, collaborate together, encourage one another and move together in unity with the Spirit of God. Those who are inviting God to dwell in their cities also need to dwell in unity with one another.

24-7 Prayer and the Nightwatch

And God said that this was needed “to see Psalm 134”. Psalm 134 represents 24-7 prayer. God wants perpetual, non-stop worship and prayer in cities and regions. This requires that some people pray and worship in the middle of the night. Those who pray and worship at night is what Psalm 134 is all about. Most churches and ministries will not ever host 24-7 prayer on their own, and that’s ok. However, presence pioneers in regions can come together and see canopies of collaborative 24-hour prayer and worship ring out over cities and states.

God still wants earth to look like heaven, where the worship never stops. It seems as if one of the ways we get there is by presence pioneers growing in unity together. Something in that process will release grace to see the establishment of canopies of non-stop worship and prayer, especially to see those released who will cover the nightwatch hours.

And it’s not just about 24-7 prayer. Even in this age God wants to bring more and more of His kingdom to the earth, and worship and prayer are at the tip of the spear to see transformation in cities and regions. The establishment of 24-7 prayer and worship in regions fuels revival and reformation. God brings justice to the earth in the context of day and night prayer (Luke 18:7-8). If God is wanting regions to establish 24-7 prayer, then we know He is also wanting to pour out His Spirit, release awakening, further the Great Commission in the nations and advance His kingdom.

This longing for God’s kingdom is actually at the heart of Psalm 132. And this brings us back full circle. “Psalm 132 in our hearts” does not just mean we want good, Spirit-filled church services or the launching of prayer rooms. It means that we want God to come and establish His kingdom. When God brings His presence, He brings His authority to rule and reign, confront darkness, heal what’s broken and make things new. The Psalm 132 cry for a resting place is a cry for transformation, more of heaven on earth, and ultimately the return of Christ.

The post Unity, Dwelling Places and the Presence Pioneers appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

Why Jerusalem? Why is that particular plot of land where God wanted His temple established? Why is that city and why are those hills so important to the Lord? Why has that small patch of geography been considered sacred and holy for Millenia? Why has it been the source of much contention in the Middle East? Does the Bible give us insight into the original reason that city in Israel is so significant?

It was King David who originally took the Hebrew people to Jerusalem. The Bible is not clear why. Some speculate that it was because of its natural fortification or easy access to water. Some believe that it was because the area was a more “neutral” city that all twelve tribes would accept as a new capital for the united nation.

I believe there’s more. I believe David wanted it because God wanted it. 

For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: “This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.”

Psalm 132:13‭-‬14

The psalmist makes it clear that the desire to dwell in Jerusalem on Mt Zion was divinely inspired. This was not David’s strategy; it was the Lord’s. Still the question remains… Why? Why did God want His people there? I believe the first instance of Jerusalem in Scripture gives us a clue. 

In Genesis 12 God makes a covenant promise to Abram. A key portion of the promise is this:

“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:3

After making this covenant with God, Abram traveled through Canaan. No one blessed him. He took his family to Egypt. No blessed him. If anything, you could argue that Egypt cursed him (and we know how things turned out for Egypt). Abram traveled back to Canaan, and God promised to give his descendants the entire region.

In the next story, Abram rescued his nephew Lot. On his way back from battle, the king of “Salem” (i.e. Jerusalem, see Psalm 76:2) approached Abram. This king’s name was Melchizedek, both a priest to God and the earliest known king of that city. He did something to Abram that no one had done yet. He blessed him.

And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.”

Genesis 14:19

Melchizedek is the first person to bless Abram after God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 12:3. In light of this, it is no surprise that JeruSalem became a blessed city and the place where God established His people and His temple. The king of Salem was the first one to bless Abram, and God had promised to bless those who blessed Abram’s family.

Years later Israel, Abram’s descendants settled in Jerusalem, led by King David. Like Melchizedek, David also acted uniquely as both a king and a priest — in the very same place. Jerusalem. And it was David who received the revelation that there would be an everlasting priesthood of Melchizedek connected to the rule and reign of the Messiah. One day Jesus, our Messiah, the High Priest of the order of Melchizedek, will return to Jerusalem and govern the earth as the King forever.

The Lord says to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”

The Lord sends forth from Zion
    your mighty scepter.
    Rule in the midst of your enemies!

The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
    after the order of Melchizedek.”

Psalm 110:1-2, 4

Is it possible that Melchizedek shifted the course of history by blessing Abram and honoring God? Is it possible that he locked in the destiny of His city by honoring what God was doing and coming into agreement with God’s purposes for Abram’s family?

I think so. I think God wants us to remember Melchizedek. I think God wants us to bless Abram’s family. And I think God wants a royal priesthood.

The post Why Jerusalem? Abram, Melchizedek, David and A City’s Destiny appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

In our journey of growing as a worshiper and lover of God, some of us experience a shift in our hearts from the desire to experience God’s presence to the desire to host God’s presence. Those I call “presence pioneers” are those who have begun to have this growing longing for an abiding presence of God in their lives, cities and nations. This shift from experiencing God’s presence to hosting God’s presence became clear to me recently as I was reading through Psalm 132 again. The following verses jumped out to me.

“‘Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.’ Arise O Lord, and go to your resting place…”

Psalm 132:7-8

Questions began to come to mind. In these verses, is the worshiper going to God or is God going to the worshiper? Who is the one that is “going” here? In verse 7 the worshiper is going to the dwelling place. In verse 8 God is going to His resting place. Something shifts between these two verses. Verse 7 describes how the worshiper heard of the Ark of the Covenant, and his heart longed to experience the place where God’s presence and glory dwelled. But in verse 8 he is no longer wanting to just go to where God is, but he is asking God to come to the place that he has prepared for the Lord on Mt. Zion. He is ready to host the presence of God.

Our hunger for God may begin with us going to places of His presence, but moments will never fully satisfy. A half hour in the secret place is vital. Spending time in the prayer room is great. Powerful conferences, church services, worship nights, burns and tent revivals are all incredible, but God has more for us than just good meetings. The true worshiper does not desire a visitation but a habitation. Davidic hearts want a place where He can rest — a place for His presence. We want God’s kingdom on the earth as in heaven. We might begin our worship journey by saying “let us go” but eventually we should also say “arise O Lord, and go”.

By “hosting God’s presence” I don’t primarily mean leading or pastoring a worshiping community — although that could be part of it. I mean abiding with God in your everyday life, orienting your life around Him and longing for the fullness of His kingdom. It’s not just enjoying occasional encounters with God, but it’s yearning for the fullness of His leadership on the earth. We host God by submitting our lives fully to Him and giving Him complete dominion over anything that is under our influence. Everything becomes worship and therefore everything becomes filled with His presence. His kingdom comes more and more, and we become resting places for God.

But this is not individualistic. You and I are not the resting places. We are the temple of God. “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22) We are built together. The presence pioneer wants more than personal experience, he wants corporate breakthrough. He wants more than a personal prayer life; He wants to be part of a house of prayer. He doesn’t just want to visit the Ark, he wants the Ark in His city. He wants more than a good church; he wants to live in a nation that looks like heaven — because that is what happens when God rests among a people in a place. Everything changes. And ultimately this longing will only be fully satisfied when Jesus returns to the earth again and establishes the fullness of His kingdom here.

Until that day, this is the cry of those that host God’s presence: “Arise O Lord, and go to your resting place! Come to my heart! Rule in my life! Dwell in my home! Lead my family! Let your kingdom come here! Don’t leave! Abide with us! Let my city and region and nation be filled with your glory! Maranatha!”

The post Hosting God’s Presence vs. Experience God’s Presence appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

In our journey of growing as a worshiper and lover of God, some of us experience a shift in our hearts from the desire to experience God’s presence to the desire to host God’s presence. Those I call “presence pioneers” are those who have begun to have this growing longing for an abiding presence of God in their lives, cities and nations. This shift from experiencing God’s presence to hosting God’s presence became clear to me recently as I was reading through Psalm 132 again. The following verses jumped out to me.

“‘Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.’ Arise O Lord, and go to your resting place…”

Psalm 132:7-8

Questions began to come to mind. In these verses, is the worshiper going to God or is God going to the worshiper? Who is the one that is “going” here? In verse 7 the worshiper is going to the dwelling place. In verse 8 God is going to His resting place. Something shifts between these two verses. Verse 7 describes how the worshiper heard of the Ark of the Covenant, and his heart longed to experience the place where God’s presence and glory dwelled. But in verse 8 he is no longer wanting to just go to where God is, but he is asking God to come to the place that he has prepared for the Lord on Mt. Zion. He is ready to host the presence of God.

Our hunger for God may begin with us going to places of His presence, but moments will never fully satisfy. A half hour in the secret place is vital. Spending time in the prayer room is great. Powerful conferences, church services, worship nights, burns and tent revivals are all incredible, but God has more for us than just good meetings. The true worshiper does not desire a visitation but a habitation. Davidic hearts want a place where He can rest — a place for His presence. We want God’s kingdom on the earth as in heaven. We might begin our worship journey by saying “let us go” but eventually we should also say “arise O Lord, and go”.

By “hosting God’s presence” I don’t primarily mean leading or pastoring a worshiping community — although that could be part of it. I mean abiding with God in your everyday life, orienting your life around Him and longing for the fullness of His kingdom. It’s not just enjoying occasional encounters with God, but it’s yearning for the fullness of His leadership on the earth. We host God by submitting our lives fully to Him and giving Him complete dominion over anything that is under our influence. Everything becomes worship and therefore everything becomes filled with His presence. His kingdom comes more and more, and we become resting places for God.

But this is not individualistic. You and I are not the resting places. We are the temple of God. “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22) We are built together. The presence pioneer wants more than personal experience, he wants corporate breakthrough. He wants more than a personal prayer life; He wants to be part of a house of prayer. He doesn’t just want to visit the Ark, he wants the Ark in His city. He wants more than a good church; he wants to live in a nation that looks like heaven — because that is what happens when God rests among a people in a place. Everything changes. And ultimately this longing will only be fully satisfied when Jesus returns to the earth again and establishes the fullness of His kingdom here.

Until that day, this is the cry of those that host God’s presence: “Arise O Lord, and go to your resting place! Come to my heart! Rule in my life! Dwell in my home! Lead my family! Let your kingdom come here! Don’t leave! Abide with us! Let my city and region and nation be filled with your glory! Maranatha!”

The post Experience God’s Presence vs. Hosting God’s Presence appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

One of the ways the enemy derails prayer ministries and intercessors is spiritual pride.

Spiritual pride is when we become religious and haughty about our spiritual practices and disciplines. I know from experience that this is especially tempting when you’re leading prayer meetings and have many people stop coming while you continue to show up.

But when we begin to become judgmental, bitter and cynical about those that we think are not praying/fasting/whatever enough, then we’ve moved away from the heart of God and become religious. At that point, the enemy has deceived us into spiritual pride. Prayer shifts from love, humility and intimacy with God and it becomes about our own self righteousness.

I’m speaking boldly on this because I’ve done it myself countless times.

The thing is… God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Proud prayers don’t work. Proud intercessors are ineffective.

Jesus in his wisdom knew that this would be a temptation. Right after He teaches about the importance of persistence in prayer (Luke 18:1-8), he begins to address the issue of spiritual pride.

“The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:11-14

Prayer is about relationships with Jesus. Yes, its’ a joy when others join with us, and as we should encourage each other to pray more. But as leaders and intercessors we have to check our hearts. Are we putting religious pressure on people? Are we legalistically putting our personal convictions on others? And condemning them if they do something different? Or are we humbly inviting one another into deeper intimacy with God through prayer? Is our motivation love for God and others? Or making ourselves feel important, impactful or spiritual?

Let’s not be the Pharisee but the tax collector. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

The post Intercessors Who Think They Are More Spiritual Than Everyone Else appeared first on Matthew Lilley.

Maybe historic global revival will come in your lifetime, but maybe not. Maybe Jesus will return in your lifetime, but maybe not. But ultimately, those are not things we instigate. They are things we pray for and prepare for with a humble recognition of God’s sovereignty in all things.

King David’s Short-Sightedness

King David was tempted by self-importance and short-sightedness. He had a God-given vision for a permanent resting place for God on the earth — a permanent temple in Jerusalem where God’s glory could dwell (Psalm 132). It was a beautiful vision that was inspired by the Lord.

David was truly prophetic. Many of the Psalms speak prophetically of Christ’s first coming and even Jesus’ second coming. He saw what God wanted, but he was short-sighted. 

David thought he would build the temple for God. He thought that everything he saw prophetically would come to pass in his own lifetime. He had to learn that his dreams were actually God’s dreams, not his own, and that God’s timeline is often different from ours.

“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.”

2 Samuel 7:11-12

God confronted David in 2 Samuel 7 with two revelations. These truths will confront our own sense of self-importance, if we will heed God’s word.

God told David that He was going to build a house for David, not the other way around (2 Samuel 7:11).God told David that the vision in His heart would be fulfilled through his lineage (2 Samuel 7:12). 

This word for David humbled him, shifted his perspective and expanded his mindset beyond what he could accomplish in his own lifetime. He shifted his energy towards preparing for future generations. He began accumulating supplies, training the Levites and discipling Solomon for the generational hand-off at the end of his life.

Stewarding Your God-Given Dreams

Whatever dreams/desires/visions God has given you, hold them in faith. Pray for them. And share them with the next generation. Maybe you’ll see their fulfillment, but maybe your natural/spiritual kids will. Don’t abandon your God-given dreams, but don’t make assumptions about the timing.

We should do some equivalent of how David was “gathering supplies” and “training the Levites.” Proverbs 13:22 says “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” We should think generationally about our resources, finances and discipleship. How can we prepare future generations to go further and climb higher than we did? Maybe our dreams will be realized by our grandchildren?

The post We Might Not See Revival: A Lesson from King David’s Life appeared first on Matthew Lilley.