God's Rice Field & Building Altars on the Threshing Floor

For sometime now, I've been studying and researching the Father's heart on our location and how it connects with the name of our HOP. The more I pursue this, the more firmly I believe our prophetic destiny as a house of prayer is written into our name and the locations where we met. Please see this link for the first writing. Please see this link for the second writing.

The first place of meeting was in a cafe. A place of eating and feasting called "The Decision." (At the time, it was still known as Art Cafe Decision by most)
That cafe is in an area of Tokyo that hosts the seat of government for the nation of Japan. The name of that area is called Chiyoda-ku.
The name of the area within Chiyoda-ku where The Decision is located is called Kanda.
The English literal translation of the chinese characters for Kanda is as follows:

神 = God

田 = Rice Field

In 1 Chronicles 21, David ended up at a threshing floor. A place where the harvest was brought in and prepared for distribution. In the context of the story, God speaks and instructs David to construct an altar in that place. David purchases the property and does as directed. In the process of making the sacrifice and carrying out the act of worship, fire falls from heaven and burns up the sacrifice in response to David's prayers.


>In 1 Chronicles 22, David makes a decision and determines that this will become the new location for the Temple of the Lord and the place of the altar for Israel's burnt offerings.

Moving forward to 2 Chronicles 7, Solomon has already become king. He has completed building the Temple of the Lord as instructed by his father, David and gone through the process of dedicating the newly completed temple. Before the Solomon and the people, fire again falls upon the altar which compels the people to worship Him all the more. Starting with verse 11, Solomon receives a response from the Lord to his prayers of dedication.


Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 

It is interesting that the altar which David built was one with a purpose of intercession. It is interesting that the altar was needed due to a decision David had made. It is interesting that the altar was built on a place where grain was separated from the chaff. It is interesting that God is the one who chose the location of the altar which later became the temple.

It is interesting that the story of The Altar IHOP, Tokyo so closely shadows some of the themes found in scripture.
And this is the word I believe Abba is continuing to speak to us about it:

I AM the LORD of the Harvest. The grain is mine. The kingdoms of the earth are mine. The governments of the nations are mine. The "field of japan" is mine and my kingdom will be made manifest in the earth.

More insight to come as it is made known. Connecting threads are on The Decision and Ecclesia Cafe as modern day threshing floors and further study on altars.
Grace,
jg

Prophetic Date: 6/21/2009

It was no small task making the decision to move forward with the altar IHOP, tokyo's growth this past month.

Since our launch, back in November of 2008, it's been a given that we'll be expanding in many ways as we move towards our goal of night and day 24/7.365 intercession over Japan and Asia. Firstly, as Abba leads more people to join us and secondly, by the addition of prayer sessions, prayer & worship sessions and various types of teaching & training encounters.

On June 21, 2009, we marked our first Sunday Night teaching session in which a vision was cast in a stairwell with royal blue carpet cascading down and an automatic motion detecting light. A location just as prophetic and symbolic of things to come as the date.

Among them, that we are on the basement level of a new thing God's doing in Japan. We are fast ascending and heeding the calling He's extended towards us to "come up here my beloved..." That we (the body of christ) still need the keys to open doors... but that they are coming soon. And that we are firmly planted in the river of the water of life that's spoken about in Ezekiel's writings and so, so much more.

The date however being the focus of this posting, has a scripture to match and a very good one at that. Matthew 6.21 which states, "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." (NLT)

It is interesting that, before the throne of God, there is an altar containing golden bowls of incense which contain the prayers of the saints presented before Him. It is interesting that the name of this HOP is "the altar." It is also interesting that our focus is such a similar reflection to the things that are in the throne room. 

That the prayers of the saints are the treasures placed before Abba on His altar....

That we come to His "altar" to offer up our prayers as sweet incense before him and so often, those offerings... those prayers are a reflection of the treasures we have laid up on the altars of our own hearts.

It's through the act of prayer and humble worship of the King of kings that we transfer those oh so precious cares, concerns and loved ones from one altar to the next. When we lay our hearts, our hopes, our visions and our dreams upon Abba's altar our treasures become His and His treasures become ours. It is as simple as this yet, there is so much more.

What better way than to spend time dwelling in a place literally called "the altar" to represent the location of our most precious possession? Which is and always should be, Him. After all, wasn't He Himself laid up an offering of sacrifice upon an altar once too?

Q&A: What is Harp & Bowl style worship?

Question: What is Harp & Bowl worship?

Answer: It is a type of worship that is modeled after Revelations 5:8 which refers to "harps" and "bowls." The "harp" represents music coming from musical instruments. The "bowl" represents the prayers of the saints which are rising up before the throne of God.

An easy way to picture this style of worship is to think of it as prayer that is spoken or sung along with music.

A unique feature of this style worship is that it can be sustained without ceasing for long periods of time. One of the reasons is due to the use of scripture as a song book. In addition, when singing the scriptures, a type of call and response singing is used called antiphonal singing. This is where two semi-independent choirs interact with one another, often singing alternate musical phrases.

An important point to be aware of- the main focus of Harp & Bowl worship is not on the singers or the musicians but on the One being worshiped.

Below are some scripture references that highlight: singers, songs, musical instruments, worship

"the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel..." Judges 5.11

"David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals." 1 Chronicles 15.16

"David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals..." 1 Chronicles 25.1

"All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God." 2 Chronicles 5.12-14

"Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed. When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped." 2 Chronicles 29.27-29

"...the singers responsible for the service of the house of God." Nemiah 11.22

"For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God." Nemiah 12.46

"...be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5.18-20

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Colossians 3.16

The Blue Flame IS a Pilot Light

Leviticus 6.12 states, "The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out..."

The fire.
On the altar.
Must be.
Kept burning.
It must.
NOT go out.

This was before access to such deep underground treasures as natural gas and oil. This was before oil pipelines, refineries and gas mains. This was before furnaces and boilers. This was before basements to keep the furnaces and boilers in.

The fire.
On the altar.
Must be.
Kept burning.
It must.
NOT go out.

This sounds like a pilot light. And being from a place like Alaska, pilot lights are essential to life. In winter, if the pilot light goes out- the whole house freezes. Water pipes turn to ice. Showers, toilets, washing machines stop working. There is no heat. Stone cold.

The fire.
On the altar.
Must be.
Kept burning.
It must.
NOT go out.

If the water is frozen... if there is no heat source... in winter, in Alaska and places like it- you die. It's a non-negotiable truth in this realm. And if that is a non-negotiable truth in this realm, why would it be different in the next?

If we look at the fire on the altar as it really is- the sacrifice of our praise and worship. The sacrifice from our lips, our hearts... our minds set after Him and IF those sacrifices are not placed upon His altar, the fire will stop burning. It will go out.

The pilot light will be snuffed out because the source of its burning is cut off.

So, what has this to do with anything? Especially a House of Prayer? Well, a picture Abba's been painting the past few years is of "the church" as one building. With the prayer rooms in the basement.

The prayer rooms, the Houses of Prayer- they are the furnace... they are THE pilot light of the building called "church." If there are no prayer rooms, the building goes cold. The activities of the building cease because the water of the Spirit stops flowing. It freezes.

This is on every level. A multi-tired operation which, when brought together, equals the whole.
It is personal.
It is by family. Bible study group. Church fellowship on the corner. It is denominational and ministerial. It is national and it is universal.

The old testament describes the groupings in such terms as families, clans, tribes, etc.

I feel God speaking in this hour with an urgency for His people to understand the absolute necessity of prayer & worship. We have mistakenly understood the function and purpose of both.

Looking at prayer & worship in comparison to a simple pilot light found in one's basement offers insight into a much needed paradigm shift for many of us.

We literally become the pilot light burning as we pray & worship. We burn BLUE! Though small, and most often kept in a hidden part of the building structure, this is the hottest part of a flame. As we burn, we are literally tapped into THE source of OIL rather than A source of oil.
Because we are tapped into THE source of oil, we BURN hot enough to heat the WHOLE house as we interceede.

"For the Lord your God is a consuming fire..." Deuteronomy 4.24
"... consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it." 2 Samuel 22.9 & Psalm 18.8
"See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, ... and his tongue is a consuming fire." Isaiah 30.27
"...for our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12.29

A characteristic unique to the HOP, Tokyo is our location. I believe it is a prophetic illustration of this truth. Cafe' Decision which currently hosts the HOP, Tokyo is located in the basement of a building called "Big Vision." And inside of Cafe' Decision is a downstairs and an upstairs.

We usually meet for prayer meetings and fellowship gatherings in the upper room underground. To elaborate on the symbolism, the fire of the Spirt fell upon those who were present in the upper room on the day of pentecost. This was THE prayer meeting if that century! (Acts ch 1.12-14 & 2.1-4)

It seems to me, God is making a statement. There is a Big Vision for the upper room which is underground. If that's the case, fire will fall from above and burn up from below. There is high potential for a pretty hot furnace. May we be a people who live daily in the middle of it.

December 4, 2008
Additonal Note:
An interesting bit of Pilot Light trivia.
A sign that the gas being burned is pure and without mixture is the blue color of the flame. When it contains orange or yellow flames, there is a source other than pure gas being burned.