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

"The Psalm 18 Prayer"

Note on Prayer
One of the most powerful tools we have for prayer is literally praying the scripture back to God. He goes so far as to tell us this directly through Isaiah 55.11 and also 2 Timothy 3.16. He also tells us of the power that's held within a word through Proverbs 18.21.

Psalm 18: Modified for Japan
Japan loves you, O LORD, for you are her strength. The LORD is her rock, her fortress and her deliverer; Japan's God is her rock, in whom she takes refuge. He is her shield and the horn of her salvation, her stronghold.

Japan calls to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and she is saved from her enemies. The cords of death entangle her; the torrents of destruction overwhelm her. The cords of the grave coil around her; the snares of death confront her. Suicide harasses her, isolation and conformation torment her. Materialism woos her while emptiness gnaws at her.

In her distress she calls to the LORD; Japan cries to her God for help. From his temple he hears her voice; her cry comes before him, into his ears.

The earth trembles and quakes, and the foundations of the mountains shake; they tremble because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blaze out of it.

He parts the heavens and comes down; dark clouds are under his feet. He mounts the cherubim and flies; he soares on the wings of the wind. He mades darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advance, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The LORD thunderes from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounds. He shoots his arrows and scatteres the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routes them.

The valleys of the sea will be exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

He is reachng down from on high and taking hold of Japan; he is drawing her out of deep waters rescuing her from her powerful enemy, from her foes, who are too strong for her. They confront her in the day of her disaster, but the LORD is Japan's support.

He is bringing Japan out into a spacious place; he is rescuing Japan

BECAUSE HE DELIGHTES IN HER.

The LORD has dealt with Japan according to the righteousness she is starting to walk in; according to the cleanness of the hands she is begining to cry out for and he is rewarding her for this.

For Japan is becoming a nation that keeps the ways of the LORD; and will no longer continue to do evil by turning from her God. All his laws are before her; she will cease to turn away from his decrees. She will stand and is now begining to stand blameless before him, she is learning to keep herself from sin. The LORD will
reward Japan according to her righteousness, according to the cleanness of her hands in his sight.

To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

You, O LORD, keep Japan's lamp burning; her God turns her darkness into light.

With your help she can advance against a troop; with her God she can scale a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

It is God who arms Japan with the strength required to turn to him and it is God who makes her way perfect.

He makes her feet like the feet of a deer; he enables her to stand on the heights. He trains her hands for battle; her arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You give Japan your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains her; you stoop down to make her great. You broaden the path beneath her, so that her ankles do not turn.

She pursues her enemies and will soon overtake them; she will not turn back till they are destroyed. She will crush them so that they cannot rise; they will fall beneath her feet.

You arm Japan with strength for battle; you make her adversaries bow at her feet. You make her enemies turn their backs in flight, and she destroys her foes.

Though they cry for help, but there will be no one to save them— to the LORD, but he will not answer. She will beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind; she will pour them out like mud in the streets. You will deliver Japan from the attacks of the evil one; you will make her well known among the nations; an example to the world of a nation walking in righteousness before you.

As soon as the enemy hears her cry out to you O God, he cringes before her. They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds and flee away as though they were nothing.

The LORD lives! Praise be to Japan's Rock! Exalted be God Japan's Savior! He is the God who avenges her, who subdues the enemy under her, who saves her from her enemies. You are exalting Japan above her foes; from violence and evil, from lust and perversion, from unbelief, rebellion and godlessness of every kind, you are rescuing Japan because of your great love for her.

Therefore

Japan will praise you among the nations, O LORD;

she will sing praises to your name. He gives nations that love him great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed and to their descendants forever.

Japan Among the Nations
Come Abba, raise up Japan from the dust and ashes that she may lead other Asian nations in worship of the Living God. One drop of Jesus' blood was enough to accomplish this. Send your heavenly host to wake up Japan's slumbering spirit that she may rise from the dead as mighty army of true samurai- loyal until death to the Master.

Japan is called to be a warring tribe- a mighty warrior people who contend for the things of the kindgom yet she has been rendered powerless and complacient under a stupor of false humility and apathy. She has a form of godliness but denys the power Father. She denys the poer because she does not yet have a love relationship with you.

Japan and the Japanese people are only one... ONE revelation away from the LIGHT of LIFE Abba- open the doors of revelation over Japan and the Japanese peoples. Open the doors that they may become who you designed them to be. Open the doors that Japan may fulfill her purpose for this generation as was the case with David. Open the doors of revelation that this people may take their rightful place among the nations.

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.