A Biblical Parable for the House of Prayer Movement

The last year has brought immense challenges to the church, particularly to the House of Prayer movement. Many of us have been walking through a season of deep grief and pain after receiving the heartbreaking news of moral failures within various sectors of the church, specifically regarding Mike Bickle, the founder of IHOPKC. It has been a period of humiliation and soul-searching, filled with heartbreak and anguish, repentance and lamentation. As someone who has been deeply inspired by the ministry of IHOPKC and Mike Bickle, it has been a time of mourning, lamentation, and, if I’m honest, personal deconstruction in some ways. I have sought to maintain a tender heart through one of the most challenging years of my life in ministry. I am grateful for the Lord’s nearness and the encouragement of our leaders and staff at GateCity.

In June this year, the Lord led me to the story of David bringing the ark to Jerusalem. I had studied this journey and preached about it many times. However, this moment was different, as the Lord had me focus on the season between the two attempts. He highlighted to me the incredible disillusionment the nation of Israel must have felt at Uzzah’s death and their inability to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. I sensed the Lord was speaking to me from this part of the story as a parable for the season the church, and specifically the House of Prayer movement, has been experiencing over the past year. I realized that it was in a time of great grief and trial that David had to humble himself and turn to the Lord to find His heart regarding the ark and the tabernacle David desired to set up. It was in the wake of great loss and failure that David had to rally the nation a second time to bring the ark to Jerusalem. I believe the last year has been similar to that moment. We do not ignore the failures of the past or the pain those failures have caused; instead, we meet the hurting with compassion and learn from the failures so that we may move forward with a different heart posture than we had before. The House of Prayer movement is in the midst of a dramatic humbling and breaking. We are undergoing a dynamic shift in how we will operate in the foreseeable future. I believe we are in a transitional moment—a pivot.

I believe there is a new humility we must embrace if we are to carry on with the vision of worship and prayer. The only personality at the center must be Jesus. We must rid ourselves of any sense of elitism, cultivating deep humility in our prayer rooms. I believe the House of Prayer is transitioning from being a para-church ministry to embracing a local church identity. Jesus’s vision for His House of Prayer is meant to be realized through His church—a kingdom of priests fully engaged in worship and prayer, stewarding the glory of God. I believe just as the ark was to be carried by the Levites in David’s day, the presence of God at the center of the church is to be hosted by the kingdom of priests, the whole church family ministering to the Lord.

When David first set out to bring the ark back, he gathered 30,000 people in celebration. But instead of following God’s instructions, he used a method borrowed from the Philistines. Rather than being carried on the shoulders of the priests as God had prescribed, the ark was placed on a cart. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out to steady the ark and was struck dead. Uzzah’s name means strength. I believe the strength of the House of Prayer movement has been similarly struck in our day to humble us, purify us, and ultimately heal us.

David learned a critical lesson: God’s work cannot be accomplished by human means. David’s intentions were good, but he failed to follow God’s prescription. God’s will must be done God’s way.

After Uzzah’s death, David was humbled. He called for the priests to carry the ark on their shoulders, as God had commanded. With every six steps, they stopped to sacrifice and worship. The focus shifted from human strength to humility, worship, and obedience. David himself, instead of walking in front of the ark in his kingly robes, stripped down to a linen ephod and danced with all his might before the Lord. His actions were not about status or appearance; they were about honoring the presence of God. We have been stripped down and called to embrace humility. This is the way forward—humble, loving obedience, where we are stripped of our “kingly” attire and take the place of ministering to the Lord as a kingdom of priests.

The Lord is calling His church, and specifically the House of Prayer movement, back to the foundations of the church as the House of Prayer and the House of Prayer as the church. The church is not to be about programs, platforms, or personalities. Nor is the House of Prayer to exist apart from the church. God is inviting us to align with His order, with humility and reverence.

This transition requires us to humble ourselves so we can follow God’s prescriptions, not our own methods. Like David, we must let go of our pride and fully embrace our identity as a kingdom of priests. We are called to carry the ark—to steward the glory of God in the midst of our churches, communities, families, and daily lives. As we do, I believe the church will enter her apostolic destiny of being a place where God’s glory dwells (Eph 2:20-22).

The question we must ask ourselves is this: Are we willing to carry the ark the way God has instructed? Are we willing to humble ourselves and put His presence at the center of our churches through prayer and fasting? Are we willing to follow His lead, no matter the cost? I believe this is the moment we’re in, and it’s the call we must all answer right now.