Establishing a House of Prayer in Prague

My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations (NIV - Mark 11:17)

Christian history is full of new movements and vehicles to accomplish the purposes of God on earth. Most of these movements have one thing in common, community. In Acts we see references to ‘house to house’ meetings, churches, mission teams and gatherings. One common denominator in these communities was prayer. Across the world believers are uniting under a vision to see the establishment of houses of prayer that are in many ways different from models experienced in the past. We feel that Prague is to be one of the international cities with a 24/7 House of Prayer.
Why Prague?

Prague is a “gateway” (threshold) city in Europe. This region has a prophetic destiny and we believe this includes birthing a new way of ministering to God in intercessory worship. Prague is the capital of the Czech nation and Bohemia and Moravia have a unique spiritual heritage.

Spiritual Heritage
After the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, many, including Comenius, fled the regions, but small groups of persecuted believers referred to as the “hidden seed” remained behind and continued to meet in secret. A young man named Christian David journeyed from Moravia to Silesia (present day Saxony in Germany) looking for work. During a long illness he found “saving faith” while being cared for by a Lutheran pastor. He returned to Moravia many times preaching the message of faith and eventually met Count Nicholas Louis Von Zinzendorf, owner of a large estate just across the boarder in Germany. Zinzendorf offered to help these persecuted believers find refuge on his land in 1722. Almost immediately they began to build about a mile from the village in an area they named ‘Herrnhut’ or ‘the Lord’s Watch’. During the next five years, a steady stream of emigrants came from Moravia and Bohemia, some escaping from prison or leaving hiding places in the forests.

As Herrnhut attracted more believers from more diverse backgrounds, many arguments and divisions arose. Seven years later the community was on the verge of destroying itself. Zinzendorf drafted 42 community statutes that regulated most aspects of everyday life. He discovered Comenius’ teachings were very similar to his ideas. He also discovered a prophesy of a “hidden seed” coming to life in 100 years. The 100 years had come to pass as the first arrivals came to Herrnhut. Zinzendorf caught Comenius’ vision for resurrecting the Brethren Church [Unitas Fratrum] .

That very year revival began! The unity of the community was restored and as a result they initiated a “prayer watch” of hourly intercession. This 24-7 prayer watch lasted 100 years! In addition to intercession, songs and hymns were a large part of their expression of their faith. The Moravian understanding of the joyous nature of the relationship between the believer and the Savior enabled them to develop education and the arts in His praise. As a result, they sponsored schools and produced exceptional musicians and artists. One of the most noted fruits of the Moravian revival was the number of missionaries sent into the most remote parts of the world. In laying foundations for Christian missions (the Moravians inaugurated the modern missions movement), they laid down their lives in vast numbers.

POTENTIAL TODAY
The influence of the Moravians is impossible to estimate. The Church today needs God’s Spirit and the Truth. History has proven it needs balance as well. Our hope is in Jesus and not in models. However, the Church needs prophetic directions as never before. 24/7 sustained worship to God is sure to be a bright spot in this world of suicide bombers and popular “white” witches.

Regardless of the success of the House of Prayer global prayer movement, there is a link between what God was doing with the Moravians and what God is doing now. In their day, the Moravians changed the world. One can only hope that the Lord will change our world today. Maybe the ‘hidden seed’ was not in fact the small groups of Brethren [Unitas Fratrum] surviving Catholic persecution, but rather the concept of night and day worship and intercession that has the power to change the world for Christ.

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why go to a central place to pray, when we can pray in our own homes?
Imagine a place where you could go at any time of the day or night to pray and seek God. Such places already exist in Jerusalem, Kansas City and Colorado Springs, USA. The Augustinians described such ‘thin places’ where there was no thick layer of heaviness because of frequent prayers and worship happening there. Houses of Prayer are meant to be like a special habitation of God in a city. Personal prayer is essential, but what God seems to be saying all around the world in these days is “Pray corporately.” There is power and anointing in agreement as we come together from around the city and nation for one purpose, to worship God and intercede in unity. There is one important element: Our audience is God! So it doesn’t matter if we have only a worship team. The Lord is blessed by our worship and fellowship with Him. The spiritual atmosphere in the city will slowly change, allowing unbelievers to know God more freely.

Where is the House of Prayer in Prague?
There is no specific building for the House of Prayer in Prague yet, but we are in the process of building one. Currently the YMCA has offered a room in their building. The address is Moltilek in Prague 13 by Raska Zarada metro.

Who can go there, and at what times?
Although our vision is to have worship and intercession happening in the House of Prayer 24/7, we have to start small and grow into that. We meet every other Friday at the Salvation Army from 5-9. Worship teams from various churches sign up for 2-hour slots. Worship teams include a prayer leader, a worship leader and members of the worship band. Participation of everyone present is encouraged through the reading and praying of scriptures, by active worshipping, through the arts or by singing prayers for the edification of everyone. You need not be a professional musician, just have the heart of a worshipper, like King David. Anyone can come and worship. For reasons of accountability, we ask that those actively involved in the worship team be a member of a church.

Who are the leaders?
A leadership team is forming of those who have the vision to see the House of Prayer established in Prague. It is not desired that one church would lead the ministry, but rather that a city-wide leadership would be formed to provide a neutral place for all churches to come and worship and pray together. As of yet, there are no formal leaders ordained to lead it, however the formation of the House of Prayer and the commissioning of it’s leaders will be under the combined leadership of pastors who participate in the ministry. Currently pastors from PCF, KSP, New Beginnings, Church of God and Ministry of Reconciliation Church have attended and participated.

Why pray at night when we should be sleeping? Won’t it disturb my ‘bio-rhythm’?
As stated before, we aren’t praying all night yet. However, fasting from sleep (watching and praying) was a regular practice for Jesus. When believers stay awake all night to “watch and pray”, the church advances into the enemy’s dark domain victoriously. Some churches hold weekly all-night prayer watches every Friday night and they testify that people are changed in the presence of God in the night hours and the plans of the enemy are exposed.

How can I get involved?
1. Pray for a permanent building to be built.
2. Pray about how you can be involved as a priest and Levite before the Lord, whether on a worship band, as a prayer leader or just coming and blessing God in worship (Contact Markéta Lišková if you are interested in signing up for a worship slot).
3. Pray for leaders to be “called” to this ministry.
4. Share about the House of Prayer with other churches and worship bands. We already have participation of about 10 churches from around Prague, but there are many more! There is power in unity among believers and Jesus loves it!