[33] Visit from Jill Weber

Wed 17 October 2018

Our guest for the evening was Jill Weber, from 24-7 Prayer. Until recently Jill was part of the Greater Ontario House of Prayer in Canada, but has now moved to Guildford to work for 24-7 Prayer, helping establish houses of prayer. Jill shared with us stories of the birth and development of the house of prayer, in order to encourage us on our journey here in Southampton. 

Opening prayer time

We began with a reading of Psalm 131, from the Message paraphrase. 

131 God, I'm not trying to rule the roost,

    I don’t want to be king of the mountain.

I haven’t meddled where I have no business

    or fantasized grandiose plans.

2 I've kept my feet on the ground,

    I've cultivated a quiet heart.

Like a baby content in its mother’s arms,

    my soul is a baby content.

3 Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope.

    Hope now; hope always!

Jill read this passage several times. As she did, we listened for key words of phrases that spoke to us particularly. Then we kept silence for a while. Then we spoke out the phrases that had stuck with us. Then we prayed in response.

What is in our hands?

We spent some time with our hands out, clenched, thinking about all the things we may be holding from the day. Then we let them go to the Lord. Then we asked him what he was putting in our hands. These were shared:

Stories from Canada - birthing and growth of a house of prayer

Jill shared from her 15 years' experience of leading a house of prayer in Canada. But first she noted that a house of prayer is a community not a building and she shared her joy at being amongst us. She said it is a privilege to be a witness to our journey. She commented on our hope, anticipation, expectation and mutual respect. She felt she had stepped into a room of friends. 

Jill's story began when, with her husband, she first came across the prayer movement and everything in them resonated with it! So they began to reorganise their jobs and move to a new city to join a prayer house. But at the last moment they both lost their peace about it. However, the small steps they had already taken meant they were already looking at things from a different place and could see new horizons that they wouldn't have seen unless they had started to move... She describes this as God being "Jehovah sneaky" - the Lord led them towards one thing but had a different destination in mind. They needed to start moving to see the other possibility.

We are pilgrims on a journey, following Jesus, and He is committed to make His church a house of prayer for all nations. 

Jill encouraged us not to stop, whatever happens, particularly in the first 2 years. The world, the flesh and the devil do not want to see houses of prayer established, so there will probably be spiritual resistance to what we are doing. She told a parable of two rabbits corned in a log by a pack of baying hounds. Ma rabbit said to Pa rabbit not to worry - 'we'll wait here until we outnumber them'. Jill encouraged us that we will be fruitful, even if we are in a place of being hemmed in. 

Commenting on a story about eagle mothers making the nest uncomfortable so the young eagles are motivated to get out and fly away, she said this is actually not true to life. However she did note that God comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. So don't be afraid if it feels like it is time to grow up and spread your wings.

Jill told the story of how the house of prayer has changed location multiple times in the last 5 years. One particular time Jill wrote a list of the things she felt was important for the location. And the Lord provided somewhere that fulfilled all the points on the list. 

When she knew she was moving into a place called Hamilton, where the house is now, she kept on speaking it out, declaring it, telling people we will be coming. This went on for a number of months, but it was very encouraging as God kept on giving direction and confirmation. On the subject of location, she said we should consider what do we have in our hands? What has the Lord already given us?

Praying the scriptures - Jill said this practice should carry a warning - pray at your own risk! Because God will move in us to do amazing things with us when we pray the scriptures. She shared how they have a prayer truck and go and park up in a certain place every July in a place where there is a lot of need. How community builds around it and the fact that they do it every year is very significant for that community. This has really helped to shape their house of prayer.

Stories from a prayer room abroad

Jill brought a colleague, who had spent a number of years in a house of prayer abroad. She shared with us how she thought she was going to be a missionary and talk to people about Jesus. It turned out that in addition to that her main role was to be faithfully persistent as part of a team praying for that nation. Their practice was like this: each day each person took a 2-hour slot in the prayer room. And once each week they all met together in the prayer room. During their solitary time in the prayer room they would begin by singing through a psalm. They had a white board where you updated the number of the next Psalm so that the next person knew which one. They they had a routine of praying for key people in the country, for organisations and for towns and cities. This was also methodical, and there was an online journal so you could note what you had prayed for and any words or pictures you had for the person or place. She also described how God was working in her personally at the same time. The team had identified spiritual strongholds in the nation and noticed how they were personally effected by them, causing them to react to events differently than they would normally. Once realised, this was a matter of repentance for thinking like that and resisting the devil. As in James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Jill's friend left us with a verse from Isaiah 37:30: “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit."

More from Jill

Jill noted that things will touch the lives our our community. This is the spiritual dynamic of the city manifesting on the team. It is a picture of the larger scene. She said they have learnt not to be worried about this, but be alert to it. Once you realised what is going on, it's a matter for James 4:7 (as above).

She stressed the importance of hospitality and inclusivity. Let there be 'all kinds of prayer' (Ephesians 6) in the prayer room, a wide range of expressions. Experimentation and exploration is good. 

In answer to a question about how they got into mission, it was through the book Punk Monk, which describes six practices for houses of prayer. They asked themselves, how can we explore and experiment into these? They went to people already reaching out in their city and asked if they could come and serve them to learn. Lots of people are doing mission in Southampton already. We should see what is happening and explore how to serve them. 

In conclusion:

And her final words - 'What have you got in your hand?'

Post script

I remember we discussed 'can all of life be prayer'. Here is a related article by Jill. 

And here is the wonderful community cafe where the Hamilton prayer room is based.