The Prayer Movement

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God said that He was going to change the understanding and expression of Christianity in all the Earth in one generation.

Back in Sept of 1982, Mike Bickle was in Cairo Egypt when the Lord spoke to him in an audible voice. Never before had Mike ever heard the audible voice of the Lord, but this one was unmistakable. Mike was praying for the poor of the Earth when all of a sudden there was a swirl in the air and he could feel the wind of the spirit in the room.

The Lord said in an audible voice, “I will give you the wealth of the nations if you will take care of the poor of the earth”.

The Lord followed that statement with, “I am going to change the understanding and expression of Christianity in the whole earth in one generation”.

Mike responded with a wholehearted, “Yes, I will take care of the poor”

Then God said, “You have only said yes but have not done it yet. Others have said yes too but they did not do it”.

At this point, the fear of god came in the room. He thought about how easy it is to say yes, but how God holds us accountable for our actions.

God finished the encounter with this warning to Mike, “Guard your heart lest your brethren steal these things from your heart”.

Now that it’s been over 30 years since the encounter, we’ll take a look at how god showed up in the lives of believers to transform the church into a house of prayer and a place of encounter with the living god.

The Prayer Movement started in the Spring of 1983

Back in June of 1982 a prophet by the name of Augustine was visiting the St. Louis area. As he was driving by a church, he saw a banner in the spirit over the church saying "Gideon’s army in training" and he gets a word from the Lord for the pastor of the church. He asked the person he was driving with, “Who’s the pastor there, I would like to visit him”, God showed him that he was going to ambush him and completely change his life. It happened to be Mike Bickle.

They made arrangements to get together with Mike and Augustine gives him 4 things that the Lord was going to do.

  1. God was going to gather thousands and thousands of young people in Kansas City.
  2. There would be a full release of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, John 14:12
  3. Warning, a false prophet will be in your midst from the very beginning.
  4. Persecution will be birthed against you. Do not address this, the Lord will take care of it.

In Sept of 1982, Mike goes to Cairo Egypt and has the experience we just read about above. God reveals to Mike that this movement would start in Kansas City and that it would touch the entire earth. It would be built on 4 principles:

  1. You will build the work on Intercession, Night and Day prayer
  2. It will be built on Holiness of heart, in other words, Passion for Jesus, the first commandment and the Bridal Para dine.
  3. Offering to the Poor, Extravagant offering to the poor of the earth. Isa 58
  4. Faith in the full operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The realm of the Holy Spirit operating in Prophetic Power.

 Many years later they came up with the name IHOP which most people know as International House of Prayer, but it also stands for the core principles that the work is based on; Intercession, Holiness of Heart, with Offerings to the poor, and the full operation of Prophetic Power.

So back to our story, In November of 1982, Mike moves to Kansas City and they start nightly prayer meeting from 7-10 every night. God showed up from the very first night. He told them  that they were a Gideon people. By Dec 5th they have their first public prayer meeting. So from the very beginning it was always a prayer lab in the spirit.

In January of 1983 a guy by the name of Bob Jones wants to meet with Mike Bickle. Mike was not exactly avoiding him but also wasn’t making any effort to get together with him. Finally on March 7th, 1983 they meet.

The First Sign

It was a strange meeting in the spring of 83 as it was quite warm and beautiful weather but Bob Jones shows up wearing a winter coat. Bob told Mike that for 8 years he’s been having visions, perhaps a hundred of them, of meeting a young pastor 27 years old in the spring of 83 and that Bob needed to help this pastor get started. He also said, “On the first of spring when the snow melts, they will sit around the table, the communication table, and they will accept me with their own words”. Mike’s first take on this was that it was very weird and a bit uncomfortable. Right away he knew, this must be that false prophet they were talking about. Bob was trying to explain the prophetic to Mike, he asked Mike, “How do you know if a prophetic word is true or not?” Mike was speechless. Bob continued, “There are some prophetic words that are so important to god that god himself verifies them with a sign or wonder”. Most of these signs and wonders are out of man's control, such as the weather or something in the heavens. It’s Acts 2:17-19 in action, so God will give a prophetic vision in verse 17, but how will you know if it’s from god. It could be the man’s imagination, so god will back it up with a sign or wonder in verse 19.

Bob continued with telling Mike that on Aug 7,1975 he died and was taken to heaven and that angles escorted him back and told him about the future move of God in Kansas City. He told Mike that God was sending him there to help, as Mike was inexperienced in the things of the spirit. He also told Mike of about 50 other visions the Lord had given him. He said that God was going to start a movement in Kansas City, and all of the Midwest that would turn into a world-wide movement of prophetic intercession.

God is going to fill stadiums with old and young people. This will affect the nation of Israel in a powerful way. God will set you up next to Harry S Truman. Harry operated as an intercessor for the nation of Israel in the political realm in his day and it touched God's heart so He wants to honor Harry S Truman.

Bob gives his phone number to Mike and says, “Please keep my number, you’re going to need it”. Now Mike was sure this was the false prophet. He took the number of placed it in his pocket. He also said to himself that, I’ll probably never call that number.

Bob continued, “God said that a 27 year old man would come in the spring of 83. So let me ask you, How old are you, 27?” Mike answers, “I am”. God said that you would be preaching on revival and intercession. So it that what your preaching on, Mike says, “Yes it is”.

Bob says, “Let me tell you a little bit of who you are”. So he asks Mike, “Do you know who you are?”  Mike didn’t even know how to answer. Bob continues, “Well, number 1, you’re an intercessor, I think you know that”. Mike agreed. “Did you know you’re an evangelist? Mike says, “Well I love evangelism, but I’m bad at it, so I don’t do it very much”. Bob says, “You’re an evangelist with a prophetic anointing with signs and wonders. You will be preaching in stadiums, there’s a whole company of young people with a prophetic anointing with signs and wonders”. Then he said, “You’re a youth pastor, you’ll be one of the oldest men in the movement”. 

As Bob was heading toward the door, he turned as said, “Oh, one more thing. The Lord said that you like it 1, 2, 3, 4 so I’m going to tell it to you like that, I don’t care for that, but I’m going to do this just for you”. He proceeded to tell him the same prophecy that Mike received from Augustine 9 months earlier in June of 82.

  1. God was going to gather thousands and thousands of young people in Kansas City.
  2. There would be a full release of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, John 14:12
  3. Warning, a false prophet will be in your midst from the very beginning, but I’m here to help you.
  4. When this thing takes off, persecution will be birthed against you.

Two weeks go by and Mike was having another meeting. A gentleman by the name of Art Katz heard about the nightly prayer meetings and decided to check it out. He was at the meeting talking to Bob Jones in the back. Mike knew Art to be a respected man of god and after the meeting, stopped by to talk to Art.

Mike said, “I see you were talking with Bob Jones”.

Art, “I sure was, I had a dream from the Lord and Bob not only told me what the dream meant but he also told me the dream. It was stunning. Do you know him?” Mike responded, “Well, I met him”. Art said, “Take him very seriously”. Mike was a little taken back as he respected Art and knew Art had better discernment than himself.

Art had a private plane and was flying out that night so they talked a little more and parted for the evening. Before Art could fly out, a snow storm came and grounded them for the evening. Art ended up calling Mike Bickle and asked if there was any chance they could get together with Bob Jones again. Mike remembered about the phone number Bob had given him and said he would call Bob Jones.

So Mike called Bob and when Bob answered he told Mike that he was waiting all day for him to call him, but he was a little surprised that Mike called, because the burden was on Art. In any case, Bob said that he would be happy to get together and went over to this house.

They ended up meeting at about 9:00p and stayed there until 4:00a in the morning. During that time they all broke down in tears about 4 times as Bob was sharing secrets about them that no other man could have ever known. Art responded, “You are a true prophet of god”.

So Bob turns to Mike and tells him about a covenant he made with his father a few months before he died. His father knew he was passing away but he never told the kids. He asked Mike to make a covenant with his (Mike’s) god. So Mike made the promise with a certain sentence to take care of his brother. Mike never told anyone about this promise, only god knew about it.

Bob said, an angel visited him last night and gave him the sentence and promise that Mike made before god. Mike began to sob, and responded, “You really are a prophet of god”.

Bob then asked, “Why do you think we’re here?” He looked out the window as the snow was melting and continued, “It’s the first of spring (March 21st), when the snow melts, we will sit around the communion table and they will accept me with their own words”.

Bob said, “this was the sign, now will you believe the vision I was telling you”.

Mike said, “Do you think we could go over all that again”.

Once again, they all broke down in tears. The prophetic sign Bob had given Mike took place without any of them knowing or even thinking about it. It was nothing short of a miraculous orchestrating of events directed by God. No one can plan a snow storm. No one can plan the day. This event helped unite Mike and Bob together in ministry from the very beginning of the prayer movement. Remember Bob was given the vision by the Lord 8 years earlier as Bob saw a vision of a 27 year old pastor coming to Kansas City in the spring of 83. The Lord also gave Bob the vision of a world-wide movement of prayer and intercession touching the entire earth bringing in the end-time harvest and preparing the earth for the return of Christ.

The Second Sign, Angel Gabriel shows up

It’s April 13th, 1983 and God speaks audibly to Mike Bickle in a prayer meeting. He calls him to 21 days of prayer and fasting based on Daniel 9 when the angel Gabriel shows up to Daniel. The Lord said that he would call 500 people to it. Mike also got the revelation of the last days global outpouring of the spirit and the second coming of Jesus. God was preparing the earth for the last days harvest and the movement they are starting would continue until Jesus returns.

So Mike calls Bob Jones for advice as he’s looking for some kind of confirmation. Was God calling for 21 days of prayer and fasting? Was this the start of a move of God? Would this bring in revival?

The phone conversation went something like this. (Not word for word)

Mike, “Bob, I just got a word from the Lord, it’s a pretty big word so I need some help”

Bob, “That’s OK, I’ve already heard it”.

Mike, “No you don’t understand, this is really big”

Bob, “I know, I’ve already heard it, Come on over.”

So Mike decides to bring 2 other people with him so they can witness the event. On the way over to Bob’s house Mike tells them about the 21 days of prayer and fasting, the Angel Gabriel, and how he brought understanding of the end times, global outpouring of the Spirit, End-Times revival, and the revelation of the second coming of Jesus.

So when Mike arrives he and Bob are discussing how is this going to work, so Bob says, “If you tell me the story, you won’t believe that I have the interpretation, so I guess I have to tell you the vision, then interpret it”.

Mike, “Right”

Bob lets them know that last night the Angel Gabriel visited him in a night vision. Bob said, “I saw him with my eyes, I have never seen anything so powerful in all my days”. The Angel Gabriel stared at me and said, “Give the young man Daniel Chapter 9 and he will understand that I will gather 500 for this, Joel 2:15.  As a sign, a comet will come across the heavens unknown by scientists. Nobody has seen it. This will verify your call to embrace the Daniel 9 call for 21 days of prayer and fasting”.

Basically Bob told Mike everything Mike just experienced in the encounter without any information from Mike. He also told him that you will need these signs as you will doubt your call to this many times.

Mike disagreed, “How could I doubt this, First the snow comes, now Gabriel shows up to call 21 days of prayer and fasting, I’m in”.

Bob said, “The heart is a funny thing, you will doubt it again”.

So they set a day, May 7th, 1983. It would be a time of prayer and fasting for 21 days. It would be a Joel 2:15 solemn assembly.

Mays surprise comet

May 7th arrives and Bob comes with the newspaper, “Comet streaks across the sky, unknown by scientists” in fact it was in newspapers all over the world. Mike also points to an article called, “Mays surprise comet” by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Probably the most surprising aspect of this is that nobody saw it coming. Everyone was pumped, the comet really did show up. The word from the Angel Gabriel did happen. The vision is true, God really does want to setup a house of prayer, but Bob was really quick to warm Mike that he would become weary and doubt the word again.

So 700 turn out for the meetings. They met every day from May 7th to May 27th, 1983 from 6:00a to 12 midnight. Over the next 21 days the Lord gives them a number of prophetic words for the prayer movement.

First Word, God will establish 24 hour night and day prayer in the spirit of the tabernacle of David, Ps 27:4 this one thing have I desired all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord.

This is the most important word we could receive, as only a passion for Jesus could fuel the prayer movement. Although it’s good to know the word and everyone should know it from cover to cover, God is not asking us to operate on blind faith of the written word alone. As we behold the beauty of the Lord we come into a place of encounter. God has millions of different ways in which we can encounter him; from the wind of the spirit, to dreams at night, open visions, and encounters with the Spirit of God within us. God will fuel this movement as we bypass the second heaven and go to the third heaven to spend time with him.

About 10 days into the prayer meeting Mike started having encounters with the Lord. Every time he thought of Ps 27:4 he would get a rush of the spirit of god flowing through his whole body. This had never happen to Mike before so again he said, “to behold the beauty of the Lord” and it would come again. He continued to do this all night and every time he said it, the spirit of god would come again.

The next day Bob Jones told him that the Lord said Yes to his prayer. "Which prayer", Mike asked. Bob replied, “The one you didn’t pray in the Mic.” Mike, “Which one was that”. Bob, “Psalm 27:4”, Mike, “Oh, that one, no one knew about that one. I never prayed it out loud”. Bob said, “I know, God met you and placed it upon you. Don’t you understand, God is going to raise up an army of musicians and singers and they are going to gaze on the beauty of God and in the middle of their praise, signs and wonders are going to break out, miracles like you can’t imagine. The Lord said “I will set my face on this house”.

So for 16 years they put up a sign, 24 /7 in the spirit of the tabernacle of David, Ps 27:4. People would ask, so what’s all that about. Mike really didn’t have an answer. He said, Singers, Musicians, Prayer 24 hours a day, it’s something the Lord is going to do.

Second Word, Third Sign, There is coming a time where the move of God will grow from 500 to 5,000 overnight and god will verify this through Mississippi.

This is a word that Bob Jones received directly from an Angel. The angel showed up and Bob could see him with his eyes. He said that this movement would grow from 500 to 5,000 overnight. A great flood of the spirit was going to come to Kansas City, and 5,000 will find new homes in Kansas City. Mississippi will be the sign.

When Bob gave the word to Mike, Mike asked, “What does Mississippi have to do with it?” Bob answers “I don’t know, that’s just what God told me to say”. God said he’s going to verify it through a flood.

It’s interesting that God confirmed this word with a sign in the natural. Five days pass by and the newspaper verifies the prophecy, “Flood strikes Jacksonville, MS 5,000 put in new homes overnight”. Just as the flood hit MS, the flood of the spirit is going to hit Kansas City and the movement will grow from 500 to 5,000 overnight.

Jackson MS Flood

Third Word, No Sickness or disease known to man will stand before these Joel 2 people of fasting and prayer. I am raising up a Gideon Army. Miracles will break out in the prayer room and the people attending will not have to lay hands on anyone or pray for them, but God will heal them and deliver them in a moment. It will be the place of encounter.

Fourth Word, I am building a prayer furnace in the Midwest to birth a spirit of revival. The Midwest will be a bread basket of prophetic intercession. It would start in Kansas City and there will be a 500 mile radius in the Midwest that will birth a revival. It will be a network of prayer rooms, Kansas City will partner with St. Louis.

God chose to start this movement in Kansas City next to Harry S Truman’s house. You ask why?  Was it not Harry S. Truman that cast the leading vote to establish Israel as a nation in 1948 God doesn’t forget about these things and wanted to honor Harry by starting this movement next to his house.

Fifth Word, Fourth Sign  The timing of this move would be sovereignty setup by the Lord and He will break in, so when everybody is counting you out, it will be an 11th hour victory. Everyone will be counting this move in Kansas City out, but in the final moments God will break through and this prayer movement will succeed and it will get the attention of the entire earth.

To illustrate this, God setup 2 signs; 1) God would bring attention to Kansas City through the baseball game, the World Series and 2) God would sovereignty break in on a drought in Kansas City area on a very specific day told to them ahead of time.
Well, that year Kansas City did go to the World Series and they fell down three games to one, but God said that when you count them out that He would show up and bring the victory. Kansas City ended up coming back and won the World Series that year 4 games to 3. Before the last game,  God gave Bob the number 11 so Bob says, it will be an 11th hour victory, Kansas City will win the World Series. They won the last game 11 to 0.

End of the 21 Day Fast

May 27th, 1983, just before the end of the fast Bob Jones had the Lord visit him in a dream. He said, I have good news and I have bad news.

The bad news, we’re not going to see anything happening for quite a while, the Lord said that there’s been a spiritual drought in the land, and there will also be a natural drought in the land.

The good news – there is an appointed day when god will break in. He’s going to show you that he is never a day late and that he can break in at any appointed time. Revival is never a day late, we think they are, but they’re not. The Lord is going to prove it to you by giving you another sign. There will be a 3 month drought in the land, but on August 23rd, god will break in on the drought and bring rain. The Lord is going to prove to you that he has the exact day to break in. He will not be a day late. God is never late as we understand it. He can break in at any time.

So Mike was thinking that revival will break out, but Bob Jones said, “You really don’t know what’s going on here do you”.

Mike, “Hey, I’m in this for revival”.

Bob, “Do you think that God would send the angel Gabriel here to earth to announce a small revival? No, God is doing a major shift here. This move will impact Kansas City and a 500 mile radius, it will then go out and affect the whole earth”. Bob received all this information directly from an angel on Aug 8th, 1975 when Bob had a death experience. He had a hemorrhage and died. He was taken up to heaven and sees Jesus, Jesus told him that he died pre-maturely and that he wanted to send him back to prepare some leaders in the next move of God. Two angels escort Bob back to earth and he sees a bomb like a nuclear explosion over the city of Kansas City. But this bomb was not a destructive bomb, it was a bomb of Gods glory that would start in Kansas City and travel all around the whole earth. To get the complete story click here.

Mike developed a tumor

In June of 83, Mike developed a tumor in his throat on his vocal cords. He could barely speak and immediately had it checked out by a doctor. The doctor said that if you don’t get it removed within a week you will lose your voice and eventually die. So Mike decided to have another doctor look at the tumor to get a second opinion. The second doctor told him the same thing. As Mike prayed about it, he felt that the Lord specifically said, don’t remove the tumor, this is your Isaac. In other words, trust god through the situation, because if you lose your voice this whole movement will die, but if the Lord is behind it, he will deliver you. Mike trusted God through the situation and it took 3 years before his voice was back to normal.

Bob Jones said that this movement is the birthing of a world-wide prayer movement and it will be tested by both God and the devil to the uttermost.

After the 21 day fast

A natural drought did hit the land in the summer of 1983 there was a 3 month drought from July 1 to Oct 11th.  It was the worst drought in recorded history for Kansas City. Everyone participating in the meeting knew that God said that he would break in on Aug 23rd and bring rain to the drought so a lot of people showed up for the normal 7:00pm meeting. It was an interesting day as it started like any other day that summer, bright, sun shine, and not a hint of rain. There was no rain in the forecast, and not a cloud in the sky, but right at 7:00pm as the people were coming to the prayer meeting they ended up getting stuck in their cars because there was a downpour right at 7:00pm that night. God is never a day late and can break in at any point in time. After the rain, the attendance picked up quite a bit, there were 10, 15, or 20 people a night.

As the days went by, the crowds grew thinner and thinner. By June, July, and August the crowds were gone, We’re talking 5-10 people perhaps, 20 people would have been a great day, but they kept going. In those days there was no music, it was just prayer. It wasn’t pretty but they made it.

A Message from the Throne of God

As time moved on Mike was getting a bit discouraged. He could barely talk and the crowd was gone, they only had a handful a faithful people to pray. On Nov 7th, 1983, Bob Jones calls Mike, “God is going to visit you on Nov 15th. God said that you will get a revelation directly from the throne of God. It will be about the movement in Kansas City and how it will affect the whole world”.  Mike asked, “You said directly from the throne, does that mean that either I’m going up or someone’s coming down?”  Bob said, “Yes”

Mike said, Don’t kid me I’m really discouraged right now”.

Bob said, “I can promise you, this is from god, either you’re going up or someone is coming down. I heard it directly from the Lord.”

So Mike is pumped, I’m in again, can’t wait for Nov 15th. 

Nov 15 arrives and they shatter the 20 mark. Our meeting was from 7-10pm. God doesn’t show up. It’s 11:00pm and no god. What happened, Bob has never been wrong before. So Mike decides to hang around the office and starts browsing through his mail. Mike decides to hang around until 12.

Placebo

He notices a little booklet someone mailed him called, Placebo, by Howard Pitman. Back in August of 1979 Howard Pitman died and an angel takes him to heaven. Howard goes before the throne of god and asks for another chance to extend his life and after a number of events God ends up sending him back.

God gives Howard five key things to share with the people of this world.
  1. This is the Laodicean hour and my Son is returning within one generation
  2. The Devil is real, He’s not just an evil influence.
  3. I am raising up a church across the Earth that will do signs and wonders that will surpass my servant Elijah. It will be greater works than these.
  4. God is sending Howard back to encourage a little band of Gideon’s.
    • Tell them that their significant date is May 7th, 1983.
    • Tell them that I will send a sign in the heavens on that day.
    • Tell them, that although there will be a delay. I will surely keep every promise.

Mike was awe struck, May 7th, the day we called the 21 day fast and started this whole thing; The comet that showed up on the first day, the delay. This booklet was written in 1979, three years before this thing started, but it precisely described exactly what they just lived through. Mike looked at the last sentence, “I will surely keep every promise”. It brought tears to his eyes and hope to his heart.

Bob told Mike, You have heard it from the throne. The Lord said that after Nov 15th you will never doubt this move of god again.

So where is all this going?

  1. God will establish 24/7 day and night prayer in the spirit of the Tabernacle of David.
  2. This prayer will continue until the Lord returns.
  3. Miracles will breakout in the prayer rooms
  4. God will open the heavens over the prayer rooms.
  5. People will instantly be healed and delivered just by walking into the prayer meetings. No one will need to pray for them.
  6. Prayer rooms will be birthed all over the earth and usher in a last days harvest
Last Updated: Feb 27, 2017 Contact Us