When most of us think of the wee hours of the morning, we think of sleep. However, many believers, whether because of insomnia, physical pain, a small baby, or a vocation that requires a night shift sleep schedule, have experienced being awake in the night. Rather then being times of anxiety or stress, these can become times of encounter with the beauty of God. This is not as new idea, as the people of God have a long history of encountering God during the night.

We see this recorded in the lives of heroes of the faith throughout the Bible.

Abraham. “And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.” (Gen 15:17)

Jacob. “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.” (Gen 32:24)

Samuel. “And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, ‘Here I am!’” (1 Samuel 3:2–4)

Daniel. “Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” (Dan 2:19).

We see it especially in the times Jesus spent all night in prayer to God (see Luke 6:12), and when Paul and Silas worshiped in prison at the midnight hour (Act 16:25). We see this in the history of prayer throughout the centuries—the monks in Bangor, Ireland and St. Maurice, Switzerland; the Moravians in Herrnhut, Germany; and the countless men and women through the ages who made rising at night to pray part of their daily routine.

In the present day, some believers are regularly awakened in the night and spend that time interacting with the Lord through prayer, singing, and meditation on the Word. Others have set aside a day every week or a created a habit of getting up early every morning to spend those hours with the Lord. Some have taken time off from school or work to change their sleep schedule for a few months and spend the night in prayer.

While attending a conference as a teenager, I was introduced to the idea of “watching” in the night in a corporate setting. Around midnight I sat in a large sanctuary with others scattered around and encountered the stillness that comes when there is nothing else to do, nowhere else to go besides that room, and no one to talk to besides Jesus. Little did I know that in just a couple of years this would become my occupation!

When IHOPKC began in 1999, I was in the prayer room daily during the evenings. At midnight, a group of mostly 18–25 year olds would come in to begin what we later named the Night Watch, the shift from midnight to 6am. Their primary focus was singing songs about who God is and giving Him adoration. I found myself staying later and later, and finally joined them permanently as an official “Night Watcher”.

There are several verses in Psalms that beautifully sum up the occupation of someone who watches in the night.

Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. (Psalm 134:1)

My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word. (Psalm 119:148)

From these verses, I gather that an important purpose of watching through the night is to bless the Lord and meditate on His Word. Our task as a Night Watch is simple. Look at God. Connect with Him through His Word. Tell Him how glorious He is, and do it with strength.

The simplicity of this task has at times presented some challenges. Even though the night-time contains few things to distract, it is still tempting to find ways to be busy, to give in to anxiety, or to let the apparent sameness of each night lead to a sense of boredom and myopia, losing the perspective found in searching out the greatness of God. When this happens, I’ve found it helpful to return again to these simple ways to behold and bless the Lord in the night:

Behold His Beauty

Take Scriptures that describe who God is, what He thinks, or how He feels, and meditate on them, speaking and singing these passages from the Bible back to Him, phrase by phrase. I especially enjoy passages from the Psalms and Isaiah, as well as the first chapters of John, Colossians, and Hebrews, which all contain rich truths about who Jesus is.

Behold His Plan

Reading and meditating on the plan of the Father to redeem a people for Himself and to bring all things together in His Son has encouraged my heart so many times. I love to sing about and think about the coming of Jesus to rule and reign over the earth, making all the wrong things right. I think the night is a particularly great time to be reminded that we are longing for the coming of Jesus, our Bridegroom King.

My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning—yes, more than those who watch for the morning. (Psalm 130:6)

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” (Matthew 25:6).

 Cry Out For God’s Righteousness

In Luke 18, Jesus tells us that God will avenge His own elect who cry out to Him day and night. In the night, I love praying for God’s purposes to be accomplished in the church, Israel, and the nations of the earth. In the night, we have a unique opportunity to pray for dreams and visions for those many who are sleeping and to ask God to push back spiritual darkness by interceding for the ending of many evil activities that take place during the literal darkness of the night.

Whether you are a person who occasionally prays during the night hours or someone whose occupation is to pray through the night, you are part of a company of people who, like the night watchmen who guarded a city, are awake in the night attentively looking at and for Someone. Our primary occupation is to look at the God who is beautiful and beyond comprehension and give Him our affections, our time, our thoughts. He will truly satisfy us with Himself.

Copyright 2017,Alisha Powell IHOP-All rights reserved

America is at a crossroads. Never in our short history has our nation been so divided, either racially, politically, spiritually or ideologically. Jesus made it abundantly clear that a nation divided cannot stand. What that last straw is that will forever break the back of this nation nobody knows for sure. What we do know is that we are either heading for revival or revolution.

Yes, I voted for Trump for president; however, I was not caught up in the vitriol like so many of our evangelical leaders that considered Trump God’s anointed.

When Israel rejected God as their King and demanded a king like the nations around them, God anointed Saul as their king. I believe, like Israel of old, the church likewise rejected God and sought out a man to be their political savior. Speaking of Saul, I see many similarities between Saul and Trump. Saul was proud and bombastic about his accomplishments.

He even went as far as to build a monument to himself. Trump likewise likes to boast about his achievements. Saul was thin-skinned and lashed out at those around him. Trump likewise loves to be honored among the people. Saul was quick to turn against his own son as well as David. Trump too has turned against those who helped him win the election. Saul failed to obey God or seek after Him and thereby lost his office and anointing. Trump could easily do the same.

Prior to the presidential election, I recall writing that if Hillary became president, she might doom America but save the church. On the other hand, if Trump became president, he might save America and doom the church. In other words, my fear was, and still is, that the church will settle back to her complacent state, thinking to herself, Thank God we dodged that bullet, meaning Hillary.

Hillary would have been a disastrous choice for America, but might have provoked the church to turn back to God and cry out for revival. Only time will tell if Trump is/was God’s anointed or if instead God gave us the desires of our heart while sending leanness to our souls (see Ps. 73:25).

Regardless of who is in office, only God can change America. Unfortunately, the church has failed to fully comprehend its true potential. Jesus made clear that He intended to build a church that the gates of hell could not prevail against. Why then is hell prevailing at every turn?

One reason is clear, and that is that we have placed our trust in the office of a man rather than in the power of the living God. King David learned that lesson the hard way. After numbering Israel’s military capabilities, he was instantly convicted and cried out “I’ve sinned exceedingly”. Why didn’t David say “I’ve Sinned” as he did after committing adultery with Bathsheba?

The greatness of David’s sin is measured by the severity of God’s judgment. His sin of passion cost him one life but his sin of pride cost him seventy thousand lives. Little wonder he cried “‘I have sinned greatly in doing this thing'” (1 Chron. 21:8a). David failed to acknowledge God’s protective power when facing his enemies and chose rather to trust in his “chariots and horses” (see Ps. 20:7).

The church in America may well be taking a page from David’s folly and placing her trust in Trump rather than God’s promise to heal the land of those who humble themselves, pray and turn from their wicked ways (see 2 Chron. 7:14).

Only the other day, I was reminded again of God’s promises. An old Scottish writer was quoting from Exodus 34:7a  “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”  The writer went on to say, “He is faithful who promised.” Do we bear sufficiently in mind another truth of equal fidelity: He is faithful who threatens? Ponder that solemn word, “He will by no means clear the guilty!”

With 52 million aborted lives on our record, is God going to simply turn a blind eye to America’s devilish sin against the unborn just because Trump is president? I don’t believe so. I know there is the belief among some in the prophetic community that God would never destroy America because of all the good she has done; I’m not of that belief.

Our choice is simple: We either repent and cry out to God for mercy or face the wrath of God as He promised so long ago. I was pleasantly surprised to hear while visiting Singapore recently that there were many churches there who prayed earnestly for our presidential election last year. The tragedy, though, was to have to tell them I knew very few congregations in America who set time aside to pray for our own election.

Prior to my father’s death in ’94, he would say, “If America doesn’t concentrate in prayer, they will pray in concentration camps.” President Trump was elected to govern in the natural arena; the church was birthed to govern in the spiritual realm. Our power and authority is far greater than any Congress, Senate, Supreme Court or president. If we fail to take our place, America will miss her day of visitation, like Jerusalem of old. It’s time to rise up and take our rightful place before the throne of God and implore God for a mighty move of His Spirit.

Revival or revolution? The church will decide.

Copyright 2017, David Ravenhill, Charisma Media-All rights reserved