It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you my good friend, Jim Hall. I first got to know Jim through attending the Canopy Christian Community, where Jim was the lead pastor. I connected quickly with Jim as he counselled and then married my wife and I a month after I moved to Canada. Later, he re-baptized me. Three years afterwards, he continues to inspire and influence my daily life and ministry.
Jim began vocational ministry at Central Baptist Church in 1996 and it was during that time that the Lord began to stir in him a desire to see a night and day House of Prayer established in Edmonton. In 2002 he planted a church called The Canopy Christian Community, and it was at The Canopy that the House of Prayer Edmonton (HoPE) began in October 2003. In 2009 he transitioned to working full time with House of Prayer Edmonton.
Not many people have heard of HoPE or understand what it’s all about. Therefore, I decided to take the opportunity to interview Jim about this ministry and prayer in general.
1. What is a House of Prayer? How does it differ from a ‘boiler room’?
While there is no official definition for a House of Prayer, typically a House of Prayer is a group of people who are pursuing a literal 24/7 expression of prayer in a specific city or region. A HOP is not a local church or a ministry of a local church; it usually has a cross denominational flavour. A ‘boiler room’ is similar in that it often is pursuing a 24/7 expression of prayer, however the model of the prayer is most often where differences are seen. Most Houses of Prayer have an emphasis on corporate prayer, where many ‘boiler rooms’ have more of an individual, prayer-chain approach.
2. Can you share a little about the history and vision of HoPE?
HoPE started six years ago at The Canopy Christian Community, which was a church that had a vision to see a city-wide 24/7 prayer ministry be raised up in Edmonton. While it started in a local church the vision was always to move to a city expression and after two years of monthly 24 hr. prayer gatherings, this ministry moved from the south-side of Edmonton to the north-side of the city and met on the Vanguard College campus. This move resulted in more people from different churches becoming involved in the ministry, however the expression was still only 24 hours, once a month. In 2008 God opened up an opportunity for HoPE to move once again to the Marketplace Chapel in West Edmonton Mall. That same year we moved from a monthly format to a weekly format. Currently HoPE meets every Friday night at 7 p.m. and every 3rd Friday we have the full 24 hour cycle of prayer. The Marketplace Chapel venue has been very positive location for House of Prayer, putting the ministry in the heart of one of Edmonton’s most popular spots!
3. What does HoPE look like when people gather to pray? Does it involve just sitting around and praying for long periods of time?
One of our core values is seeing worship and intercession married together. Each Friday night we have a worship leader and a prayer leader who work together to lead the evening. There usually are some familiar worship songs that begin the evening and then with the music continuing, the prayer leader steps in. The prayers are based on a passage of Scripture, often some of the actual prayers in the Scriptures. This provides the foundation for praying for a particular theme. Generally the prayer themes are ‘city wide’ in nature. The worship leader will pick up on what is being prayed and will usually begin to sing spontaneously a portion of what was prayed and lead the rest of the room in singing the spontaneous chorus together. There are also regular times when people in the room are invited to pray out loud, along the established theme. People are encouraged to participate through the worship songs, the spontaneous chorus’ and through offering short prayers at various points in the evening. Although the Marketplace Chapel is quite a small room, people are free to move around, stand or sit during the evening.
4. How can the local church get involved in HoPE?
There are several ways:
- People can visit our website (www.hopedmonton.ca).
- HoPE has a monthly newsletter that people can subscribe to on the website. This is a great way to hear what’s happening and it serves as a reminder about House of Prayer Edmonton
- We also would love to invite people to our prayer room at the Marketplace Chapel in West Edmonton Mall. We have weekly meetings every Friday night from 7-9 p.m. and on the 3rd weekend of each month we have a full 24 hr. cycle of prayer.
- We are also wanting to connect with people interested in being a worship leader, singer, musician, and prayer leader. We have training opportunities and are excited to connect with more and more people in the Body of Christ in the Edmonton area.
5. Why is prayer important? Why do so many struggle in their prayer life
The primary reason why prayer in so important is that it is our primary means of connecting and communicating with God and encountering His deep passionate love for us and for others. Many people have experienced prayer primarily as a means of asking God to do things instead of as an encounter with a God who burns with love and desire for us. That is also one of the main reasons why prayer is a struggle for many people. Another reason why it is a struggle is that people don’t know what to do when they pray; the silence can be a killer! A relationship with God is quite different than our human relationships. We are so used to natural, audible conversation that speaking and listening to God is challenging. There is also the continual struggle about prayers that seems to go unanswered and how we deal with that.
6. What role should Scripture play in a person’s prayer life?
I believe that Scripture should serve as our prayer book. The Bible is filled with many prayers that provide a wonderful language to fuel our prayer life. If you listen to many prayers in prayer meeting, the Scriptures are curiously absent most of the time; yet there are divinely inspired prayers that have the endorsement of heaven and a life-flow of the Holy Spirit on them. Praying the Bible inspires the prayer life like nothing else. A wise man once said, ‘the chariot the Holy Spirit enjoys riding in most is the Scriptures’, meaning that the Holy Spirit loves to use the Scriptures to create a bond-fire of prayer in our lives. Turn the Bible into conversation with God. As you read something, stop and talk to God about what you just read. I virtually never have a time of prayer without the Bible.
7. What is the Harp & Bowl?
The term ‘Harp & Bowl’ comes from Revelation 5:8 where we read that the elders are worshiping God around the throne with harp, which speaks of music, as well as a bowl of incense, which refers to the prayers of saints. God has chosen to surround Himself with worship (music) and prayer. This dynamic of worship and intercession being mingled together is seen in Old Testament as well, in the tabernacle of David where King David called for music and song, prophecy and prayers to surround the Ark of the Covenant. Understanding the role that worship and intercession play together is important for many reasons, but the most fundamental is that Jesus called us to pray saying ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ and a major part of that is the heavenly model of worship and intercession being married together.
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I strongly suggest that you check out Jim personal website Fragrant Incense and the HoPE website for more information. Or if you really want to understand what HoPE is all about, try attending one of the Friday meetings held at the Marketplace Chapel in WEM.
