Why I Applied to IHOPU

A couple months ago, I was dull in heart, going through difficulties in marriage, and struggling with my prayer life. What I thought was just another Bible study I was signing up for, turned into something that would ignite a spark to know a Man I thought I knew, but didn’t really. The Bible study topic was the End Times. This subject had been my least favorite for years - the subject was daunting, the events were hard to remember, and I had a shaky grasp of why I needed to know about a topic that seemed so irrelevant, as I would probably never live through the end of the world. 

But what lit a lightbulb in my mind about this topic was the revelation that the pinnacle of my faith - when Jesus went to the cross - was not actually the pinnacle in God's storyline. The cross is certainly the foundation of the Christian faith, but in God’s storyline, His big finale is still to come. It is when He’s planning to come back again – to reign, to restore and redeem the earth, to fulfill His promises in full, and best of all, to be with us. Jesus going to the cross was actually His engagement with us, the church, where He left us with the Holy Spirit as an engagement ring, promising that He would come back to be with us. But the grand finale of the story is actually the wedding - the day where He will return and we will marry Him. 

Over the summer I felt a hunger stir in me to know truth. If for the past 15 years since I became a Christian, the whole foundation of my faith has been that everything was finished at the cross, and I thought little about His return as the actual grand finale, how much more can I know of Him? In another Bible study I started a couple weeks later, led by my friend Pearl on the Song of Songs, I was again blown away learning how incredibly rich the Scripture is with references to Jewish weddings. There are different occurrences and events dotted throughout Scripture that exactly match the rituals and traditions of a Jewish wedding. It blew my mind how God’s whole storyline is based on a wedding! To the Lord, we truly are His bride, and He really is coming back to marry us! 

That same night I ended that Bible study studying the Song of Songs, my friend Cathy messaged me something very casual about how she was starting IHOPU (the ministry school at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City). And my heart immediately leapt within me, as if shouting to me, “You need to go after what she’s going after.” I found myself so jealous of my sister’s pursuit - I had to have what she was getting of the knowledge of God!

That night I sat Joseph down and asked him if I could do IHOPU. The next day I applied, and a few days later I was accepted. I decided to pick up writing in this blog again, to document my journey into the Word of God through IHOPU :).