About GHOP

GHOP's mandate is to pursue intimacy with God, exalt Jesus and contend for the transformation of our city and nation through night and day worship and intercession.  We believe that, as we answer the call to prayer, we will see an acceleration in the advancement of the kingdom of God in Scotland.  Jesus promised that God would quickly release justice (wrong things being made right) when His people cry out day and night. But, as Jesus then asked, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:7-8)  Will He find faith in Glasgow?  The kind of faith that believes that God is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him?  We are playing our part to make sure He finds that kind of faith in Glasgow.

GHOP seeks to be a gathering point for the whole church in the city of Glasgow, a place for believers to encounter God and answer the call to unified prayer.  We recognise that the "house of prayer" in any city is made up from ALL the believers in that city, the whole church, whether they gather together in one place or not.  We are all living stones and God is building His "house of prayer".  GHOP seeks to give expression to that reality.  We aim to strengthen local churches by equipping believers to lead enjoyable, effective prayer and worship.  Our current focus is to build a weekly rhythm of prayer and worship in Glasgow.  Over time, this will become a daily rhythm.  We believe that God's heart is for night and day worship and intercession in the city, and though 24/7 is not our finishing line or mark of success, we believe Jesus is worth that kind of extravagant devotion!  In the mean time, we say "night and day" in the same way Luke spoke of Anna in Luke 2:37- cleary she didn't fast and pray 24/7 for 60 years, but it was a daily discipline she remained committed to for her whole life.

While we hope before too long to find premises for GHOP to function in one location in Glasgow, we are currently building a network of GHOP prayer meetings around the city.  We hope this will make the prayer meetings more accessible to more people while the idea of unified, non-denominational prayer and worship is in the process of becoming established.  If you would like to suggest a church or other location for a GHOP prayer meeting, or if you would like to help us acquire our own premises, please get in touch with us.

GHOP has adopted the "Harp & Bowl" model of intercessory worship, developed at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City .  Harp & Bowl is essentially the mixing of worship and prayer as seen in Revelation 5:8: “….the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints.”  In Harp & Bowl, the intercession is rooted in intimacy and encounter with God, we pray using scriptures as the starting point and pattern for our prayers, and the musicians and singers function as intercessors just as much as the prayer leaders.  The prayer leaders speak their prayers, the singers sing their prayers and the musicians play their prayers.

We use 3 basic formats in our prayer schedule: Intercession, Devotional and Worship with the Word.

Intercession:  This corporate two-hour meeting will often have a specific prayer focus, but there is opportunity to pray whatever prayer burdens those gathered have on their hearts.  We provide prayer leaders, a worship leader, singers, musicians and technical support.  The meeting starts with corporate worship, and the team then develops the prayer themes antiphonally, seeking to engage the whole room in agreement.  Intercession is usually focussed on local/regional issues but will include national and international themes.  There are also cycles of “rapid fire prayer” when, one by one, intercessors pray 15-second prayers on a specific theme, and times of small group prayer for those who wish to participate.

Devotional:  This format is a time of personal reflection, prayer, study, and meditation.  Typically this involves a worship leader and a reduced number of musicians and singers worshipping the Lord.  Participants are invited to engage in worship or soak quietly in the presence of the Lord.  This is not a corporate time so much as a time for individuals to sit before the Lord and encounter Him, in the manner of Mary of Bethany of whom Jesus said "Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her."

Worship with the Word:  Worship With the Word is a prayer format in which we agree with God's heart as we sing the Biblical truths of who God is, who we are before Him and what He promises to do. These sets have a worship leader, prayer leader and a team of musicians and singers that engage in corporate worship and meditation on the scriptures, with the aim of renewing our minds in the word, and pursuing a deeper and fuller knowledge of God.  During these sets a singer sings through a selected passage from the Bible, then the singers and prayer leader develop the passage antiphonally, singing related scriptures to draw out the meaning of the passage.