i first came to hear about OneThing through a friend, who had spent the weekend there and was sharing about how awesome it is. i've heard of international house of prayer before, and i knew they were kinda all over the US, but i never expected to have one relatively close to me, especially since i'm pretty much like in the middle of no where.
i was kind of hesitant in signing up for the conference, but gave in, and trusted God to work everything from accommodations to getting to Kansas City. True enough, everything fell into place, and i started getting excited as the time drew nearer. it was just a conference, it was a PRAYER conference which i thought, was really cool.
it is incredible to see close to 30,000 people coming together for God. it started to blow my mind when we stood in line for the shuttle bus to the convention center. i got more and more excited as the time passed and it drew closer and closer to the starting of the first session. i had no idea what to expect, except that God was going to do something.
It all started with worship led by Misty Edwards. it was incredible and i could feel myself being drawn in more and more. it was amazing how she lead prophetically and that we were singing prophetic words. it didn't take long to feel the connection with the Spirit and God and it just made me smile. i was enjoying it so much that at some point in my head, i said " God, this is really fun! i love this! just to worship like that, it never feels like it's going to end." and then out of no where i heard Him and He said "Well, i'm glad you're enjoying it, because this is what i want you to do." i was taken aback. i wasn't even sure if there was a name or a way to describe this.. THING, but He wants me to do it. i kind of shrugged it off, but clearly God wasn't done. as worship continued, the words "intercessory worship" came into mind. no idea what it was or meant, but i figured i'll go find out later. it was like a battle in my head, i doubted if something like that even existed, but at the same time, felt like it was something i already knew how to do, really weird.
i took a wild guess and thought, maybe it was a combination of intercessory prayer and worship. maybe this was God's calling for me. it was still a MAYBE and so of course i didnt give it all that much thought. while the whole introduction and welcome to the conference mumbo jumbo was going on, Sarah Sun Kim, one of the leaders at IHOP-KC shared about how when she was a grad student in Harvard, she wanted to get right with God and have a life of prayer, unlike what she had in college. God asked her to tithe to Him, the most precious thing to her, her time. She made a commitment and set aside 2.5 hours everyday, to pray. she got straight As and more sleep than she ever did through college. something moved in me when i heard Sarah's testimony so i thought, "i'll give this a shot. and start small. so many 30 minutes to an hour a day." that was the half-hearted commitment that i made to God.
during the dinner break, we went by the prayer room, and it made me so excited to see such a HUGE prayer room and that people were all just there, even during their dinner time, to seek God. it was amazing how quickly i could feel the connection to the Spirit even though we stood in the back for like 5 minutes.
during the evening session, before Mike Bickel spoke, he shared about the "Anna Anointing", based off Luke 2:36-37, where the prophetess Anna lead a life of prayer, fasting and worship in the temple. she was described as a singer, intercessor and musician. Right when he said those words, i could feel God going "now doesn't that just sound like you?" as i thought about it, the reality sank in. one person too many have told me i've been called to be and intercessor. singing and music is just something i do because i love it. as Mike talked more about the "Anna Anointing", my heart started to pound and i started to question if that was really what God was calling me to do. Mike said he knows that God is calling many people with the "Anna Anointing" and that we can already feel it, and to stand because he wanted to pray. i stood up almost reluctantly, and while i knew that it was what God was calling me to do, my hard head said "God, if you could give just 1 more sign, i would know for sure" as if there weren't already enough signs. As Mike prayed, he began to mention age groups and the first age group he said was "20 year olds" and i knew immediately that it was a confirmation. i slowly accepted it, and i started to see God's plan for my life. i looked back and i could see how He had been working in my life the entire time and how everything fell into place according to His plans.
for the first time in my life, i finally could truly believe that God had a plan for my life. and i knew that He was constantly working in it, even though i really am a hard head most of the time.
