As AHOP grows, God continues to stretch & grow us financially. We are thankful for this process. We would like to extend the opportunity for you to partner with AHOP in the mission to see 24/7 prayer established in Austin. Jesus said that where your treasure is, there your heart will be ... so if you would like to have more of a heart of prayerful devotion, one significant step would be to put some of your treasure towards prayer!

We depend on God for our financial provision. He has given us an urgency for AHOP to become increasingly self-sustaining, so that large gifts to support AHOP are invested and stewarded wisely. Here are the four complementary approaches that we are developing to have a sustainable economic model:

Economic Engine. We have started a for-profit business, Day & Night Waters (DNW), that is 96% owned by AHOP. See the Cielo page for more details.

Co-investment – One of our core principles is that everyone involved in or benefiting from AHOP must co-invest. This principle exists not only to help make AHOP financially self-sustaining, but to increase the commitment level of those involved. All staff are ministers, not "overhead", and they raise at least 50% of their own salary. Partners at the Seabrook Center pay monthly rent. Community members give regularly out of their personal finances. Young adults pay registration fees for the Youth Track events. Churches contribute one-time or regularly to AHOP if they benefit from the Church Track program. Retreatants will pay a reasonable fee to participate in retreats at AHOP.

Endowments. Our 2009-2010 capital campaign will include a substantial endowment. Since the principal will not be touched, the endowment will give perpetually to the ministry.

Local Fundraising. The remainder of our annual operating expenses will be raised from local fundraising, including contributions solicited through our web site. This is an important method not only of sustaining the finances but of keeping the larger community invested in 24/7 prayer and reconciliation.

The Seabrook Center Development Board is actively raising funds to move AHOP and the Seabrook Center to its permanent home. We envision a location that serves the Lord and the churches and ministries in Austin with 24/7 prayer, retreats, youth gatherings, and a prophetic model of prayer-centered reconciliation and collaboration.

Our fundraising goal is $9.5 million, which will be used as follows:

• $5 million - Acquisition of land and construction and/or renovation of buildings
• $4.5 million - Endowment for ongoing expenses (utilities, insurance, maintenance, groundskeeping, leadership and administration)

If you would like to learn more about this campaign, please contact us and a member of the Development Board will call you back.

Thank you!

By Thomas Cogdell, co-director of Austin House of Prayer

Staff and volunteers at AHOP who give themselves to building 24/7 prayer in Austin cost money. Maintaining a prayer room cost money. You may be intrigued by the ministry of Austin House of Prayer, and want to support it, but be hesitating because you wonder if the money isn't better spent in more active ministries such as missions or charity to the poor.

Well, you are not alone! I often hear the question, "Why should I give money for a prayer room, or for people to pray?" This good question is worth investigating and answering. The purpose of this short and humble response is to suggest that giving for prayer is not only biblical and reasonable, but perhaps even strategic.

Usually the assumption underlying a hesitance to give money towards prayer is that all Christians are called to simply blend in prayer with their daily lives, so giving money to a group of Christians who are devoting themselves to prayer sends a wrong message that prayer belongs to the elite few, and can only be done in a special prayer room. (The exact same reasoning could be used to resist giving to ministries dedicated to evangelism and missions, and to acts of charity such as feeding the poor, but these activities are typically held in higher regard in the American church than prayer.)

I agree that all Christians are called to pray. In fact, it is safe to say the average American Christian spends much more time (and money for that matter) on entertainment than prayer -- which is an indictment on our capacity to experience God's beauty! And I also agree that there are other worthy causes, so I don't encourage diverting money to AHOP that would be otherwise be given to the local church tithe or to offerings for missions, evangelism, feeding the poor or similar wonderful efforts.

But I do believe AHOP and other prayer ministries (both inside churches and city-wide) are as worthy of funding as missions & charities. Below are two biblical examples and one historical example of great impact when the community of faith financially supported people to pray and worship God.

• Old Testament Example. David established a 24-hour house of prayer called "the tabernacle of David" -- you can read about it in 1 Chronicles 6:31-32, 16 (whole chapter), 23:4-5, and 25:1-8. In Nehemiah 12:46-47 Nehemiah re-establishes this and makes it clear that the singers and gatekeepers were supported by the people for their duties of praise, thanksgiving, prayer & hospitality: For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.

• New Testament Example. In Acts 6, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem were supported by the church community. They make it clear that prayer is one of their two primary responsibilities, and in order to focus on prayer they delegate other responsibilities such as feeding the poor to others. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."

• Historical Example. All Christians should be made aware of the contributions of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian community in the 1700s. Count Zinzendorf, a German noble, gave land, refuge, and support to Christians of various backgrounds and denominations who were fleeing persecution. In 1727, God touched this bickering group and united them in prayer, as they began a 24-hour prayer watch that continued over 100 years (called the 100-Year Prayer Meeting)! Two years later, they began to send missionaries around the earth, eventually to countries as far as Africa, the far East, and the Americas. William Carey and the Wesley brothers credit the Moravians with inspiring them to launch the modern missions movement, which continues to this day. All this from a community given to 24-hour prayer and reconciliation!

In all of these examples the community of Christians supported financially those who were dedicated to lives of prayer & praise. Why would this be a good idea in the economy of the kingdom of God? Here are four thoughts:

• God answers persistent prayer. Putting prayer and "active ministry" in opposition to each other is misguided. Jesus himself withdrew from ministry opportunities in order to pray -- and He was the smartest person ever! Perhaps our lack of attention to and support for prayer in the body of Christ shows a lack of wisdom and foresight? Jesus promises in Luke 18 that God will answer day & night prayer. He told this to his disciples specifically to encourage persistent prayer, because it will be answered. What if the elders at Antioch hadn't bothered to give themselves to prayer & fasting, would Paul have been set aside for ministry? The history of the church would be very different without that prayer meeting! And Paul himself devoted time in each of his letters to pray for the communities that he was writing to, and usually said to them "I pray always for you ...", so he clearly believed advocating to the Father on behalf of the church was an effective use of time. Could it be that God is simply waiting for us to ask Him to act, and if we did we would see a tangible effect in the good goals that we labor to achieve?

• God is worthy of extravagant devotion, and He seems to like it! A young person wants to take his or her life, which could be given to a respected career, or a life of active ministry to the poor, or the like, and instead spend it in the prayer room, ministering to God in worship, seeking Him in prayer, interceding for others, and building 24/7 prayer throughout the city. Is this valid? Is it a waste of time? Is it really an excuse for living a lazy life of ease instead of working hard? Or are there perhaps strategic times where a life of extravagant devotion that appears wasteful to the "practical-minded" is actually honored and greatly used by God? Consider the example of the mighty men of David, recorded in 2nd Samuel 23 -- their extravagant devotion to David led to one of the most outwardly foolish acts of courage recorded in the Bible, as they broke through the enemy lines to retrieve for their king a single drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, his home town -- and to honor their gift David poured the water out as a drink offering to God. Consider the example of Anna, recorded in Luke 2, who gave herself to a life of fasting and prayer in the temple, which prepared her for the one key moment of welcoming the baby Jesus. Consider the example of Mary, who took a bottle of perfume worth a year's salary and poured it all out on Jesus -- the disciples thought that this money could be better spent elsewhere, but Jesus said "Leave her alone, she has done a beautiful thing by anointing me for burial." Consider that when David wanted to buy a specific field for thanksgiving to God, the question was not whether this was a reasonable expense of money, but who would pay for it -- the owner of the field wanted to give it, but David insisted on paying him. Finally, consider that John records the extravagant expense of time and money for worship in Revelation 4, as the living creatures do nothing day and night except cry out "Holy Holy Holy", and the 24 elders take their crowns (any one of which would probably fetch a fairly large amount at a Lloyd's of London auction) and simply cast them down at the feet of God.
• Giving to prayer softens the heart of the giver. Very simply, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If you struggle in prayer, and want to have a heart more receptive to the intimate love of God, try sending some of your treasure that direction!
• Jesus counsels that lukewarm churches buy "salve for the eyes". In Revelation 3, Jesus characterizes the church of Laodicea as thinking that they are rich, well dressed, and visionary, but actually being poor, naked, and blind from God's perspective. Could this description not apply as well to the American church? If so, he goes on to counsel how to move out of this condition. Here is my interpretation of His counsel -- to buy from God (using time, money, and energy) gold refined in the fire (faithfulness, e.g. local church life), white clothes (holy acts, e.g. evangelism, missions, and charity), and salve for the eyes (prayer). If the American church gave extravagantly to these three purposes, what would be the response from heaven? The reward that Jesus offers in Rev 3:21 is well worth pursuing!

Hopefully this gives you food for thought if your heart is drawn to giving money to support 24/7 prayer and intercessory missionaries, but your mind is divided. And if you still have questions or want to discuss this further, don't hesitate to contact me (thomas@austinhouseofprayer.com or 968-3364).