Thank you for journeying with us in our endeavor to seek the Lord. Although we started blogging our experiences and the messages we received since January 2012, in reality we began  praying and worshipping together around July/August 2011. It has been about 6 months in this journey. I am penning this down because I sense that we are entering a new phase.

This prayer meeting was started with a vision in mind to catalyze a house of prayer. The vision has not changed and the Tuesday evening session is a part of the ongoing project at the City to see houses of prayer raised up. Somebody once  said that prayer is simply praying the heart of God and so we did only two things. Whenever we gathered, we waited on the Lord in worship and by being in his presence. And as we wait and minister to Him, He begins to speak to us corporately by laying things upon our hearts and minds.

As I sought the Lord for his will on how this Tuesday session will proceed, the Holy Spirit showed me a few things. He reminded me of the upper room in Acts 1:13, the place where the disciples waited on the Lord before the Holy Spirit came and baptized them. Following that, 3000 entered the Kingdom of God. We are to continue in the same spirit of waiting on the Lord before taking any action. From henceforth, this Tuesday evening session at the City shall be called the Upper Room.

The Lord laid on my heart two more aspects of the Upper Room in addition to the waiting, worshipping and praying that have been ongoing. The first is fasting. I believe that the Lord is calling us to fast and the heart behind the fast is Isaiah 58. It is a fast that points us to get our lives aligned with God’s heart and to see social injustice eradicated. May the Lord lead us in this matter. Secondly, I sense the Lord will raise up intercessors for His Kingdom through the Upper Room. Pray with us to see intercessors being raised up from among the young working adults and youths.

Join us and many others in prayer as we seek the Lord for the prayer movement in this nation to arise.

Contending for the Kingdom,

Robin Xu

We were brought to Matthew 25:1-13.

¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

   ⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

 ⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

   ⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

   ¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

   ¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

   ¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

   ¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Alexia who was the psalmist of the night sang this passage of scriptures through a new song. The Lord is saying to us to get ready for his coming as the bridegroom. We may think that it is soon but we do not know the timing of his arrival. There will be delays. However, we must get the oil ready. This oil represents the oil of gladness and the oil of intimacy. Even though we wait on Him and prepare, though he may be delayed, let us obtain this oil of intimacy by ever drawing closer to Him. As we do so we find our lives filled with His joy and our lamps burning. Draw closer, let’s all draw closer to Jesus in this season.

God bless,

Robin

This morning I read 1 Kings 18:30-35, the place where Elijah prepared the altar before calling upon the Lord to answer. We know that God answered by sending fire and the Israelites turned their hearts back towards God. I believe God will do the same in our day. However, the preparation work Elijah did caught my attention this morning. There were 4 things that Elijah did and I believe that it is a shadow of what we need to prepare ourselves for. Prepare for what? Prepared ourselves to be used by the Lord.

Firstly, with 12 stones Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord which had broken down. We need to remember that we are part of God’s kingdom. We shall not be interested in building our own empire or kingdom or ministry but His Kingdom we seek. Revival is for the whole body of Christ in this nation and we seek unity among the body of Christ.

Secondly, Elijah place the wood in order. It struck me that the wood, which represents the issues in our lives, needs to be aligned to God’s will. We know the areas in our lives which we struggle with. Let’s seek the grace of God to get our lives aligned to His will as much as possible.

The third thing Elijah did was to cut up the bull in pieces. The picture of the bull in pieces reminded me of Romans 12 where we are called to be living sacrifices before the Lord. It is a image of death. Death to self and the flesh. The burden on my heart when I read this was not so much of dying to ourselves though it is something we need to do. Rather, I felt the Lord laying on my heart brokenness and humility. The humble and contrite in heart are the ones the Lord look upon (Isaiah 66:2). Shall we offer ourselves to Him?

Lastly, Elijah poured 4 jars of water onto the wood, the bull and the altar made of stones, not once but 3 times. In other words, 12 jars of water were poured out. There are many interpretations out there with regards to the pouring out of water but I would like to state what I feel about this. 12 throughout the bible represents God’s government and completeness. I felt that this pouring of water represents the measure of Holy Spirit in our lives. By using the word measure I don’t refer to it in a quantitative way, rather, in terms of experience. I believe that if God is to use us for revival in our land, we need to grow in hunger and thirst for the infilling of the Holy Spirit in our lives TILL the measure which God thinks that it is sufficient. Jesus said in John 4:14 that in us a spring of water will well up TO eternal life. We need to keep drinking from the River of living water!

It says in verse 36 “at the time of the offering…”. When God’s ordained moment for revival arrives, we will be ready. Like in Acts, the Spirit came in tongues of fire which consumed the living sacrifices that were ready and 3000 were saved.

Let’s get ready!

Rob

³⁵ And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:35-38(NIV)

In the same way the Holy Spirit came upon  Mary and overshadowed her, He is hovering and overshadowing the sons and daughters of God in this nation. The Lord is incubating the visions, dreams and the destiny in our lives. Elizabeth who was known to be barren, was already in the 6th month of her pregnancy. The barren places in our lives are about to become fruitful. We are carrying something of the Lord. Even as a nation do we know that we are spiritually pregnant? The Lord is about to birth a new thing in this nation!

⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Luke 2:6-7 (NIV)

Dutch Sheets mentioned that the church is the womb of heaven, birthing the things of God onto the earth. Are there any who are ready and prepared for the birth of something new in this nation? When baby Jesus was about to be birthed, Joseph and Mary could not find a place/room to abide. The manger ended up as the resting place of our Lord. We need to make room for what the Lord is about to birth forth. Whether it is personal quiet time, being at work, in church/ministry or in school, we need to allow the Lord a greater measure of space than ever before.  Who were those who witnessed that momentous moment? The shepherds and the wise men. Israel missed the moment her King was born and yet the Lord graciously allowed the shepherds to be witnesses. Why? Shepherds were of low social standing. They were humble people. The Lord may allow us to have a glimpse of the big picture but we will never be able to perceive God’s entire plan. Assuming that we know what to do without seeking His face is pride. We need to be humble before the Lord by seeking his directions and not following our own human instinct.

Lastly, the wise men who brought the expensive gifts knew they were in for a visit of a lifetime! They knew they were looking for something very precious. Like finding a pearl of tremendous value, like how the wise men sought out baby Jesus, His love compels us to keep seeking! A sister prayed “arouse love for the Bridegroom”. The coming move of God will bring the revelation of Jesus as the bridegroom and the church as beloved bride. The Lord will also purify his church. Like how the sharpener sharpens a pencil, a degree of pain will be experienced so that the bride may be spotless, pure and without blemish. Let’s keep seeking His face for our nation.

Are we ready for His visitation? Is there room for a new born?

God bless,

Robin Xu

During my time in the States, God brought me through a season where He re-defined and is still defining who I am in Him. More than anything else, the most precious and priceless things is to know God intimately and Him revealing Himself to me through deep experiences and encounters.

6 months of my time in the prayer room was challenging, trying, mundane, glorious, full of encounters and eye opening. Many ups and downs in the prayer room. Though 70% of the time in the prayer room was mundane, you don’t feel much things most of the time, but you know there is an open portal in that place. Just by sitting there, you are being transformed and refined by the movement of the Spirit.

The Lord somehow highlighted this man by the name of Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf to me. God uses Zinzendorf to birth forth the Moravian movement, which sparked off a prayer and missions movement in the 1700s. It was in the place of unceasing prayer and worship, a mission movement was birth. The Moravians were captivated and compelled by the worth of Christ, many chose to sell themselves to slavery to reach the slaves. One of their famous mission statement and quote of the Moravian: “May the Lamb receive the reward of His sufferings”.

September 26, 2011, for the last 2 hours of my prayer time in the prayer room, the Lord spoke very clearly to me, “Jason, build an Acts 13 community in Singapore, a house of prayer for all nations.” An environment where worship, prayer, fasting, tarrying, teaching, with the spirit of prophecy over-arching the house of prayer and community. It was the Church of Antioch that the Lord highlighted to me.

The destiny of Singapore was prophesied by multiple people to be the Antioch of Asia, a mission-sending nation. I realized one of the crucial element and foundation for the Antioch Church is the House of Prayer.

The House of Prayer is:

• A place where the Lord is being ministered unto
• A place where prophets and teachers gather; the Spirit & the Word balances
• A place of prayer and fasting
• A place of tarrying & waiting
• A place where there is room for the Holy Spirit to move and speak.
• A place of consecration
• A breeding ground for the apostolic ministry

I believe God is going to bring Singapore’s calling to maturity. The first step is to see a House of Prayer being established.

¹ Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”

⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
⁶ “I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”

⁷ I will proclaim the LORD’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
⁸ Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You will break them with a rod of iron;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

¹⁰ Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
¹² Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

We sensed the Lord’s call to pray Psalm 2 on Tuesday evening. During the session the Lord revealed himself as King in our midst. The call was to ask Him for the nations as our inheritance. As sons and daughters of the Most High, the nations are our inheritance. Let’s be bold and courageous to ask!

However, the fear of Lord also fell upon the intercessors. According to verses 10-12, the psalmist exhorts existing rulers and kings to turn to the Lord before he sends judgment. As we were in the presence of the Lord, as much as the Lord wants to show mercy, the sense of God as righteous judge was felt. In this season, it is especially important for us the body of Christ to be alert and watching; pray for our nation and leaders. We must be found praying for our nation and leaders.

Several intercessors had visions of the Lion of Judah. It was a timely reminder that as much as Jesus came as a lamb, he is returning as an all-conquering lion. Jesus is returning as King. As shakings in the world intensifies, we need to remember that in the book of Revelations the Lion of Judah overcame. Our hope and firm foundation lies with King Jesus.

Lastly, the vision of the fire in the presence of the King in Daniel 7:10 (NIV) was seen,

¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened.

 Francois confirmed the vision when he saw liquid fire that was flowing on the ground earlier in the day. As the liquid fire seared the ground, smoke arose and formed a beautiful rose made of flames which burned brightly with much heat. The smoke represented the sweet fragrant offering unto the Lord. It is a symbol of love and devotion to our King. He sensed that the liquid fire was moving over hearts of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). A painful but necessary process that would develop a heart that belongs to the Lord. It is the process of purification and sanctification.

Shall we embrace His love? Let us aim to be like the woman who broke the alabaster flask and poured out expensive ointment unto Jesus. In this season and the days ahead, the Bride shall pour out her love for the Bridegroom. May our hearts and lives be purified by Him so that we render a worship that is worthy unto our King!

God bless,

Robin Xu

² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
For your love is better than wine.
³ Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
⁴ Draw me away!

Song of Songs 1:1-4 (NKJV)

A brother puts it aptly that as we enter into a deepened relationship with the Lord, out of that fellowship will come forth treasures such as miracles, more significantly, from it flows the life of God to the masses. Alongside the Lord’s desire for us to grow closer to him is the call to walk in holiness and purity. Psalm 51 came into remembrance as David sought the Lord for purity of heart and mind. Interestingly, verses 18- 19 connected perfectly with what several intercessors received about rebuilding the “walls”.

¹⁸ Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

Psalm 51:18-19 (NKJV)

God is on the lookout for Nehemiahs who would rebuild these walls. The walls of Jerusalem protected not only the people who were living in the city but also the temple of God. According to verse 19 in Psalm 51, when the walls are raised, God shall be please with the worship. In The Message bible, it says:

Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.
Then you’ll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!

Pray with us that the Lord will raise up Nehemiahs in our midst. The builders of the walls in Nehemiah 4 were on guard 24/7 as they carried out the work. We believe that this is a call to men and women to build the 24/7 house of prayer in this nation. This is a movement that has to be inter-generational and multi-racial in the body of Christ. It will not be about a single church, rather, the larger body of Christ. The heart and soul behind it is Jesus’ burning desire and prayer to see unity in his body.

… that they may all be one…

Below is a prophetic vision given by Josiah during the session. I believe it is a strategy given by the Lord. In the OT the walls of Jerusalem were built with bricks by human hands. Today, God is calling us to build that wall not with human strategy or ability but with prayer, praise and worship!

I saw the bride in her bridal dress sleeping in a barn on hay. Christ came opening the door of the barn calling to the bride to arise from slumber. [As]The bride,[was] waking up from her slumber, Jesus clothed over her bridal gown, the priestly vest with the gemstones representing every tribe of Israel.

I sensed that it was the call of the Lord for the church to arise, to take, and  recognize her priestly role to intercede for the people and also to bring down the presence of God onto the earth.

This same bride and Jesus[were] then walking around a wall. Trailing behind them were people with trumpets and shofars, blowing them. Also, there were people dancing. And as these happened, more and more people just arose from the dust.

The wall that the group was walking around wasn’t the same wall of Jericho that was intended to crumble as praise rose. I felt that these walls were strengthened as more praise rose. I got reminded by a brother of Nehemiah’s call to rebuild the wall and place watchmen to watch. The wall for the watchmen will be rebuilt by praise and the worship unto our Lord.

Be part of this movement, let’s arise and build!

Robin Xu

On Monday I came across the song by Matt Gilman, “Longing for the New Jerusalem”. It speaks of the unity and the fellowship between man and God at the end of history. It struck me that even as everything began in the garden with Adam walking with God and the introduction of sin, the final chapter of human history will be the restoration of our relationship with God – a degree of intimacy with God never experienced before. New Jerusalem refers to the oneness between men and God, the coming together between Jesus the Bridegroom and the church, who is the Bride. As I listened to the lyrics, I sensed the longing in the heart of Jesus to return for his Bride.

On Tuesday evening we had an encounter with the Lord. Several of us had visions of the pure and spotless Bride. Two actually sensed the Lord, the Bridegroom, stepped in the room right from the beginning of the session. As the Lord himself came into our midst, some saw angels dancing. One of the significant vision seen was the flowers that Jesus brought along. It meant the Lord loves his church and that we are his beloved. Yet, the Lord himself was still preparing his Bride. There was a vision of Jesus piercing the hearts of some of us and examining our hearts. We were reminded of Psalm 51:6, “surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.”

Gradually we transited into a new song sung by the Alexia who was ministering on the keyboard in the evening. She felt led to sing about the army that God is raising up. And as she was singing, her prophetic song was confirmed by Lynette as she sensed that the Lord had sent a warrior angel in our midst. We began to pray for God’s army to be raised up. As we were led to do so, we began to confess to the Lord that he himself is the Commander-in-Chief of his army. I was led to repent of ,y reliance on human wisdom, strategies and thoughts to raise up this army. Indeed, 1 Corinthians 1:19 stands true. “The wisdom of the wise the Lord will destroy, the discernment of the discerning he will thwart.” The Lord’s army shall be rooted in love and her weapons are not of the flesh but are divine in nature. This army is not about hurting your enemies but loving them with the love of Christ. Neither will human effort or wisdom raise up this army. Remember Zechariah 4:6. Not by power, nor by might but by my Spirit.

We prayed that the Lord would raise up those in the 20s and that a huge harvest of souls in that age-group would be saved. May the Lord bring that to pass in due season.

Just a passing remark before I end this post. Perhaps some might wonder how did we actually discerned so many instances of visions and angelic activity in the midst of the prayer session. First of all, the prayer meeting belongs to the Lord himself. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthian 3:17). We must honor the freedom that the Lord brings and practically speaking, those involved in ministry/church leadership must make way for Spirit of the Lord to move freely. As we do so, during worship or prayer, individuals begin to receive prophetic words, visions, verses from scripture, new songs to be sung, prayed, shared or released. By the end of the session, we usually have a debrief and that is the place when we share in further detail what we received from the Lord. Doing so enables us to understand the bigger picture of what the Lord is saying to his Body. Hence, every member of the prayer meeting receives and hear from the Lord in part and as we put everything together, we receive a clearer and bigger picture of the message.

God bless,

Robin Xu

My journey in the prayer ministry began after reading an old book titled “The Kneeling Christian” by “The Unknown Christian”. I am not kidding but the author is anonymous. I read it when I was 17 and of everything I read, I only remember a single testimony. The story of how the revival in Korea broke out. (I don’t know which revival was it referring to because there have had been so many revivals in Korea.) The  bottom-line is, pray until breakthrough comes. With that idea and inspiration from our brothers and sisters in China, a few friends and I started morning prayer on campus in SP. The fruits were evident. After close to 1.5 years of morning prayer and intercession on campus, we had more students turning to Christ and staying on to be discipled than previous years.

Yet I wasn’t satisfied. I had a vision which was confirmed by another brother that a revival would break out across many campuses in our nation. I was eagerly praying for this and expecting for it come to pass during my studies in SP. It did not happen and I was burn-out by the time I graduated. I was so stuck in getting a revival that when it didn’t happen I became depressed. It took 5 and half a year of NS and university life to realize that my paradigm for prayer was incomplete.

In that 5 years I discovered and realized a few things. I love the presence of God, I’m in desperate need for the Holy Spirit and God is my Dad. I know that prayer was the way forward for the body of Christ because it brought fruits but more importantly, prayer involved worship and it drew me close to Jesus. I am journeying (and still is) from seeing prayer as merely a “tool” for revival to something that expresses my love for Jesus.

So why do I pray? Why should we pray? There are many legit reasons. Reflecting on Martha, she prayed for resources. Remember how she “asked” that Jesus would send Mary to help her. But Jesus said that Mary chose the “better thing” which was to sit at his feet. We have many needs at home, work, sch, ministry, etc that require our prayer & attention. Yet it overwhelms me when Jesus told Martha that Mary chose the better thing. It overwhelms me when I read Romans 8:32 (ESV) that

^“ He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

Could it be that we, including myself, have become so short-sighted in our understanding of God that we only focus on needs? Have we failed to comprehend Romans 8:32? For us to choose the “better thing”, we need to internalize Romans 8:32. We need to know that we have all things in Him and the Love which gave us Jesus. Then I think, we can choose the sort of prayer ministry that Mary lavished on Jesus. The kind of prayer that ministers straight to the heart of God. Prayer that pours love like perfume on Jesus.

So, why do we pray? Because we can’t contain the Love from above. It overflows in our lives and back to Him as adoration, worship & prayer.

Robin Xu

There’s no musician again. This is the second time ever, and twice I was there. >.< However, I felt the atmosphere was different from the last meeting when we had no musician. Instead of music tunes bubbling from within the heart or the group to sing aCapella worship songs, it was a sense of quietness. Being still in the presence of the Lord and just pray.

*Is God teaching us to pray without being led by music & thus emotions, but to hear His voice in the quietness?

Anyhow, I felt the theme of our prayers was — God’s glory and grace; until halfway through, Robin decided to pray and prophesied over each one of us. A few of us in turn got the opportunity to pray for him as well.

What’s new for me is that, as Robin prayed for the individuals, I got a word/picture for them. I “saw” flowers, leopard, deep tree roots, etc.. Not literally, but something I felt in my heart. *An experential lesson from God, perhaps. Why? It’s because recently I am more exposed to people of the prophetic nature and sometimes do wonder, what it is like to “see” the things they pray about. Do they really see pictures in front of them? If not, how could they describe the pictures/visions with such vivid details.

As I “saw” those images, I didn’t immediately intercept him for fear of disrupting his prayer flow. Well, it’s not like I get visions for others. During the debrief, I had to trust what I felt/saw was from God and thus speak in faith over them. Amazingly, I can remember the word/picture for everyone, given my poor memory. Ultimately, whether what I said spoke to them or not, whether it’s true for them or not, the other party has to pray over it and test it out. At the end of the day, there’s a need for a dose of faith and discernment.

There were many other interesting things shared during the debrief.

Robin was sharing how when we were praying over Singapore, he saw two bowls. The first bowl was filled with God’s glory and cloud. It represented the revival that God is going to pour out according to the intercession of the saints. The other bowl was found to be empty. It represented the segments in the Body of Christ that have been found wanting in prayer and watching before the Lord. Indeed the Lord is calling us to watch and pray.

Then, one person shared that he had a vision of MRT stations in the city being flooded. And another jumped in to share that he and his friends noticed huge and thick flood doors at CityLink, near the Esplanade entrance, to prevent flooding. The government has anticipated what’s to come. But because of the doors’ size and weight, they will need some time before they are fully closed to keep out the waters. I have heard about so many people speaking about the great revival that is to come again to Singapore, that kind of made me forget that God can still judge Singapore.

Their conclusion: Intercede for Singapore.

♥ Christina Siew