In the Book of Leviticus, one tribe, the descendants of Levi, were called into vertical ministry, that is, a ministry into the heart of God (Num. 3:12, 8:14-20). So there is good Biblical precedent for one group of people receiving this type of calling, while others receive other callings that are right for them.

This vertical type of ministry is now growing exponentially worldwide on every continent, as the Spirit of God moves to fulfill Zechariah 12:10. In Zechariah, God promises to pour out “a spirit of grace and supplication” during the last days. That is what we see today.

Even after the Old Testament era was ended, Christians continued to realize that some in the Body of Christ were called into this type of vertical ministry, and so the monastic movement got an early start during the Church age.

During a recent trip to Korea, virtually every church we visited was planning, or had already developed, a “prayer mountain” as a major emphasis in ministry. In Africa, the “Power House” movement is taking over the continent, or so we hear. In Britain it’s the “Red Moon Rising” phenomenon. And thousands come from all over the world to receive training at the Kansas City International House of Prayer (KC-IHOP). They recently celebrated a full decade of
uninterrupted 24/7 prayer and worship, and God has chosen at this time to pour out His Spirit in a fresh outpouring there.

Mike Bickle, director of KC-IHOP received prophetic word that in a generation, the Christian Church would be so transformed that we would not recognize it. If this is so, we believe that the Church will move back to the original vision of a house of prayer for all nations. This was God’s original prophetic vision for the Church, conveyed in Isaiah 56:6-8.

It was Israel’s failure to achieve this vision that caused Jesus to speak judgment upon the emple of Herod (Mk. 11:17). Jesus, upon becoming High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4, Heb. 7:17), moved to restore this vision by establishing the Church under the New Covenant. The move here was not to replace the Old Covenant people of God, but to graft the nations onto the original covenant people, to make “one new man” (Rom. 11:11-24). And fulfill
God’s vision for a house of prayer. The Holy Spirit was given to enable Gentile people, united now with Jewish people into a new House of Prayer, to fulfill this original vision.

The Clearing is attempting to restore the centrality of prayer in these last days—one of many such ministries in Central Virginia.