Dick Eastman says that when we worship God we are enthroning God in our midst - and great things can happen.
In his book Intercessory Worship, he suggests that worship married to prayer can help transform families, neighbourhoods and nations. He has concrete stories in nations around the world to back up his claims.
Eastman writes approvingly of John Piper's words: "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is."
Piper went on to say that the ultimate goal of the church is to worship God. Missions is a temporary necessity because of the fallen nature of man. But worshiping will go on forever.
Eastman's endorsement of Piper's words is significant. He is head of Every Home for Christ which has a world-wide evangelistic outreach, distributing Christian material to homes and launching local Bible studies.
But Eastman has always believed fervently in the power of prayer - writing many books on the subject. His organization's headquarters has a prayer centre where staff members and others pray around the clock for God's work in all nations. He himself has been praying daily for all nations for decades.
He notes that God is always present with us. But there are occasions when he makes his presence felt in a particularly powerful way - something referred to as his "manifest presence". Great revivals are examples of this as the Holy Spirit sweeps through throngs and gathers them into the kingdom of God.
Eastman defines worship as "any act, thought or expression of willful adoration that exalts and enthrones God, thereby defeating and dethroning Satan."
He points out the words in Psalm 22:3: "Yet you (God) are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel." And Revelation 5:8-10 speaks of worshipers equipped with harps and bowls of prayers, praising Jesus for drawing in a global harvest of believers.
For Eastman, this suggests worship and prayer working together to prepare the way for God to bring people into his kingdom.
Much of Eastman's book is taken up with exploring the principles of worship and prayer, illustrated with many examples of how this has worked out in reaching people through his own mission and others - from Argentina to Bhutan. Barriers to the gospel have fallen and people have flocked to Christ.
In 2000, Every Home for Christ formed four fellowships of believers - house churches - every day around the world. Following concentrated prayer, that total rose to 58 fellowships of believers a day 10 years later.
The great thing is that Eastman's group is working cooperatively with other mission organizations on coordinated prayer and outreach.
Their aim is to see more people worship God.
In his book Intercessory Worship, he suggests that worship married to prayer can help transform families, neighbourhoods and nations. He has concrete stories in nations around the world to back up his claims.
Eastman writes approvingly of John Piper's words: "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is."
Piper went on to say that the ultimate goal of the church is to worship God. Missions is a temporary necessity because of the fallen nature of man. But worshiping will go on forever.
Eastman's endorsement of Piper's words is significant. He is head of Every Home for Christ which has a world-wide evangelistic outreach, distributing Christian material to homes and launching local Bible studies.
But Eastman has always believed fervently in the power of prayer - writing many books on the subject. His organization's headquarters has a prayer centre where staff members and others pray around the clock for God's work in all nations. He himself has been praying daily for all nations for decades.
He notes that God is always present with us. But there are occasions when he makes his presence felt in a particularly powerful way - something referred to as his "manifest presence". Great revivals are examples of this as the Holy Spirit sweeps through throngs and gathers them into the kingdom of God.
Eastman defines worship as "any act, thought or expression of willful adoration that exalts and enthrones God, thereby defeating and dethroning Satan."
He points out the words in Psalm 22:3: "Yet you (God) are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel." And Revelation 5:8-10 speaks of worshipers equipped with harps and bowls of prayers, praising Jesus for drawing in a global harvest of believers.
For Eastman, this suggests worship and prayer working together to prepare the way for God to bring people into his kingdom.
Much of Eastman's book is taken up with exploring the principles of worship and prayer, illustrated with many examples of how this has worked out in reaching people through his own mission and others - from Argentina to Bhutan. Barriers to the gospel have fallen and people have flocked to Christ.
In 2000, Every Home for Christ formed four fellowships of believers - house churches - every day around the world. Following concentrated prayer, that total rose to 58 fellowships of believers a day 10 years later.
The great thing is that Eastman's group is working cooperatively with other mission organizations on coordinated prayer and outreach.
Their aim is to see more people worship God.
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