In 2009, I helped organize a series of united youth gatherings in our city. I had a handful of youth pastor friends, and we agreed to bring together students monthly for worship, rotating among each other’s church buildings for 5-6 months. We called the meetings “Dwell” based on Psalm 133 where God says it is good and pleasing where brothers DWELL together in unity.
I was supposed to teach for one of the meetings, and my plan was to lay out the vision of Psalm 133. As I began studying, the Holy Spirit led me to read the chapter right before it. Psalm 132 was not about us dwelling together but about God dwelling among His people. I realized that in order for us to dwell together, God had to dwell among us. I saw that unity was only possible if we united around the presence of God. I saw that God was building us together as living stones to become a temple of His glory on the earth — a royal priesthood, a dwelling place in the Spirit, a house of prayer, a tabernacle of David.
Those With Psalm 132 In Their Hearts
Preparing my teaching for the Dwell event all those years ago was what began my journey into a chapter that is now one of the most important portions of Scripture to me — Psalm 132. For a number of years after that night, though, I didn’t focus on that chapter very much. However, about four years later, on a personal prayer retreat, the Holy Spirit brought it to my remembrance.
At that retreat in 2013, I had an encounter with God in prayer where the Holy Spirit said “Psalm 132, 133 and 134 together”.
At that point, I had actually forgotten what Psalm 132 was about and I also couldn’t remember what Psalm 134 was either. The only chapter I knew the theme of off the top of my head was Psalm 133. I grabbed my Bible and looked them up. Revelation started flooding my mind again. Psalm 132 was David’s vow to prepare a resting place for God. Psalm 133 was about God’s people in unity. Psalm 134 was about those who ministered to God through the night watch. I began to wonder and ask God how these chapters were connected. What was He saying?
I heard the Lord speak again, so clearly: “Find those with Psalm 132 in their hearts, get them in Psalm 133 unity in order to see Psalm 134.”
The Presence Pioneers
Wow! What did that mean? I had a few ideas. At that time, I had already begun to build relationships with leaders of houses of prayer in North Carolina. I had gotten a prophetic word to do so, and it was something that seemed exciting to me anyway. I was wondering… maybe he’s talking about the relationships I’m building with other house of prayer leaders? I was also serving the Burn 24-7 movement at the time as a regional director in the southeast USA. Maybe He was talking about building unity among Burn leaders? What exactly was I being invited into?
I asked God what He meant when He said “those with Psalm 132 in their hearts.” Who are those people you want in unity?
He said, “they are the presence pioneers.”
God was saying that “those with Psalm 132 in their hearts” are those like King David who long for a resting place for God in their city. They are the pioneers who are hosting the presence of the Lord with worship and prayer in order to see revival. They are the leaders who are yearning for the manifest presence of God to take center stage in the Church again. God called them “presence pioneers“ to me. There were no organizational or geographic boundaries to this. This was not about ministry affiliation or even geopolitical borders. This was about the hearts of pioneering leaders everywhere who were willing to do what it takes to have God in their cities and nations.
Nearly ten years later, I’m still convinced that those people — the presence pioneers — need to find each other, know each other, love each other, stay connected, serve each other, collaborate together, encourage one another and move together in unity with the Spirit of God. Those who are inviting God to dwell in their cities also need to dwell in unity with one another.
24-7 Prayer and the Nightwatch
And God said that this was needed “to see Psalm 134”. Psalm 134 represents 24-7 prayer. God wants perpetual, non-stop worship and prayer in cities and regions. This requires that some people pray and worship in the middle of the night. Those who pray and worship at night is what Psalm 134 is all about. Most churches and ministries will not ever host 24-7 prayer on their own, and that’s ok. However, presence pioneers in regions can come together and see canopies of collaborative 24-hour prayer and worship ring out over cities and states.
God still wants earth to look like heaven, where the worship never stops. It seems as if one of the ways we get there is by presence pioneers growing in unity together. Something in that process will release grace to see the establishment of canopies of non-stop worship and prayer, especially to see those released who will cover the nightwatch hours.
And it’s not just about 24-7 prayer. Even in this age God wants to bring more and more of His kingdom to the earth, and worship and prayer are at the tip of the spear to see transformation in cities and regions. The establishment of 24-7 prayer and worship in regions fuels revival and reformation. God brings justice to the earth in the context of day and night prayer (Luke 18:7-8). If God is wanting regions to establish 24-7 prayer, then we know He is also wanting to pour out His Spirit, release awakening, further the Great Commission in the nations and advance His kingdom.
This longing for God’s kingdom is actually at the heart of Psalm 132. And this brings us back full circle. “Psalm 132 in our hearts” does not just mean we want good, Spirit-filled church services or the launching of prayer rooms. It means that we want God to come and establish His kingdom. When God brings His presence, He brings His authority to rule and reign, confront darkness, heal what’s broken and make things new. The Psalm 132 cry for a resting place is a cry for transformation, more of heaven on earth, and ultimately the return of Christ.