IHOP Founder Tells 27,000 Young Adults: Have No Regrets
More than 27,000 young adults from 50 countries are attending a four-day conference at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Mo.
The annual worship and teaching conference for young adults seeks to train and equip a generation to live the Gospel and to love God and people.
Attendees came from as far away as South Korea, China, and New Zealand this year to participate in the "One Thing 2010" event, which kicked off Tuesday. This year's theme is based out of Psalm 27:4 where King David declares that there is one thing that he desires of God, and that is to be near Him in His house and gaze at His beauty.
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Mike Bickle, founder and director of IHOP-KC, on Wednesday gave a message about being consumed with zeal for the work of God. He shared about a supernatural encounter he had in 1978 where he saw Jesus in a vision. Jesus said to him, "You are saved, but your life was wasted." He asked in the experience if he could have a second chance, but the Spirit's replied "it is appointed unto man to die once, then comes the judgment" from Hebrews 9:27.
He said when he came to he was kneeling on the floor, crying instead of being in his bed. He shared that the pain of regret he experienced in that vision is still vivid and is the greatest pain he ever felt in his life.
Bickle felt that God allowed him to feel deep sorrow and regret so that he would not live a life that would bring him regret on the last day. God also challenged him to not live with the low measure of dedication that is common in the Western church, or else Jesus will say on the last day that his life was saved but wasted.
"I understood that I have only one chance on the earth, like every one of us. We only have one opportunity and then we die and then the evaluation – the judgment means the evaluation," said Bickle. "The judgment isn't always negative, but it means the truth about our life comes to light."
The IHOP-KC founder said it is not important how big this conference is, how big the ministry grows, or who does or does not like him. The most important thing in his and the attendees' lives is what is on Jesus' mind on the day of judgment.
"In the Western church, there is a whole lot of us that walk around with the image of dedication but we are not obeying the word of God with all of our hearts," he said.
Most people ask the wrong question – how little can I do and still remain in the kingdom of God. Instead, they should ask how far will God let them go in their faith.
"I have a number of fears, but the thing I fear the most is regret," said Bickle. "I fear having regret on the last day more than any other thing. If I stand before Him and have regret it is the greatest tragedy a believer can have. We are not in the lake of fire, we are in the kingdom of God. But the pain of regret, knowing on that day how much He gave us and how little we responded to Him, and that though we are saved we were wasted."
He called on the young adults to be determined to seek the Lord and give all they have to His work so they will not have regrets.
The IHOP-KC conference will conclude Friday evening. IHOP-KC is an evangelical missions organization based on 24/7 prayer and engages in evangelism, healing the sick, inner city outreach, justice initiatives, and training missionaries.
