Who is Mike Bickle
Mike Bickle is the director of the International House of Prayer Missions Base in Kansas City (IHOP–KC), an evangelical missions organization based on 24/7 prayer with worship that is engaged in evangelism, healing the sick, inner city outreach, multiple justice initiatives, planting houses of prayer, and training missionaries. IHOP–KC has continued in nonstop prayer led by worship teams since September 19,1999, and is committed to combining 24/7 prayers for justice with 24/7 works of justice. IHOP–KC offers full-time training in Bible, music, and media schools. Mike’s teaching emphasizes growing in passion for Jesus through intimacy with God, doing evangelism and missions work from the place of night and day prayer, and the end times.
Source: http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000043728#about
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Mike Bickle On Contemplative Prayer
By Jocelyn Andersen
Mike Bickle, director of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, and a well-known leader in the Prophetic Movement, claims that God is restoring contemplative prayer to the church. He goes on to claim that contemplative prayer is a God ordained means of entering into the fullness of God, and that the brightest lights in church history have been Roman Catholic mystics who lived during the dark ages. He went on to say the western church had much to learn from these mystics.
Anti-evangelical propaganda is prominent throughout his message. He informs his followers that they are constantly being put on the defensive by, and apologizing to, evangelical Christians for their intensity toward God by saying “Other Christians force us to hide our intensity—to wear a façade. “…even believers in Jesus…are made uncomfortable and intimidated by our spiritual intensity.”
However, he comforts them with the good news that they don’t “have to wear any façade” when they got together in little oasis’ “like this” (meaning his and other prophetic meetings). He continued his barrage against evangelicals by saying,
“They don’t grasp it at all—being introduced into the deep realms of love.”
He claims the church of the western world has abandoned its inheritance to have the fullness of God (through contemplative prayer).
Bickle freely admits to pursuing eastern religious philosophies and had nothing but criticism for the Western Evangelical Church.
According to him, evangelical Christians are a pathetic and ignorant bunch. He says of us:
“The Protestant wing of the western church, which is a tiny percentage of the Body of Christ…, is nearly completely (98%) unaware that the Holy Spirit is restoring contemplative prayer—center stage—to the church… The Holy Spirit is restoring this precious jewel (contemplative prayer) to the body of Christ. This is the God ordained means of attaining the fullness of God.” — Mike Bickle in his audio message “Contemplative Prayer part 1”
He quotes from the contemplatives (his word for mystics) and announces that he will be teaching from the Sacred Pathways (which promotes the carrying of symbols or icons, choosing a mantra and visualizing God). Each one of these things is contradictory to the Word of God, which forbids imagery and vain repetitions in prayer.
He insists we need to study the lives and writings of the Roman Catholic mystics, and because the bookstore chain of Barnes and Nobles has carried so many books in this regard, he says (in all earnestness) that B & N is prophesying to the church that we need the mystics, and he wants to know why the church isn’t picking up on the fact that God is calling the entire Body of Christ to live lifestyles of contemplative prayer?
Below are quotes from Mike Bickle on contemplative prayer:
“Every one in the Body Of Christ is called to live lives of contemplative prayer…”
“Everybody is called to live in the contemplative lifestyle. Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! That’s one of the great strongholds we have to overcome (resistance to contemplative prayer).
“…contemplative prayer, you gotta get over that hurdle! Barnes & Noble is prophesying it! Hurtle one we gotta understand it’s for everybody! Everybody is called to the fullness (contemplative prayer). We’re all going to go into this thing!” — Mike Bickle in his audio message “Contemplative Prayer part 1”
Another hindrance to contemplative prayer, says Bickle, is that we need to dismantle (“we” meaning evangelical Christianity) the idea that church history began with Martin Luther (I wasn’t aware we had that idea until he informed me of it).
Bickle says the most inspiring light in all of Christianity came from the Roman Catholic mystics during the dark ages. Below are quotes from Bickle on the mystics:
“mystics is a legitimate term… I don’t want to fight the war…so I’m just saying contemplative prayer, but I mean the mystics—even here at IHOP I say, lets just stay with contemplatives …I don’t have time to argue… so I call them the contemplatives…. I don’t want to go into the semantics, the debates…so, I’m calling it the contemplatives… I don’t have time to argue… but I need the mystics.”
“[They are] Some of the brightest lights in all of history… there has been the brightest lights in all history for men and women of abandonment in the dark ages… somewhere we have to say the dark ages were the luminaries in the grace of God…they were Catholic priests.”
“…a study of the lives of the mystics, the contemplatives, through history, and clearly the most inspiring, compelling examples of history, in my world, have come out of the Catholic dark ages. I can’t find anything like it in modern times, in America, in the protestant world.”
“…we need a little Holy Spirit catalytic jump start. We need to see where a few have gone before us, and say if they did we can, and we can go further… and if you’re going to go deep into that well, I’m sad to say, the vast majority of them are going to have Catholic roots in history.” — Mike Bickle in his audio message “Contemplative Prayer part 1”
Bickle minimizes the false doctrine of Roman Catholicism by saying, “But didn’t Catholics do some funny things…? Well, when you stand before the Lord you’ll find out you did some funny things too.”
Bickle heavily promotes Bernard Clairvou (who he claims was a just a quiet little monk who only wanted to stay in his hermitage, praying and reading The Song of Solomon). He is clearly impressed with Clairvou’s healing ministry but leaves out the part where Clairvou travels extensively as a major instigator of the second crusade. He says, “Bernard Clairou became my most inspiring life outside the Bible.”
The writings of Father Thomas Keating (the modern day Father of contemplative prayer) are also promoted.
Bickle says these two mean are examples, for us, of, “a way to a deeper life in God.” He went on to say, “The protestant world is in great need of examples (like these) that will beckon us to the fullness of God.” — Mike Bickle in his audio message “Contemplative Prayer part 1”
Mike Bickle is telling the Body of Christ that we are woefully deficient in having lost God’s fullness and need to look to New Age, Eastern philosophy and to Roman Catholic mystics as examples in how to restore it!
And his advice to questioning, spiritually languishing and anguishing souls (who didn’t know their real problem was that they wanted more of God—until he told them so) is this,
“Don’t evaluate yourself, don’t evaluate others. Just keep going after it.” — Mike Bickle in his audio message “Contemplative Prayer part 1”
In plain language that means don’t read or listen to anything discerningly or analytically. Don’t question anything or anybody—not even yourself (except evangelicals of course). Just go with what feels right.
How does that jive with search my heart O God and test my thoughts…? How about this one, “There is a way that seemeth right…?”
Source: http://hungryheartsministries.com/id419.html
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Mike Bickle Defines Contemplative Prayer
By Jocelyn Andersen
Mike Bickle, one of the “Kansas City Prophets” and a huge proponent of introducing Christians to cp (contemplative prayer), says this of contemplative prayer:
“… this is an imperfect science… it (the term Contemplative prayer) is not a term that is a biblical term… it’s an idea. … there’s no place where Paul the apostle said the term cp means this… different ones throughout church history define it differently… I have 30, 40, 50 titles on cp in my home… any book on Contemplative prayer, I just buy em… at first it confused me because one person talked about so different from another person it took me a few of years to figure it out that there is no clear infallible definition…” – Mike Bickle in his audio message “Contemplative Prayer part 2”
I’ll translate for you what Bickle just said in the quotes above:
- Contemplative prayer is an evolving thing
- Contemplative prayer cannot be found in the Bible
- To one it means one thing to another… it means something else
- Mike Bickle will read anything on Contemplative prayer regardless of who writes it
- Contemplative prayer cannot be defined
Here is another Mike Bickle recommendation on pursuing CP:
“You’re gonna need resources to do it (to go into the deep waters of God). The Protestant world is really really narrow on the resources of contemplative prayer.”
May I comment as to why the Protestant world is really really narrow on resources of contemplative prayer?
For starters, it isn’t found in the Bible.
During the protestant reformation, people rightly claimed the Bible alone tells us everything we need to know about life and godliness. They rightly rejected extra-scriptural revelation such as that which came from the Pope and from the Roman Catholic mystics.
For finishers, it isn’t found in the Bible…. Even proponents of it admit that! Yet they go right on assuring us it is perfectly all right to pursue an unbiblical spiritual activity.
In case no one has ever told you, I will tell you now. It is not perfectly all right!
If it is an unbiblical spiritual activity, what does that make it?
The Holy Spirit certainly cannot be a part of any spiritual activity that is unbiblical. So, what spirit is behind it? We only have two choices here.
Christians, we are not lacking in resources to help us connect with God. The written word of God and the Holy Spirit of God really do give us all we need to walk in the fullness of God.
It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
There are no gifts like his gifts. I beg you, don’t fall for cheap, soul stealing counterfeits!
I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3)
IHOP is a movement I have been following for quite a while. Their statement of faith looks OK until this;
http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000050150
Here is the quote –
We believe in the literal second coming of Christ at the end of the age when He will return to earth personally and visibly to consummate His kingdom. We believe that the Church will go through the Great Tribulation in great power and victory. We believe the Church will be raptured at the end of the Great Tribulation. We also believe in and are praying for a great end–time harvest of souls and the emergence of a victorious Church that will experience an unprecedented unity, purity, and power in the Holy Spirit. (Ps. 2:7–9, 22:27–28; Jn. 14:12, 17:20–26; Rom. 11:25–32; 1 Cor. 15:20–28, 50–58; Eph. 4:11–16; Phil. 3:20–21; 1 Thes. 4:13–5:11; 2 Thes. 1:3–12; Rev. 7:9–14)
Some basic biblical scholarly work from the book of Revelation works out that by the time Christ himself comes down in judgement there will be only about 500 Million people left alive on the earth. The first major death wave alone in Revelation 6:8 takes out a quarter of all people on the earth. Then Revelation 8 – one third of all trees and grass burnt up, one third of all the seas, rivers, waters turned into blood. Then…no death, the whole earth is tormented by demons. Then another one third of men die. The antichrist starts slaughtering the tribulation saints. etc etc etc God pours out the plagues. etc etc etc Jesus Christ comes back WITH the saints in judgment, whole nations are literally destroyed….
Nowhere does Christ comsummate his kingdom, that sounds more like something the antichrist does (with lying signs and wonders the bible says in Revelation – so that the deceived accept him as the real thing).
This movement is leading people to accept the antichrist instead of the true Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The new ‘prophetic’ and ‘apostolic’ gifts simply mean they can rewrite the scriptures to conform to whatever their ideal is – in this case the heretical manifest sons of god teaching.
The one part where IHOP has NOT gone off the rails is on Israel and Replacement Theology. I also know that Mike Bickle is not too bad on some of his other teachings, so not everything is corrupt sand upside down. But here and there you find doors wide open…for the enemy to exploit. It’s all happening.
Michael
Mike Bickle is bad bad bad. Just cos he once or twice or three times had some good teachings does in no way make him kinda acceptable. IHOP has been one big BAD open door since it’s inception back in the early to mid 1980′s. The enemy did not exploit them, they are the enemy and they rake in children and young people and manipulate their way of thinking. They are full on 5-fold ministry, apostles, prophets and of course false prophecy, fake healings etc. They are Latter Rain Manifest Sons of God through and through.
Debs,
The point is that heresy is always introduced under the guise of fairly good Christian orthodox teaching. Both Jim Jones and David Koresh were decent bible teachers. The enemy is not going to chase people away with blatant error.
I was discussing this with a friend last night; it seems that satan has tailor made counterfeit religion to suit every personality and insecurity. Movements like ‘the call’ actually do have some fairly good objectives like praying for america, against abortion etc. Normally within dominionism you find replacement theoology without any subtelty, I was looking around IHOPs website yesterday and found it interesting that this is not part of their doctrine. It will be interesting to see how all the fragments of dominioism come together, doctrinally speaking. Wait…of course, then don’t need to – everyone will put aside doctrinal differences for this mighty outpouring of the spirit.
It’s really sad because always within these type of movements there are always true christians and are just being seduced.
The truly sad part is that many families have been torn apart by Mike Bickel/Allen Hood’s teachings.
Deborah, how did you KNOW that IHOP was bad? What thing happened that your eyes were opened?
Michael
Toooo true. “the enemy is not going to chase people away with blatant error” and “do have some fairly good objectives like praying for america, against abortion etc” is exactly it. People for some unknown reason seem to think that if someone is anti-abortion they MUST be Christian. Satan will be anything you want him to be until he’s got you thinking like him.
It’s very sad.
You know, I said to my husband last night that I never saw myself doing what I am doing now, 10 years ago. But what really has shocked me (since this Christmas just gone by) is that I never ever ever thought I would be sitting here with my head in my hands wondering where and when my father lost his way. 3 years ago the Holy Spirit showed me some scripture it’s something I would think about more than often. I prayed and said, ‘my family will be ok……?’
Matt 10:21,35-37
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
35 “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;
36 and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.
37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
Now I’m praying, ‘how could this happen……?’ :(
D, when I was 21 I was rejected by ALL friends, ALL family. reason: I got baptized in water. I was called weird names. I was ‘forgotten’. I was side-stepped. I was ignored.
I just went on with my life, praying earnestly every day for ALL.
4 yrs after that mom and dad went to a Bible preaching church. 1 yr after that they got baptized! ironically they never turned around and said they did me wrong… My twin brother got baptized 2 yrs after them, then his wife and his family… my sister made the same decision but was forcefully removed from life by her husband before she could be baptized. BUT in the following years at least their 4 children got baptized and chose to follow Jesus. all WITH their partners in Bible believing churches.
I stopped keeping track of how many of those who 100% rejected me and then was brought to repentance by the LORD…
what I want to say: don’t despair! God knows the desires of your heart. Keep praying. and always remember: it is the ultimate will of God that all should come to repentance and none should perish.
cecilia
Annunk
Ahhh nothing in particular in this case. I’ve just been following all these false Christian movements for a few years so I know all about IHOP, YWAM and the hundreds of little poison streams that run off them and run into them. Everything is interlinked.
My testimony is quite a scary one. I was involved in the occult for many many years, I decided to change my life and I chose Jesus Christ the Son of God over darkness. I had no one to help me except my faith in Jesus that He would save me from the nightmare I was going through. My understanding of Christianity at the time was ‘Word of Faith’ as seen on tv and presented to me by my family and grandparents, etc, etc, etc.
So off I went in search of ‘men’ to help me spiritually. I went from one church to another trying to find someone to help me. I even had to argue with a pastor to be baptised (I kid you not). Besides the demonic attack at that time in my life and searching for the Gospel TRUTH I did not realise it but the ‘Jesus’ at these churches was not the Jesus Christ I had found who SAVED me, and certainly was not the Jesus Christ I turned my life over too. I was as confused as anyone could get at that point in time.
I had never read the bible before that time, yet when I took my new little NIV bible to church I would listen to the sermon, page to the scripture (x1) that was used or more if you were lucky and spend the rest of the service wondering WHY I have NO idea what they are saying, and why what I am reading does not in any way match up or correspond to what they are teaching. So I thought maybe I had the wrong translation and needed to get the KJV – got one with red letters and every thing lol. Well you wont believe it. The same thing happened. It was only a little while later that I realised I could understand the bible because of the Holy Spirit abiding in me giving me understanding.
Oh and then the whole thing about the Holy Spirit IN the church and coming over you and that ‘fake’ warm feeling you would get. Yet when I left the church this ‘holy’ spirit stayed behind. This confused me too. So to cut a long story very very short I went onto the internet and started searching for the truth because I knew what I was hearing at these churches was wrong. And of course if you asked anyone any questions at these churches you just got the blank stare. That was when I realised I had the Holy Spirit IN me and He was there all the time and had been warning me and keeping me safe. And thank goodness when I left those churches the fake spirit stayed behind.
After a year of turmoil and reading and studying the bible and asking Jesus to help me, my eyes were opened to the most shocking revelation ever. That the entire ‘christian’ church out there had been infiltrated by false teaching. And that the church (denominations/buildings) were not Christian but individuals were Christian and they made up the spiritual church (body of Christ).
It was a shock for me to realise that I went from black magic to christian churches who actually practice white magic. These people are nothing but Christianised occultists. The world has been deceived into thinking that for something to be satanic is has to be black, dark and dreary. But rainbows are soooooo colourful aren’t they and the New Age is all full of colour, from the 1st Chakra right to the 7th one and more if you seep deeper into th cesspool.
So now I speak loud and make my WARNING very clear, for the hard of hearing. I know what the other side looks like and it’s hell.
So Mike Bickle is just part of an entire bad bad bad bad group of people, and he links with another bad group, and they with another and so on. One big spiders web with ‘I AM’ in the middle, all strands interconnected with one another and the universe.
Thanks C
I know, but it’s tough. My father would always speak to me about Jesus when I was off doing my own thing, reading and getting involved in hectic occult in stuff and nevermind the people I hung around with….. I would tell him to shut up, not interested in what he had to say, not interested in this Jesus he spoke about. Now the roles have been reversed. I am preaching to my father and he is telling me to keep quiet. He thinks that everyone who says preached in the name of Jesus is a christian. All I can do is pray and hope some sense is knocked into him. Last 3 days have been quite sad for me. *sniffs*
Michael
Oh, your article will be up tomorrow arvie. This week has been a bit ‘bleh’ to say the least. So I am on a go slow.
Deborah,
Wow! I can relate. There is so much bologna out there professing to be Christianity that it’s just unfathomable. I respect your perspective.
On the other hand…I’m someone whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to, and acknowledged…somewhat reluctantly I must confess. There is a place for people like me…and like you. It’s called the United Methodist Church. Don’t pick a big one cuz it’s all about the numbers. Pick a small one and go visit. You might be surprised. Really!
Just a thought. Hope this helps.
Marty
Marty
>> On the other hand…I’m someone whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to, and acknowledged…somewhat reluctantly I must confess.
I do not deny the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Because He abides IN me :) I do believe I have the gift of discerning spirits but I do not have visions, dreams, and all sorts of funny things weird things. It’s only that the Holy Spirit in me recognises the other spirit is not of Him. That’s it. Every born again Christian however has discernment.
I believe we are to go directly to Jesus Christ for everything else, healing, and anything else and that we do not need to go to men and have them pray over us and lay hands on us. Jesus Christ is the Son of God I would go to Him any day over a so called professed ‘christian’ pastors.
Ah it’s long past the day that I need to find a church to go too. Because back then already I realised that the Bible was sufficient to teach me alone. I do however work and read works by great pastors like John MacArthur for instance to keep myself in check with confirmation always from the Holy Spirit that I am still on the narrow path.
I think people get very confused when it comes to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you have the over-doers (the ones that take everything to the extreme and becomes fake because they disobey the Word of God) then you get the under-doers (these are the ones who just do not believe anything) and then you get the ones who believe at the bible preaches, that after Jesus Christ’ Ascension into heaven He sent us the Holy Spirit to walk with us because Jesus could not do it anymore as he did with the disciples. The gifts given to the apostles and disciples were powerful gifts needed as they were to face the most extraordinary mission of spreading the gospel under dire circumstances – they all died the most horrific deaths for their faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. One the bible was closed, it contains everything we need to know. The Holy Spirit walks with those who are truly born again and guides us in the right direction. I have been healed, yes I have. I prayed in my bedroom and Jesus healed me. I have had countless miracles happen in my life since through Jesus’ protection over my life.
In fact where is NO greater gift you can receive than the gift of salvation, and having the most gentle Holy Spirit come and abide in you.
Well, when you people start praying for the sick and they get healed, and when you begin to raise the dead as those associated with IHOP have done, then perhaps you will be credible. Be careful as the Bible says do not touch His annointed and do not call what is of God of Satan. No one is perfect, and I am certain that I could find a reason to call each and every one of you false as well. Perhaps you should be less concerned with whether or not Mike Bickle is healing the sick and winning souls and be more concerned with whether or not you are.
You can’t fake limbs regrowing, by the way.
Whitney
beware what you call Satan actions to be God’s. Micke Bickle is a less tattooed version of Todd Bentley and will have the same outcome. Passing on a false spirit that will damage their spiritual lives.