International House of Prayer Eastern Gate exists first and foremost to be an altar of unceasing worship and intercession over the metro area, our nation and all the nations of the earth unto the return of Christ.

Our goal of having live worship and prayer for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is a daunting task and requires strategy and insight to sustain the endeavor. At Eastern Gate, we break down the 24 hours a day into twelve 2-hour “Sets”. Our sets fall mainly in three categories:
1.) Devotional Sets
2.) Intercession Sets  
3.) Worship With the Word Sets.
The format and structure of how these sets go forth is through what is known as the “Harp and Bowl” style of worship.

Harp and Bowl simply refers to Revelation 5:8, where the 24 elders surrounding throne of God are holding harps as well as bowls full of incense. The harps are understood to signify music, while the bowls, the prayers of the saints. The harp and bowl system therefore, is just an elaborate way of combining intercession with worship. In heaven, worship and intercession is sustained perpetually through the combination of the two, and in the same way, here on earth, prayer is made more enjoyable and sustainable through the inclusion and setting of anointed, musical worship.

This prayer set is designed to facilitate contemplative prayer in a “soaking” atmosphere. The goal is to enjoy intimacy with Christ in whatever expression you choose to engage with the Lord, whether it’s joining the worship going on, personal prayer or reading the Word. During this time, the worship leader, often by himself/herself, will worship freely. The time of worship is usually characterized by singing well known worship songs, singing spontaneous Spirit-led choruses, or even singing scripture from the Bible.

This prayer set is usually the most engaging and intense out of the four sets. As the name implies, intercession is the focus in these types of sets. Through musical cycles worship team as well as prayer leaders, guide and facilitate times of intercession within musical worship. During this set, the prayer leader or worship leader may encourage active participation from the room, with the prayer topic being prayed over. Prayer topics can range from praying for personal /corporate revival to praying for widespread systemic justice-related issues such as the ending of abortion and sex-trafficking. Look for intercession sets within the schedule to join in fervent intercession with others unto the Lord.

Worship with the Word sets are characterized by times of singing scripture with a Spirit of worship. Through musical cycles a worship team and a prayer lead will sing a pre-chosen passage of scripture in the hopes of gleaning revelation and going deeper into the Word of God. Often times when the worship teams start singing scripture, revelation is released as the Holy Spirit releases truth in a fresh, new, way through the usage of music-melodies, rhythms, voices and instruments. The goal of these sets is to therefore become a “singing seminary”, a refreshing time of receiving and soaking amidst the sacred scripture being sung, and receiving the revelations proceeding forth.

Prophetic worship sets function very similarly with devotional sets in regards to the fact that both of these sets usually flow freely without a guideline or prescribed worship order as would be through the harp and bowl system. In the prophetic worship sets, worship teams usually follow the flow and unction of the Spirit in worship by singing commonly sung worship songs, and then branch out from there to follow the movement of the Spirit in creating new spontaneous choruses, or creating a spontaneous melody with other songs. Most often, the goal of these sets is to steward and host a tangible, felt reality of the presence of the living God through worship.

Open Mic sets exist to facilitate prayer when there are not full teams on stage. Many of our Devotional Sets have become Open Mic sets where a prayer leader will open up the microphone for a period of 20-30 minutes where anyone in the room is free to come and pray, to share a Scripture, a prayer request, or an encouragement. We just ask that each person keeps it under 5 minutes. The worship leader and singers will often take the prayers and sing in a way that encourages the room to pray over what was just shared on the microphone.