Instead of the thick veil Moses used, David made musicians and singers into a human veil around the ark. He organized 4,000 musicians and 288 singers to minister to God in shifts that rotated 24 hours a day (see 1 Chr. 6:31-33; 15:16-22; 23:4-6; 25:7). In fact, David released these worshipers from other duties so that they could make prayer and worship their full-time occupation (see 1 Chr. 9:33).

I believe God will fully restore the tabernacle of David--which is the very embodiment of intercessory worship before the beauty, holiness and glory of God--in the generation in which the Lord returns (see Acts 15:16-17). I believe it will be the means of releasing the fullness of salvation and revival for all the nations. Through this model of intercessory worship, the Great Commission will be fulfilled so that every tribe, tongue and nation will be present on the last day (see Rev. 5:9; 7: 9-10; 14:6; 15:4; Matt. 24:14).

God has already begun His work of restoration. In May 1983, our church hosted a citywide effort that involved 21 days of prayer and fasting for revival. In the midst of our intercession, the Lord spoke to us in a dramatic way. He told us that one day He would establish among us a 24-hour-a-day prayer ministry in the spirit of the tabernacle of David.

At the time, we were not at all sure what God meant. But 16 years later we took a giant step in our journey to see this long-term vision fulfilled. Last year, I resigned as the senior pastor of Metro Christian Fellowship in Kansas City, Missouri, in order to give myself full time to a citywide prayer ministry.

On May 7, 1999, we signed a lease on a 200-seat prayer building about one mile from our church. We began with 13 hours a day of intercession, led by worship teams. Then on Sept. 19 we began to worship and pray 24 hours a day.

We are clearly in the embryonic stages of development. The pattern we have established thus far is that we sing and pray the New Testament apostolic prayers, the hymns of Revelation, the Song of Solomon and the Psalms in a corporate, antiphonal way. We do this in the form of 84 prayer meetings a week, each one lasting two hours and folding seamlessly into the next. Each two-hour segment is led by a worship team. We also engage in spiritual warfare for revival in the cities of the earth.

We have raised several hundred thousand dollars toward an annual budget to supplement some of the singers and pay for the building. We believe it is essential for a core of musicians and singers to be involved full time and to receive financial support (as commanded by God through King David in 1 Chronicles). This frees them to go deeper in God and learn to flow in the Spirit as a team. The benefits these worshipers provide the church are well worth what it costs to release them for full-time service.

Perhaps God is calling you to be a part of His end-time purposes to restore 24-hour-a-day worship and intercession to the church. If so, I encourage you to press in to Him and follow His direction for establishing a local "prayer furnace." Jesus is not coming back to a prayerless people but to a bride who is on fire with passion for Him.

In David's tabernacle there was no veil to keep the people from seeing the glory of God.