History of The Altar
International House of Prayer.
The Altar was birthed from a vision the Lord had given to Dennis See in 1980. Shortly after become a Christian,
God began to speak to Dennis about worship and he didn't even know what worship was. At that time he began playing the
piano, writing and singing by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He had a deep drawing and longing to worship
the Lord. He felt at that time he didn't even know how to worship. He had been raised in a more traditional church where there
was not allot of free open worship and the whole idea of worship was foreign to him. Then God began to speak to Dennis that
He would teach him how to worship and lead people into the presence of the Lord. He said he wanted Dennis to
do this so they could experience His presence. He also believed the Lord told him that He would use him in the last
days to raise up the "Tabernacle of David" and he saw himself leading worship at a big black grand piano in a stadium filled
as far as the eye could see with hungry worshiping people and the worship went on for days. He had no idea of what
this meant. So he waited on the Lord to show him the meaning of all this.
Not long after this vision he began to travel with a group called the "Carriers" a gospel singing group. After
traveling a little over a year with them he believed the Lord was directing him to go to school.
In 1984 before graduating from Rhema Bible Training Center he had a dream and in part of the dream
God showed him a worship center with no walls filled with people. The people stretched out through the walls
as far as you could see, like the vision of the stadium. Then in the dream God told him to go to the platform to
speak and as he walked to the platform God gave him the scripture Jeremiah 1:4 to the end of the chapter. This
is one of many prophetic dreams and words spoken over him. Still he was not sure what this meant or how this would ever
take place.
There was also a desire to start some kind of Worship College or school because it seemed there was a real
need for real, true honest worship in the body of Christ. Keeping these visions in his heart and after many years
of ministering in different churches as a youth pastor and mostly a worship leader, a friend invited him to go to
Kansas City to the International House of Prayer. (Mike Bickle's ministry). His life was changed forever.
As he experienced the power of God in the House of Prayer all the visions and dreams began to make sense. He knew from that
moment on this was who and what he was called to do, to raise up a twenty-four hour seven day a week place of worship
and prayer. He also knew he would travel and minister all over the world releasing the heart of God and leading
people into an intimate worship experience with the Lord.
Once he returned from Kansas City, there were many events and confirmations of this
call. The music department of the church where Dennis was worship pastor set up a meeting to introduce the concept
of Harp and Bowl worship and prayer to see if anyone was interested and 86 people showed up. Within the next few weeks
"The Altar" was up and running with about 16 churches involved and around 60 people! At this time they were having
meetings and calling it "Harp and Bowl" out of Rev 5:8.
Once again he had another vision of the youth revival that is about to be released to this
generation and God showed him we are to be ready and get the barns ready for the harvest. The revival which we've
been praying for is coming and it's the younger generation that God is about to move on. He knew that the Harp and Bowl
type prayer and the youth revival were somehow related.
After having harp and bowl meetings weekly and knowing the desire of the Lord for this type of ministry, Dennis
went to Kansas City a third time to seek the Lord concerning the House of Prayer. As Dennis was praying as to what
to call this prayer ministry, he walked into the hotel and when he got off the elevator his eyes were drawn to room 612. Then
he went to the prayer room and saw the scripture Leviticus 6:12..."the fire on the altar shall never go out, it
shall be kept burning" written on the wall above the prayer board. As soon as he saw the words "The Altar" he knew this
was to be the name. He also knew it was time for the vision of the House of Prayer to begin and move full speed
ahead.
After much waiting on the Lord and prayer, he believed it was time to take a step of faith. In 2002
Dennis resigned from his position of 5 years as Worship Pastor and one of the founding members of his
church to pursue the call of establishing "The Altar International House of Prayer".
We are currently meeting at various times through out the week with Harp and Bowl intercession and we
meet Saturday nights and sunday mornings for corporated times of worship and teaching.
Saturday nights and Sundays are a very free, Holy Spirit led services that are focused on the Lord,
prayer and equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry. These meetings are designed to
let people worship freely and to teach different focuses concerning intimacy with the Lord, worship, prayer and
other related topics that equip the saints to do the work of the ministry and bring them into deeper revelation of the kingdom
of God.
God showed Dennis the body functioning together as one and in the House of Prayer we are trying to walking this
out. We know God is speaking to the hearts of His people all over this region and many times there is not a place for
them to release what God has given them. Here at 'The Altar" that is not a problem. We want to hear what God is
saying and you are welcome to share it at the appropriate time. It helps us to pray more effectively when we get the big picture.
We all have a part and as we bring those parts together we believe we will see a more accurate picture of what God is
doing in our region.
We also have many different people speaking and teaching at the different meetings. The vision is also to train
and raise up the gifts God has placed in people. So we utilize the gifts in people and in turn they are trained and equipped
in all areas of ministry.
If you have never experienced these kinds of meetings we ask you to come out and join us. You will be drawn into
the awesome presence of the Lord and your life will be blessed and changed by the Power of God. We encourage you
to take it back to your home church and be a blessing.
