The Father's House
by Todd Bentley
--- Nine places of intimacy.
Introduction
The reason I wrote this book is to kindle a fresh fire inside of God's people to pray and seek God's face. After God gave me the revelation on the Father's House it released inside of me a new sense of adventure and pilgrimage when it comes to intimacy with God. Prayer can become something we do out of duty or it’s the Christian thing to do, but God wants us to draw near to him with passion and freedom from the feelings of duty. As we explore the Father's House and probe into the deep things of God I believe your eyes will be opened to the fullness of the revelation of God. He takes us from Glory to Glory. Every time I come in prayer I expect to reach a new level and experience God fresh. My goal in sharing this with you is to help you come out of spiritual ruts in prayer and see you stirred anew to run after God and taste all that He has on His table for you. It is time to eat, drink and be merry with God.
The Vision
The Lord revealed to me the Father's House and the nine rooms of intimacy. I received this word over the course of a month, on three different occasions which were instantaneous revelations. The Lord first dropped this word into my heart, when I was ministering at a home meeting in Mission, BC.
I had a prophetic word through a vision and as I began to share what God was showing me, I saw the Father’s House. The individual I was giving this word to was wandering up a long road towards the house. There was a warm, inviting, drawing presence that made it irresistible. At the same time, there was a pulling away to the things of the world and the lust of the flesh where the swine were. This person was in the valley of decision, being swayed between the Father's House and the things of the world.
I saw a door in this vision and it was open. I heard a voice saying, "Come in here, come in here"; the voice of the Father calling his son, "Come in here, come in here". He would go up to the Father’s house, stick his head in the door and then look back down the path to where the swine were. There was a battle between the flesh and the spirit; should I enter? Should I go into the Father’s House and allow myself to experience the things God has for me in His presence?
The word the Lord gave me is not literal; but a parable, an allegory representing spiritual truth. The Lord helped me bring forth this revelation making it easy for us to eat and digest. God wants us to see that there is more than we’ve known. He wants to challenge and awaken us to the realities of the kingdom of heaven. God wants us to ask, knock and seek for the treasures of his Glory.
The vision of the Father’s House had the characteristics of an entertainment house similar to that found at a circus. The same sensations of going to the carnival when I was a child began to come over me; the taste of cotton candy, the smell of hot dogs and the thrill of the rides. Confetti and party streamers were exploding out of the top of the house. It was alive, moving to the sounds of music. It was like the story of the Prodigal sons return. (Luke 15) The house had its own character and personality, it was irresistible, drawing and entertaining like the fair. You just wanted to be there. It created in you the excitement of fun and games. Where there should have been a door to close, there was none. In its place was a welcome matt and the voice of the Lord saying, "All are welcome both day and night to come and partake of the things of my presence."
Some time later I had another vision of the Father’s house. This time I was inside and I saw a long hallway with doors on either side. The hallway went on further than my eyes could see. This was the end of the second vision.
It was in the third prophetic experience while I was in my bathroom, that I got taken by the Holy Spirit into the last vision. This was when God began to reveal to me the nine rooms of prayer within the house. I saw the living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom, etc. In the following chapters I will share with you what God shared with me.
The Father's House
In the following chapters are some of the different acts of prayer and communion found in the nine rooms of intimacy in the Father's House. These are not all of the rooms in the Father's House nor are these all the experiences that are found in God. There is always more! The river gets deeper. (Ez. 47).
Before we get into the rooms of the Father's House and the different levels of prayer, I want to lay some scriptural foundations from the Word of God about the Father's House. The things that I saw and experienced, the rooms that the Lord brought me into are revealed parables, allegories representing truth.
In the book of John 14: 1-6 it declares "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." Jesus went into the Father’s house and prepared rooms; dwelling places where we can go and know. Heb. 9:12; Heb. 4:16
The Father’s House is a place where we can adventure. It's like a giant mansion; a place of exploring, searching out and seeking God. Searching Him with all your heart is to be adventurous like a pioneer exploring, looking for treasures; allowing God to take us in the spirit to different levels of prayer. And Jesus said, " I go and prepare a place for you so that I can receive you to myself." I don’t believe that he was just meaning this for when we die. I do believe that Jesus has a place for us when we die, for when we die we are absent from the body and present with the Lord. Now Jesus can come to us and take us through the Holy Spirit to where he is now in the Father’s House. This is what He did for me; He just brought me into His house and into the rooms He has prepared. Jesus continued saying "And where I go you know, and the way you know." Thomas said " Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, " I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." In the book of Psalms 65:4 David talks about the Father’s house. I want to paint a picture about what we can look forward to, what we can explore and expect when we seek God. I want to instill a hunger within you for all the experiences that are in God. This scripture declares " Blessed is the man whom You choose, and cause to approach you, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple."
Psalms 36:7, “ How precious is Your loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” We are satisfied with the fullness and satisfied with the goodness of the Father’s house.
Look into Jer. 31:12 , “Therefore they shall come and sing in the heights of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the Lord - for wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord.”
In the Fathers house God wants to water us, fill us to the full. He wants us to be abundantly satisfied tasting the goodness of all he has. He allows us to be filled overflowing with the fullness of His house. He satisfies our mouth with good things so our youth is renewed like the eagle. God’s house is so full of treasures that you can seek and find and keep on seeking and finding coming into more. Matt. 7:7 God wants to share with you all that is in His kingdom.
