It could be easy to miss, tucked in between the Trek Bicycle Shop and the Princeton Club, just across the street from East Towne Mall. There’s no big sign above the door. One clue that it’s not just another store front or office suite is the cascading wall of water sculpture just inside the front door. It’s symbolic, perhaps, of the cascade of prayers raining down upon Madison from within.
It’s the Madison House of Prayer for All Nations, a non-denominational prayer and worship center, located at 1714 Eagan Road. It’s an outgrowth of a previous house of prayer formerly located in a vacant store on the other side of the parking lot, next to the Family Bookstore and the Cool Beans Coffee Cafe.
For several months now there’s been a weekly Tuesday evening prayer service focusing on different parts of the Madison area, an outgrowth of the Spiritual Mapping survey that was done by the Jericho Project several years ago. Tonight the focus was on my area of town, Monona and the far southeast side, and it was a very worshipful experience.
I won’t explain too much about it. I’ll just say that I’m pretty comfortable with the traditional Sunday morning Protestant worship service of hymns and sermon, which this was not. I’m not as comfortable with "innovative" worship. Yet this was surprisingly fullfilling. It’s a credit in part to the two different teams of excellent worship musicians who were there, as well as the visual elements employed in the tastefully designed worship hall. And to the hopeful spirit of prayer that permeates the building.
Eventually the desire is to keep the House of Prayer active on a 24/7 basis. For now it’s open on Monday and Tuesday evenings. It has to be experienced, check it out.