That Time We Published Prayer Books During the IHOPKC Scandal
The Awkward and Providential Launch of Presence Pioneers Media
Jonathan Friz and I launched Presence Pioneers Media in October 2023 to publish books from Christian leaders who value worship, prayer, revival, unity, and missions. The idea started because Jonathan and I were writing books simultaneously, considering our publishing options, and discussing how to collaborate to make both books more successful.
Little did we know that a massive scandal involving one of the world's largest and most influential prayer ministries would break a few days before our first PPM books were published. On October 28, news broke of major issues with IHOP-KC’s founder Mike Bickle. Our new books, 10 Days and Enjoying Prayer, were due out on October 31 — the official launch date of PPM. Awkward timing, to say the least.
Not only did IHOPKC dominate the conversation and social media feeds of praying Christians for months, but the allegations (now confirmed) cast doubt on the validity of the theology, history, and practice of the so-called “prayer movement.” Meanwhile, Jonathan and I were trying to cut through the noise to sell books about the joy, power, and importance of day and night worship and prayer.
In some ways, this was a frustrating turn of events. For me, this was one of many frustrating circumstances during my writing of Enjoying Prayer, including the death of my father and a bout with depression. On the other hand, we felt the providence of God in all of it. IHOPKC was one of the most influential ministries promoting prayer in the body of Christ. Their videos, books, and music have spread around the world. As their influence has waned, it has left a vacuum. By now all of their most well-known teachers have left their organization, and they shut down most of their publishing and media efforts.
I am convinced that God has established Presence Pioneers Media as one of many smaller ministries that can fill the void. I still believe in the biblical validity of day and night prayer and that the global 21st-century prayer movement is a genuine move of God. These are not trendy ideas. These are biblical truths. We need many leaders in the Church to step up and teach about the importance of intimacy with God, ministry to the Lord, the urgency of the times, David’s Tabernacle, and similar themes.
To be clear, I believe God is intentionally decentralizing these messages. IHOPKC was not the only place teaching about prayer but their voice was disproportionately loud. It was similar to CNN, Fox, and MSNBC in the mainstream media world. These legacy media outlets used to have the market on the news, but now their influence has nearly disappeared. Meanwhile “alternative” media sources are growing rapidly. The recent presidential election was a salient demonstration of this fact.
Likewise, the Holy Spirit is now detaching the important biblical truths of the prayer movement from a few ministries and proliferating them throughout the body of Christ. I see a new wave of messengers and ministries releasing books, podcasts, articles, social media content, sermons, films, and music to promote these important themes. PPM will be one of these many voices. This shift is one of the reasons I love being on Substack, which seems to be one of the platforms helping writers, journalists, podcasters and creators detach from traditional media structures and connect with people directly.
Our Substack has become the hub for PPM, where we publish weekly articles and podcasts. We launched paid subscriptions earlier this year, which cover the basic costs of producing the podcast (previously covered by donations to the ministry). In 2024, we released our first video course and a study guide for Enjoying Prayer. While we did not publish any new books this year, we plan to publish three or four new books next year.
Part of our motivation in launching PPM was because we had author friends who had gotten (forgive my language) screwed over by major Christian publishers. These authors had to use their publishing advance to buy thousands of copies of their books from the publisher which sat in boxes in their garage. Meanwhile, the publisher did little to market their release, and the author had signed away their intellectual property rights. The publisher owned the author’s book, and the author hadn’t made any money. This was not an isolated story.
In contrast, we have launched PPM as a nonprofit media company. Our goal is not to make a profit but to collaborate as ministers/authors to teach God’s word and spread the messages He’s given us together. The authors we are publishing in 2025 are friends, colleagues, and fellow laborers with Presence Pioneers' mission to connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities. We want to see a historic revival, birthed in prayer, that fuels the Gospel’s spread to the ends of the earth. All of the media production is unto that end.
In contrast to other publishing approaches, our publishing method is a hybrid between traditional publishing and self-publishing. Authors pay upfront to have their books edited, designed, and released (we charge the lowest rates you can find). Almost all of the royalties from book sales go back to the author and their ministries. Jonathan and I both raise support and volunteer our time to do this.[1] It is our honor. Our PPM team gets paid for their work, but they all voluntarily receive less than they could — simply because they believe in our mission.
This is not a great business strategy, but I think it’s a great ministry strategy.
As we head into 2025, here are a few ways you can participate in this PPM journey.
Become a paid subscriber. For only $50/year, you can receive twice as many podcasts, access to more articles, discounts on products, and more. This year, we even mailed garden seeds to our paid subscribers!
Order some books. Read them. Give them as gifts. Buy some for your pastor or your team. We have bulk discounts for ten or more copies.
Watch or listen. If you don’t like to read long books, take the Enjoying Prayer course or listen to one of our audiobooks.
Give an End-of-Year Gift. Because Presence Pioneers is a nonprofit organization, you can make a tax-deductible gift towards our ministry efforts. This allows us to continue our work, support the authors we publish, and produce more resources for the Church.
Publish a book. Perhaps you are a praying pastor or ministry leader who wants to write a book. Let’s talk.
[1] To be clear, I am employed by Presence Pioneers, but my salary is covered primarily by donors to Presence Pioneers rather than PPM sales. All of the royalties from the sales of the books I’ve authored also go back into Presence Pioneers, rather than to me personally. Jonathan is employed by 10 Days. Contributions to Presence Pioneers or 10 Days will help support Jonathan and I in our full-time ministry work.