The Following 8 Pages Contain the Entire EHOP Harp and Bowl Class Overview

A Look at Harp and Bowl Worship
Rich BiFulco - 2024
 

A Heavenly and Ancient Worship Paradigm where Deep calls out to deep today.
 

An Introduction for Worship Ministers, Prayer Warriors, Prophetic Intercessors, Pastors
and Worshipers who hear the call of Deep unto deep within worship in spirit and truth.
 

1. Harp and Bowl - A Unique and Powerful Worship Paradigm
 

a. Unique – although generally unfamiliar and mis-understood, the Harp and Bowl paradigm can bring extraordinary change and depth of growth to the Body of Christ.
 

b. Powerful – because it opens a pathway to an assembled congregation that enables worshipers to grow in obedient response to a little understood, and yet vitally important, Scriptural admonition:
 

1 Peter 2:5 - “like living stones, you are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
 

2. Both A New and Old Testament Worship Paradigm
 

• The name “Harp and Bowl” is derived from:
Revelation 5:8 - “and when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of saints.”
Here, for the first time, we see the expression of Heaven-kind and Mankind worshiping together as one before God.
The description of the Elders falling in worship before Him each with a Harp, signifies worship. Each also holding a Bowl of incense is indicative of the prayers of God’s people.
 

• We should also consider that there is one unique worship paradigm God has promised, in both Old and New Testaments, to restore – David’s Tent – which parallels the paradigm of Harp and Bowl.
Its restoration is spoken of in both Amos 9:11 and Acts 15:16:
“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.”
 

David’s tent was unique in how it centered upon spiritual sacrifice over animal sacrifice. Moreover, the Ark of His Presence was not hidden from God’s people as it was in Moses’ Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple. David was a forerunner within the Old Testament in that he embodied the tripartite nature of king, prophet and priest. This reflects the New Testament reality and nature of worship within Harp and Bowl.
 

1.

==========================================================================

 

David thirsted after God’s Presence as a “man after God’s own heart”, and clearly
understood the sacrifice God truly seeks concerns the heart of those who worship Him.
 

“For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with
burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart,
O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51: 16-17
 

3. Harp and Bowl - A Gift to the Body of Christ
 

a. An Spirit Inspired Gift

•   Any gift that is offered must also be received in order to be possessed.
The gift of Harp and Bowl is received by those willing to partake of the opportunities it
offers to grow in discernment and obedience to the unction of the Holy Spirit.

•   The very nature of Harp and Bowl worship requires faith to move in a personal
interaction with the Holy Spirit. It is not a “spectator sport”.

•   It is a paradigm that calls us out of our comfort zones as we learn to trust God.
Yet, the rewards of even our smallest obedient steps of faith can become part of the
indescribable communal blessing shared by all.

•   A true God centered unity of one accord can arise when like-hearted brethren begin to
engage and find their interactive place in the divine mix of His Spirit, His Word and our
spiritual offerings.
The reality of His Purpose becoming manifest in His Presence in powerful moments
like these can defy description.
 

• These are some of the reasons why finding the blessings of trusting God beyond our
comfort zone is a big part of the desire and destination of true Harp and Bowl worship.
 

b. A Gift Centered Upon His Word

•   The Harp and Bowl worship model endeavors to keep the Word of God at the center
of our communal expression.
Understanding the Scriptural foundations of spiritual gifts such as testimonies, prayers,
thoughts and actions offered in our midst is imperative.

•   As we maintain the centrality of God’s Word, which is the desire and destination of
Harp and Bowl worship, we are more apt to discern His Purpose in His Presence in our
midst.

•   God’s Word alone, undergirding man’s worship in spirit and truth, opens the door to the
Spirit inspired passionate prayer and testimony, which is able to galvanize an assembly
into one accord. These four can open a door to blessings that only God can command.
 

Page 2

==========================================================================

​

c. Consider, Stir, Exhort and So Much the More”

Hebrews 10: 24-25 - “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but
exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

•   The work God is determined to accomplish in calling us to “not forsake our assembling
together” is of great importance. The Harp and Bowl paradigm, because of the way it
facilitates corporate interaction and transparent intimacy, is built around the
understanding of this Scriptural principle in a unique way.

•   The interactive nature of Harp and Bowl, and role of the spiritual sacrifices we are called
to in it, opens the door to the “stirring up and exhorting” the Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks
of. Perhaps the seriousness of this admonition should cause us to periodically assess the
depth and fruitfulness of the relationships we share with our brethren (as we “consider
one another”). Regardless, this Hebrews admonition is timeless and important and
surely requires something deeper than our fellowship over refreshments after church.

•   Harp and Bowl flourishes beyond the joys of fellowship, or the ministries of anointed
and charismatic leaders. While these things are important and needful within the Body
of Christ, the focus within Harp and Bowl purposes to remain centered upon the Holy
Spirit, and not man or the gifts of men.

•   True power and divine purpose are found, as His people prepare to gather intentionally
centered upon Him, with hearts willing to move in their liberty in Christ. It is here, from
this place, that we learn to communally offer spiritual sacrifices that the Holy Spirit
prompts from within.

c. Sacrificial Gifts for Our Benefit

•   God is both perfect and perfectly complete within Himself. ANY sacrifice man offers
cannot bring increase to Him and is in no way needful for Him to receive.
Yet, He desires our spiritual sacrifices, not for His benefit, but out of His redemptive
loving heart for OUR benefit.

•   In the communal sense, there is no better example of Proverbs 27:17 - “As iron
sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”, than when His people begin to respond
in obedience to the unction of His Spirit.

•   What gift is greater than our ability to pray to a loving God who listens, hears and
answers us.

Given this, consider our privilege in a world that largely doesn’t know God, of being one
who can know Him intimately and glorify the Glorious One through our testimony.
This will become clearer as we consider examples of spiritual sacrifice ahead.
 

Page 3

==========================================================================

​

• Isaiah 42:8 states that “God will not GIVE His glory to another”.
Yet, He will REVEAL and SHARE His glory, by His Spirit, for our benefit as He moves
through the spiritual sacrifices of obedient worshipers.
Within the Harp and Bowl paradigm we see the Spirit of God bring forth great revelation
without allowing a particular individual to be considered as His “oracle”. This happens
as His Spirit reveals something “here” and then confirms it “there” as only He can.
 

e. The Gift of Wisdom

• The most blessed among His people are those who are growing in wisdom.
 

“Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore, get wisdom. And in all your getting, get
understanding.”- Proverbs 4:7
 

Seeking the revelation and guidance of Holy Spirit is the wisest thing a believer can do.
This is at the center of what we come expecting to seek and find within the corporate
expression of Harp and Bowl worship. It is His Purpose in His Presence.
 

• In addition to the Mind of Christ in us and our years in Him there is a unique aspect of
safety found in the wisdom of Proverbs 11:14 - “Where no counsel is, the people fall:
but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”
There is no better multitude than what is found within the Body of Christ. How much
truer is this in regard to the remnant who worship Him in spirit and truth.
Our worship is life to us and it is life to others. This makes the deep fellowship of Word
centered prayer and worship encouraged within Harp and Bowl a treasure.
 

F. The Gift of Opportunity - to Grow in the Obedience of Love
 

• There are two distinct realities of the life we have in Christ. We have our unique and
intimate life with Him within our “secret place” that is His and ours alone. Yet, we also
have a corporate life in Christ together with our brethren in the family of God.
Both are distinct and uniquely important. As priests unto Him, we are called to offer
spiritual sacrifices in both of these realities.

• It is within the corporate aspect God instructs us to never forsake, that the Harp and
Bowl paradigm becomes uniquely important. The worshiper’s invitation to find their
place of interactive obedience goes well beyond what most experience within the
classical model of communal worship in the local church. Our life in Christ is from the
inside out. The more powerful the expression of worship within our corporate life is in
the Body of Christ, the stronger the expression of worship is likely to be in the world.
 

• For decades we’ve seen societies crumble in Godlessness as believers express their faith
quietly within the four walls of churches. Congregants, whose outward expressions of
faith freeze in timidity before their congregational family, are not very likely to find a
zeal for Christ as disciples in the public sphere we are called to influence for Him.

 

Page 4

==========================================================================

​

• Those who are expected to become accustomed to expressing their faith among the
Body of Christ grow more apt to serve Him in their spheres of influence as the Disciples
He calls for. This is tantamount to “placing a demand upon the Holy Spirit” within the
corporate life of the believer (an expectation for His Spirit to move in the corporate life
of the Spirit filled believer). There is little healthier in regard to our growth in Christ.
 

Psalm 22:22 – I will declare Your name unto my brethren: in the midst of the
congregation I will praise You.
 

• It is for this reason that Harp and Bowl is a worship model that calls one to growth in
learning, in hearing, and the obedience of prophetic response to the whisper of His
Spirit. Our obedient prophetic response IS itself an example of “spiritual sacrifice”.
It is a paradigm after the heart of 1 Peter 2:5 – to be as “living stones”, being built into a
spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ.

G. A Timeless and Eternal Gift

• Within David’s Tent we find worship centered upon spiritual sacrifice that went beyond
the blood sacrifice of that time. David, the “man after God’s own heart”, understood
that the true sacrifices God was willing to receive concerns the hearts of His worshipers.

​

• Now, just as then, only priests are called to offer sacrifices before God.

The key difference is that spiritual offerings offered by the priesthood today are not
limited to the lineage of Levites. Now, by the Grace of God in Christ, every Christian is
declared part of a Holy Priesthood before God.
 

• As we consider the following examples of spiritual sacrifice, should not our call to yield
them be compelled by His own unthinkable sacrifice for us? Absolutely yes!
Blessed are those who apprehend the grace to embrace the worship paradigm God is
committed to build up as declared in Amos 9:11 and Acts 15:16.
 

Page 5

==========================================================================

​

Examples of Spiritual Sacrifices

Below are a few examples given to help de-mystify what is meant by spiritual sacrifices:
 

a. Spirit Inspired Prayer.

b. Spirit Inspired Declaration of Scripture.
 

c. Spirit Inspired God Glorifying Testimony. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy according to Revelation 19:10.
 

d. Spirit Inspired Communal Worship that galvanizes an assembly toward a heart and voice of one accord. (The wonder of the Harp of Worship resonating to the Bowl of Prayer.)
 

e. Spirit Inspired gifts yielded within the creative expression of the Worship Arts. (Prophetic painting, drawing, dancing, etc.)
 

f. Spirit Inspired Communication within the Body. The Word speaks of the manner and importance of our communal communication in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
 

g. Spirit Inspired obedient acts of obedient love towards others. (Evangelism, intercession, encouragement and the giving of time, talent and treasure.)
 

h. Our own Spirit Inspired personal worship is itself a spiritual sacrifice as it is offered in spirit and truth, to our Father. The spirit and truth that renders our worship acceptable to Him, is largely defined by the realities of our personal Word and prayer life.
 

Page 6

==========================================================================

​

Summary Thoughts

1. 1 Peter 2:5 is one example that underscores how the gift of Harp and Bowl worship allows
His worshipers to come into co-operation with the Holy Spirit’s mission of equipping,
training and enabling the WILLING heart.

2. Here is an important place to understand the vital wisdom of considering and guarding our
heart. Little else is more important than the desires we allow to grow, grip our heart, and
influence our life.
 

3. Harp and Bowl is a paradigm designed to stretch the human heart.
It will stretch and unlock the power found in one accord within the corporate assembly
according to His will and purpose… if we allow it.
 

4. As the priests God declares us to be in 1 Peter 2:5, we are privileged and blessed to offer
our spiritual sacrifices unto God simply because He is worthy. Yet, any gift or spiritual
sacrifice we yield can never fully reveal His greatness or increase His worth.
 

5. God receives our sacrifices from the reality of His Redemptive heart and mind for us. The
spiritual gifts He purposes to receive from us are for OUR benefit.
 

6. One of the great blessings of the Harp and Bowl worship paradigm is found through
yielding our spiritual sacrifices in the harmony of one accord as we do so among others.
 

7. Although the spiritual sacrifices we offer benefit those we are assembled with, our offering
of them is an aspect of our worship unto God alone and in obedience to His Word.
(consider the Watchman Knee article on MatthiasMinistries.com entitled “Ministry to the
house or Ministry to the Lord”)
 

8. Spirit inspired spiritual sacrifices offered by others within the corporate setting allows the
exhortation, instruction and “spirit to spirit” dynamic of Proverbs 27:17 - “As iron sharpens
iron, so one person sharpens another”.
This is a “within to without” work of His Spirit that was crucial to the Upper Room disciples
answering His call in Acts 1:8 to Jerusalem -> Judea -> Samaria -> the Earth “.
 

9. Within a prayer room environment, the “Alabaster Box” moments that occur in the
corporate Harp and Bowl setting are among the most powerful spiritual sacrifices offered
to God. He uses them to teach as He indelibly writes upon the heart and minds of His own.
The term Alabaster Box is derived from the example Jesus said would live throughout time,
of the woman who anointed Him and washed His feet with her tears of gratitude in Luke 7:36–50. Consider His amazing words about the example of her spiritual sacrifice of
gratitude -–

 

“Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what
she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”- Mark 14:9

 

Page 7

==========================================================================

​

​

Please Consider the Eastgate House of Prayer (EHOP) Vision:

• From our inception EHOP has been sanctified as a place for the corporate gathering of
those given to approach God with a personal intention to hear and to be moved in
obedience that serves His purpose. This objective is, in no small way, met through those
intentionally open and available to the ministry of the Holy Spirit through self and others.
 

• There are times we all need to just quietly sit, soak and take in His ministry through others,
yet EHOP is not ordained as a place to passively attend consistently. It is a ministry that
thrives as His people remain open to allowing His Spirit to move within our midst.
 

• EHOP is intent upon remaining gentle, open and loving in encouraging and helping each
other to understand the significance of His purpose in the spiritual sacrifices we are called
to offer for the benefit of the Kingdom. We give opportunity and place to see the spiritual
sacrifices He calls for come forth, through all, in an orderly manner.
 

• All who answer the call to Salvation through Christ’s sacrifice are our beloved brethren and
the treasure we are blessed to be part of. Yet, we seek the greater blessing of fellowship
with, and co-labor among, the remnant within that remnant, who not only love Him, but
who are finding a heart intent upon burning for Him.
 

• Little else stirs His purpose within the life of believers than the “written epistles” who live
passionately and fervently for Christ. This is the Holy Spirit within a life that is learning to
shine outwardly. These are those who enable converts to become the disciples He calls for.
 

• There is a hunger God blesses that can bring a worshiper beyond inwardly enjoying the
corporate worship assembly. It is a hunger that can provoke one who is blessed, into
becoming His blessing to others. It can bring us to the opportunity of becoming fruitful in
GIVING within the corporate realm.
 

• These are those who hunger to know His Purpose in His Presence... even beyond the
Beauty of His Presence alone. They are intent upon seeking the will of His heart over the
provision of His hand, or even the beauty of His face.
 

• The mission of EHOP is to encourage the spiritual gifts His priesthood is called to give, as we
under-gird such in worship for the edification and exhortation of all. Through this we hope for His
Presence to move in Purpose, and allow others to know a love Jesus said would call men to
Himself.
 

• God uses all mentioned above, and can multiply the benefit of what we yield in corporate
offering through the spiritual sacrifices we have considered.
 

• EHOP exists under Matthias Ministries. While both pursue unique visions, both ministry
expressions share the same heart of undergirding the local church. We serve the Body of
Christ, alongside like-hearted brethren, who are committed to strengthen His Church in His
call to the Great Commission. The MatthiasMinistries.com website speaks in detail and
extensively about this for those who desire deeper understanding.

 

Page 8

==========================================================================