The Well
House of Prayer
This writing is an attempt to put down in words all of God’s leadings and the workings that brought us to The Well in Demorest, Georgia. On December 3rd of 2004, Scott and Jennifer Mason opened a small restaurant at 888 Central Ave, in Demorest, Ga. By June of 2006, they had outgrown the location and moved to a larger one in Clarkesville. It was at that time that Scott mentioned the desire for the original location to become a house of prayer. That location was unoccupied for 15 months. During that time, the restaurant went on in Clarkesville. In the Spring of 2007, Jennifer waited on a couple with a daughter who was in high-school. The daughter had a dream that she saw a sign outside of the old restaurant location that said “House of Prayer”. It was sitting on the porch and she got the impression from the dream that it signified that a house of prayer would be coming there. Remembering that Scott had earlier stated his desire for this same purpose, it seemed a little more than “ironic”.
By October of 2007, the Demorest location was set to be rented out as a coffee house. The location was still listed for sale as an investment property, now with a two year lessee. In August of 2008, an investor made a contract on the location and it seemed set to go. THE DAY, more specifically, only hours before the meeting with the lawyers to legally sign over the property, Scott received a voicemail from the tenant stating that he would be closing the doors that week. Once the investors heard this news they removed their offer. It definitely seemed like either really bad luck or God’s timing. Scott then again said that he wished it could become a house of prayer. Jennifer remembered the dream that the girl had over a year ago and wanted to make contact with that family but didn’t know their names. It was the end of September when she started inquiring from people who might know them. Jennifer found someone who knew who they were and tried sending out a few e mails to get their information. These returned empty. The person helping had the right family in mind but the wrong last name. Jennifer went out of town in the middle of October and when she returned Scott told her that a woman had called asking about the possibility of renting out the location for Bible Studies and prayer etc. As soon as Scott told Jennifer about the phone call, she realized that it was the same woman they had been searching for. Although Scott failed to save the number, with renewed zeal Jennifer was able to find her by the weekend.
Brad and Jayne Bradley thought they would be moving to Tennessee after the summer of 2008. They are the family with the daughter who had the dream about the old restaurant location. Brad and Jayne spent some time in August – September in Ft. Mill, South Carolina attending conferences and a house of prayer up there. At one conference on 8/08/08 it seemed that God was speaking a theme of ‘new beginnings’ over their life; which is interpreted to be a pattern in the Bible as the number 8. They felt this had something to do with their coming move. During this time of being away, it became clear that they would be returning to Clarkesville for a season. Jayne felt confused thinking that she was sensing the Lord moving concerning this new beginnings theme. On her way back into town after spending 6 weeks in S.C. she passed the old restaurant location in Demorest. She too remembered her daughters dream and jotted down the phone number on the for rent sign. It was at this point that she called Scott, not knowing that it was those who had the restaurant that still owned the building. Jayne knew that the Mason’s were believers from some conversations they had previously had, like the one concerning the house of prayer dream. It was that next weekend when Jennifer called Jayne in amazement that SHE had called Scott, WHILE Scott and Jennifer were actively looking for a way to find her and her husband. The conversation lasted at least an hour and left both Jennifer and Jayne buzzing and wondering at what the Lord had in store. Jayne asked God for confirmation, because almost one year prior it seemed that God was opening the door for something similar and it ended up fizzling out. God’s confirmation to Jayne happened as she passed the location in Demorest and noticed that the address was 888 Central Avenue. She had felt God speaking a theme of new beginnings earlier and now with all that had happened, THIS was definitely a confirmation. Scott and Jennifer Mason and Brad and Jayne Bradley decided that there were enough God prompts and leadings to walk through this open door in faith. The Masons and the Bradleys met the week before Thanksgiving and Scott mentioned that he liked the idea of setting a date goal and liked the idea of December 3rd since that was the date the original restaurant “The Attic” had been opened by him and Jennifer in 2004. All agreed that even if everything wasn’t ready, we wanted to just get in there and start meeting with God.
On the way back from Thanksgiving travels, Scott and Jennifer jotted down a purpose statement from the discussions with the Bradleys.
To create an environment separated for and dedicated to the purposes of worship and intercession.
To provide a place that aids believers in our community to deepen in intimacy to Jesus through worship and prayer.
To be a place that will have an intentional spiritual impact on people in our community through prayer.
We were all able to meet together on Monday December 1st and make plans and pray over the House of Prayer. On December 2nd Scott had an accident while cutting trees for fire wood. On December 3rd, the day that he had hoped we’d be able to begin the House of Prayer, he was able to really worship in Spirit and in Truth for the first time as God decided to bring him home. In God’s putting all things together so perfectly, it should be mentioned that the place where Scott really pursued prayer for the first time was in a prayer ministry over the high school students at the church where he found a relationship with Jesus in Lawrenceville. The then high school meeting area has since been purchased by the International House of Prayer in Atlanta. So the very place where Scott spent hours interceding is now set apart for that purpose.
For those of you who are still wondering what it is that happens at a House of Prayer, we worship and intercede (pray). There will be corporate prayer themes when we will all focus on a specific prayer theme like ‘Lord make us holy’ or ‘help us to know you more’. During these people will read Scriptures relating to the topic or pray about this. There will also be places for individuals to bring their Bibles and simply meet with God in an undistracted environment. As often as is possible, there will be live musicians leading the worship. The main goal is that this place will aid believers in returning to the great commandment through knowing and experiencing God’s love for us. When we begin to know how great the Father’s love for us is, we can fall deeper in love with Him. Then we can love Him with all of our hearts, souls and minds (Matthew 22:37).
House of Prayer
This writing is an attempt to put down in words all of God’s leadings and the workings that brought us to The Well in Demorest, Georgia. On December 3rd of 2004, Scott and Jennifer Mason opened a small restaurant at 888 Central Ave, in Demorest, Ga. By June of 2006, they had outgrown the location and moved to a larger one in Clarkesville. It was at that time that Scott mentioned the desire for the original location to become a house of prayer. That location was unoccupied for 15 months. During that time, the restaurant went on in Clarkesville. In the Spring of 2007, Jennifer waited on a couple with a daughter who was in high-school. The daughter had a dream that she saw a sign outside of the old restaurant location that said “House of Prayer”. It was sitting on the porch and she got the impression from the dream that it signified that a house of prayer would be coming there. Remembering that Scott had earlier stated his desire for this same purpose, it seemed a little more than “ironic”.
By October of 2007, the Demorest location was set to be rented out as a coffee house. The location was still listed for sale as an investment property, now with a two year lessee. In August of 2008, an investor made a contract on the location and it seemed set to go. THE DAY, more specifically, only hours before the meeting with the lawyers to legally sign over the property, Scott received a voicemail from the tenant stating that he would be closing the doors that week. Once the investors heard this news they removed their offer. It definitely seemed like either really bad luck or God’s timing. Scott then again said that he wished it could become a house of prayer. Jennifer remembered the dream that the girl had over a year ago and wanted to make contact with that family but didn’t know their names. It was the end of September when she started inquiring from people who might know them. Jennifer found someone who knew who they were and tried sending out a few e mails to get their information. These returned empty. The person helping had the right family in mind but the wrong last name. Jennifer went out of town in the middle of October and when she returned Scott told her that a woman had called asking about the possibility of renting out the location for Bible Studies and prayer etc. As soon as Scott told Jennifer about the phone call, she realized that it was the same woman they had been searching for. Although Scott failed to save the number, with renewed zeal Jennifer was able to find her by the weekend.
Brad and Jayne Bradley thought they would be moving to Tennessee after the summer of 2008. They are the family with the daughter who had the dream about the old restaurant location. Brad and Jayne spent some time in August – September in Ft. Mill, South Carolina attending conferences and a house of prayer up there. At one conference on 8/08/08 it seemed that God was speaking a theme of ‘new beginnings’ over their life; which is interpreted to be a pattern in the Bible as the number 8. They felt this had something to do with their coming move. During this time of being away, it became clear that they would be returning to Clarkesville for a season. Jayne felt confused thinking that she was sensing the Lord moving concerning this new beginnings theme. On her way back into town after spending 6 weeks in S.C. she passed the old restaurant location in Demorest. She too remembered her daughters dream and jotted down the phone number on the for rent sign. It was at this point that she called Scott, not knowing that it was those who had the restaurant that still owned the building. Jayne knew that the Mason’s were believers from some conversations they had previously had, like the one concerning the house of prayer dream. It was that next weekend when Jennifer called Jayne in amazement that SHE had called Scott, WHILE Scott and Jennifer were actively looking for a way to find her and her husband. The conversation lasted at least an hour and left both Jennifer and Jayne buzzing and wondering at what the Lord had in store. Jayne asked God for confirmation, because almost one year prior it seemed that God was opening the door for something similar and it ended up fizzling out. God’s confirmation to Jayne happened as she passed the location in Demorest and noticed that the address was 888 Central Avenue. She had felt God speaking a theme of new beginnings earlier and now with all that had happened, THIS was definitely a confirmation. Scott and Jennifer Mason and Brad and Jayne Bradley decided that there were enough God prompts and leadings to walk through this open door in faith. The Masons and the Bradleys met the week before Thanksgiving and Scott mentioned that he liked the idea of setting a date goal and liked the idea of December 3rd since that was the date the original restaurant “The Attic” had been opened by him and Jennifer in 2004. All agreed that even if everything wasn’t ready, we wanted to just get in there and start meeting with God.
On the way back from Thanksgiving travels, Scott and Jennifer jotted down a purpose statement from the discussions with the Bradleys.
To create an environment separated for and dedicated to the purposes of worship and intercession.
To provide a place that aids believers in our community to deepen in intimacy to Jesus through worship and prayer.
To be a place that will have an intentional spiritual impact on people in our community through prayer.
We were all able to meet together on Monday December 1st and make plans and pray over the House of Prayer. On December 2nd Scott had an accident while cutting trees for fire wood. On December 3rd, the day that he had hoped we’d be able to begin the House of Prayer, he was able to really worship in Spirit and in Truth for the first time as God decided to bring him home. In God’s putting all things together so perfectly, it should be mentioned that the place where Scott really pursued prayer for the first time was in a prayer ministry over the high school students at the church where he found a relationship with Jesus in Lawrenceville. The then high school meeting area has since been purchased by the International House of Prayer in Atlanta. So the very place where Scott spent hours interceding is now set apart for that purpose.
For those of you who are still wondering what it is that happens at a House of Prayer, we worship and intercede (pray). There will be corporate prayer themes when we will all focus on a specific prayer theme like ‘Lord make us holy’ or ‘help us to know you more’. During these people will read Scriptures relating to the topic or pray about this. There will also be places for individuals to bring their Bibles and simply meet with God in an undistracted environment. As often as is possible, there will be live musicians leading the worship. The main goal is that this place will aid believers in returning to the great commandment through knowing and experiencing God’s love for us. When we begin to know how great the Father’s love for us is, we can fall deeper in love with Him. Then we can love Him with all of our hearts, souls and minds (Matthew 22:37).
To see a video of part of Scott’s testimony, please follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX8AMhIbims
To read more about the Mason family go to
Themasonfamilyjournal.blogspot.com
To help support what God is doing in Demorest and Habersham County in Georgia Please send a check to The Well, P.O. Box 1897, Clarkesville, Ga 30523
TO VIEW A 10 MINUTE DEMONSTRATION WHAT HAPPENS AT A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOLLOW THIS LINK http://cdn.zionnetworks.tv/tpr/promo/tpr_promo.html
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