Mike Bickle

Mike Bickle (born 1955) is an American Charismatic minister and founder (1999) of the International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) — a sustained 24/7 prayer-and-worship ministry that became one of the principal contemporary "houses of prayer" institutions globally. He authored multiple influential charismatic-evangelical books on prayer, the Song of Solomon, the End Times, and Bridegroom theology. He led IHOPKC and the Forerunner movement / Joel's Army-adjacent stream for decades. After the October 2023 allegations and his December 2023 confession of past misconduct, IHOPKC cut all ties and the institution restructured. The substantial Firefly / Tikkun investigation report (2025) documented the pattern of abuse. The MannaFest registry includes Bickle for his substantive teaching contribution to the prayer movement and the Bridegroom-theology stream, with full transparency about the documented misconduct that ended his public ministry.

• Intercession as Co Laboring — Affirmed; sustained 24/7 corporate intercession is biblical pattern (Davidic Tabernacle restoration, Revelation heavenly-worship pattern). IHOPKC was the principal contemporary institution embodying continuous prayer.
• Holiness and Expectancy Frame — Affirmed substantively; Bickle's "Forerunner spirit" framework is fundamentally about preparing the church for the End Times through holiness, prayer, fasting, and prophetic readiness. Eschatology framed as posture-of-readiness more than primarily timing-system precision (though he held substantial timing-system specifics also).
• Prophetic Office Today — Strong continuationist; prophetic office and gifts operative; substantial prophetic teaching and training infrastructure at IHOPKC.
• Contemplative vs Petitionary Balance — Bickle's framework leans contemplative-bridegroom-intimacy more than warfare-strategic. Balanced with substantial intercession-petitionary practice. The "Harp and Bowl" IHOPKC worship-prayer integration model (Revelation 5:8) is distinctive.
• Fasting Purpose and Method — Substantial; Bickle led 40-day corporate and personal fasts and articulated fasting as foundational discipline. IHOPKC's regular 21-day Daniel fasts and other corporate fasting practices are operative articulation.