Here’s a recent text I received:

“Hey Matthew, thank you for your faithfulness to encourage the Body of Christ through your prophetic writing and encouragement… I shared in front of our church family (a small company - probably 50-60) some excerpts from your email, and I believe we have transitioned into a new season here - much in thanks to your email sharing those words! It helped set something really special into motion. Thank you, brother!!

And here’s a YouTube comment:

“This is my third year using your book to teach a class on David’s Tabernacle! Every year God reveals more! Thank You!”

In addition, we hosted several special services with The Greenhouse in April. Check out the photos and updates below. Thank you all for praying for us and giving generously to support our ministry work!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Special Worship Services ⛪

Our local church plant and prayer room here in Farmville, NC, The Greenhouse, hosted several special worship services this month. First, we hosted a Good Friday service with a sweet time of acoustic worship, Scripture, and communion. We didn’t really get any photos other than the cross. But that’s what is most important anyway, right?

One Sunday in April, The Greenhouse partnered with a local event, Frontier Fellowship (a Christian homesteading event), to host our Sunday worship service alongside the attendees. It was a beautiful day to worship outside!

Finally, we participated in the annual Farmville, NC, Community Worship Service, where several area churches come together on a Sunday morning. My friend Graham from First Baptist shared the Gospel in a powerful sermon. We value unity in the Church, so we were honored to participate.

A lot of my energy in April went towards our upcoming Phenomenon ‘26 gathering this weekend. We are calling worshipers from across eastern North Carolina to unite in Greenville, NC, around our common pursuit of prayer and revival. We are inviting young and old to come together for a weekend of multi-generational worship, teaching, training, and connection with like-hearted believers. We believe it’s time to put Jesus’ presence back at the center of our lives, churches, and cities. He is the phenomenon!

It’s not too late to join us! Registration is FREE but required. Register Now!

phenomenon26.com

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in April🎙️

• Current Trends and Historic Traditions in Prayer with Jonathan Friz [podcast]

• How To Become Hungry for God Through Fasting and Prayer [book excerpt by Matthew Lilley]

• Dick Eastman’s Passing and Mike Bickle’s Return? A Special Podcast Update

• Before, During, and After: Three Outpourings in the Nations [article by Jonathan Friz]

• From Ichabod to the Kabod [article by Andrew Hopkins]

• Prayer Movement 2.0: Where Do We Go From Here? [podcast]

• Raise Your Kids Around a Prayer Room [article by Matthew Lilley]

Family Update 👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Give Now To Support Our Ministry

Fourteen of those sessions were successfully recorded (some experienced technical difficulties and were lost) and are now available to you for free on the Presence Pioneers Media YouTube channel.

Topics Include:

• Forerunners of God’s Kingdom

• Fasting and Praying

• The Prayer Life of Jesus

• Praying as the Beloved

• The Convergence of Prayer and Missions

• Hosting the Presence of Jesus

• The Lord’s Prayer (Parts 1-7)

• Persistence in Prayer

• An End-Times Prayer Movement

Watch The Youtube Playlist

Coming Soon: Teaching Notes!

March has been full of announcements! After months of prayer and planning, Presence Pioneers Media announced the acquisition of another prayer-oriented publishing/media ministry, which will significantly increase our ability to resource the praying Church. We also announced our upcoming Phenomenon ‘26 prayer and revival conference, being hosted by The Greenhouse in May here in Greenville, NC. See below for all the details.

Those who pray for us and give to the ministry enable us to continue this mission. Thank you!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

P.S. Our family was able to take a much-needed week off for a spring break and “staycation” this month. I shared some of those photos below, too.

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Acquisition of Church Prayer Leaders Network 🔗

This month, Presence Pioneers Media announced that it would be acquiring Church Prayer Leaders Network and Prayershop Publishing. Watch the video or click the button below to read the full announcement.

This merger is an answer to our prayers. It will allow Church Prayer Leaders Network’s mission to continue under the banner of Presence Pioneers Media. And it will increase the impact of Presence Pioneers by reaching more people with more prayer resources than ever before.

Read The Aquisition Announcement

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in March🎙️

• Before, During, and After An Outpouring of God's Spirit [article by Jonathan Friz]

• You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s Prayer Room [article]

• Intimacy with God by Nelson Radford [podcast]

• His Kingdom Come! [article by Jon Graf]

The Greenhouse Worship Night 🙌

phenomenon26.com

Family Update 👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

In March, we had our annual spring "staycation". For fun, we bought a few disposable film cameras and took photos throughout the week. The kids loved the "vintage" look of the photos. I loved being more "analog" and having to wait for the film to be developed before seeing the results. Here are a few of the photos.

In over 20 years of ministry leadership, I don’t think I’ve done anything with such a widespread impact as writing my book, David’s Tabernacle: How God’s Presence Changes Everything, which I released in 2021. Five years later, I keep hearing stories of people encountering God through this book. The book has truly taken on a life of its own, and I’m so grateful for how God has used it.

If you’re new to my newsletter or haven’t gotten a copy of the book yet, you probably want to check it out.

Order The Book Now

It has over 100 positive ratings on Amazon. It has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Nepalese. Numerous worship teams and church leadership teams have used it to teach their staff and volunteers. Thousands of people have copies worldwide. As someone who typically leads small ministries and teams, the way God has breathed on this project has been mind-blowing!

I believe this message of the restoration of David’s Tabernacle is something the Church needs to deeply embed in its DNA. It is a life message for me, and I plan to continue producing more resources (study guide, course, etc.) on this subject. Stay tuned!

Have you read this book? Please consider leaving a review on Amazon and emailing me back about your experience.

About The Book

An ancient pattern of worship is re-emerging on the earth.In Acts 15, the apostle James quotes the book of Amos, declaring that the “tabernacle of David” will be restored, and the people of the earth will respond to God’s gracious invitation into fellowship with Him. David’s tabernacle is being restored in our day by the enthronement of God upon the praises of His people through worship!

The Lord is birthing a global day-and-night worship and prayer movement that will lead to a historic harvest of souls entering His Kingdom. Worship creates encounter with the living God and His presence, bringing heaven to earth: wholeness and transformation to individuals, to cities, and to nations. You will discover your original purpose and eternal destiny as you step into David’s Tabernacle.

Table of Contents

1) One Thing is Needed
2) Enthroned in Praise
3) Sing a New Song
4) The Procession
5) Davidic Worship
6) The Fire on the Altar
7) A Place for God
8) On Earth as in Heaven
9) A Greater Priesthood
10) We Were Made for This
11) The Promised Restoration
12) A Covenant and a Kingdom
13) The Rest of Mankind

Get Your Copy of "David's Tabernacle"

David’s Tabernacle Audiobook on Audible 🎧

Listen to the Audiobook on Audible

What Other Leaders Are Saying 📣

Order David's Tabernacle Now

And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Acts 13:22-23

Was it that David’s heart was similar to God’s or that David pursued God with all his heart? Yes! It’s both.

I have a receding hairline. I’ve had a widow’s peak my entire adult life. Where did this come from? Why is my hair this way?

Well, my dad’s hairline was exactly the same. I’m a son who takes after my father. This is part of what it means to be “after” someone. It means that you’re similar to them. You remind others of that person.

In another sense, to be “after” someone is to pursue someone. Police officers are after the criminals. A young lover is after his potential spouse.

Likewise, we should be those who are after God’s heart, too!

Along those lines, please enjoy this video teaching from my visit to San Diego last year. It examines the descriptions of King David in Acts 13:22-23 and 13:36-39 to help us understand how we can seek God, be after His heart, and fulfil God’s purposes for our lives in this generation.

To be after God’s heart is to be about God’s priesthood, God’s purposes, and God’s presence. Enjoy the video!

I knew that February would be crazy! I had three trips planned, along with one of our daughters’ birthdays, and a move into a new office. It’s been hectic, but really good. As I’ve reflected on the month, I’ve realized that the theme of my travels has been connecting with the “presence pioneers” (leaders of praying churches and ministries) in our region and across the nation. Check out the photos and testimonies below.

It was over 12 years ago that God spoke to me about my calling to serve the “presence pioneers” - those who are pioneering places of God’s manifest presence in their cities. That assignment continues. Firstly, I want to be a presence pioneer, as we host God’s presence in our region through The Greenhouse. I also want to serve other presence-centered leaders and communities around the world, which is what we’re doing through PPM.

Those who pray for us and give to the ministry enable us to continue this mission. Thank you!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Worship Night at The Greenhouse 🙌🏼

Leaders in Eastern North Carolina🤝🏼

One of my “behind the scenes” efforts with Presence Pioneers is our Awake ENC Leaders Cohort. It’s a handful of folks who lead praying churches and houses of prayer here in eastern North Carolina. We gather on Zoom weekly to pray for revival in our region, and some of us meet in person quarterly.

At the beginning of February, we had our quarterly meetup. Four of us from the cohort drove out to a church in Henderson, NC, for dinner. The church was also hosting a 6-hour worship event that evening. I was personally able to stay and lead worship for one of those hours, too.

Presence-Centered Church Conference in Atlanta🔥

The following week, I flew down to Atlanta for a portion of the Presence-Centered Church conference, where Gatecity Church was celebrating 20 years of non-stop 24-hour prayer & worship (insane!).

A glimpse of the worship at the conference in Atlanta:

I had numerous people (mostly pastors) approach me at the event to thank me for the resources that we’re creating through Presence Pioneers Media. It was so encouraging to hear from the folks “on the ground” across our nation who are building communities of prayer and mission, and who are being encouraged by the books, articles, and podcasts we are publishing. I was also able to share about our HouseofPrayerHub.com website during a breakout session with other prayer room leaders.

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

NC Week at David’s Tent DC 🎪

Our family drove up to Washington, DC, to David’s Tent DC (a 24/7 worship tent on the National Mall) to lead two hours of worship during North Carolina week. We wished we could have stayed longer, but one day was all that we could manage with everything else happening in February.

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in January🎙️

• Pastoring the Mixture: Jonathan Edwards and Revival Leadership in a Complicated Season [article by Greg Johnson]

• The Soul, The Song, and The Spirit [article by Matthew Lilley]

• Are we on the Verge of a Transitional Generation? [article by Jonathan Friz]

• The Lord’s Prayer Part 5: Petition [podcast]

• The Lord’s Prayer Part 6: Humility in Prayer [podcast]

• The Lord’s Prayer Part 7: Spiritual Warfare [podcast]

• A Heavenly Blueprint for Revival [book excerpt]

Give to Presence Pioneers

Family Update 👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

Our second-born had her birthday in February! She had a blast celebrating with some of her friends.

Teaching Notes

Download My Teaching Notes

Key Points From This Teaching

• We want to pray persistently because everything is better when we pray more.

• “If you don’t quit, you win!” - Heidi Baker

• The parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 is a contrast, not a comparison.

• Rootedness in our identity in Christ will keep us before Him for the long haul. Jesus calls us “the elect.”

• Jesus connects persistence in prayer to faith. Those who have faith will be praying when He returns.

• And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Luke 18:7-8a

• Biblical faith is not just agreement with facts. It is trusting a Person. We believe God because we trust His character; we trust Him.

• The transformation of cities and nations hinges on the cries of the saints.

• You can’t pray “day and night” on your own. We are called to pray together as a community.

• Day & night worship & prayer is happening 24/7 in heaven, and it is happening more and more on the earth. The 21st century has exploded with unprecedented expressions of non-stop worship & prayer.

After exceeding our goal for the #FundPrayer campaign at the end of last year, we hit the ground running! We hosted an incredible New Year’s Eve worship night with The Greenhouse (see photos below), and then reopened our prayer room - now with four hours per week of live worship & prayer.

We have some really exciting developments happening with PPM that I can’t wait to share with you in future newsletters. Multiple book projects are in the works, more resources on David’s Tabernacle are being developed, and a ministry partnership is forming that will help multiply our impact and reach. Stay tuned!

Check out the recent testimony below about how our PPM resources are encouraging leaders and helping churches grow in prayer. Thank you for your partnership with us!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

New Year’s Eve Worship Night🎉

We celebrated the first anniversary of The Greenhouse with a powerful worship night on New Year’s Eve. We gathered in the venue that we use for our prayer room each week, and it was full of hungry worshipers (we had to bring in extra chairs)!

We plan to host more worship nights and special events in 2026 to help funnel more people into our regular local rhythms of prayer and discipleship. We have already had several new visitors in 2026.

Enjoying Prayer & PPM Testimony 🙌🏼

I received the following message recently from a pastor:

Hey Matthew!! Just wanted to say thank you for your story you just sent in your Presence Pioneers newsletter!! It was super encouraging to me as I am stepping out to build a prayer room at our church… I wanted to share with you that I will be leading our congregation through your Enjoying Prayer book starting this Sunday as I begin the teaching arm of our prayer room! I’m excited for them to go through it. Thank you so much for all you do for the prayer movement. You’ve been a huge blessing and encouragement to me!

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in January🎙️

• Revival is Family: Small is the New Big [article by Thai Lam]

• The Final Fulfillment of Jesus' Prayer in John 17 [book excerpt from Jonathan Friz]

• The Lord's Prayer Part 1: The Father's Heart [podcast]

• The Lord's Prayer Part 2: Our Identity as Sons of God [podcast]

• The Lord's Prayer Part 3: Start and End with Worship [podcast]

• God said, “Are You Willing?” [article by Matthew Lilley]

Upcoming Events & Itinerary✈️

February 6 - TAM Center, Henderson, NC

February 11-12 - Gatecity Church - Atlanta, GA

February 26 - David’s Tent DC - Washington, DC

March 6 - The Greenhouse Worship Night - Greenville, NC

As a reminder, we need $30,000 by the end of the year to help us move toward these goals and plans. You can partner with us as we build day-and-night prayer and worship by giving at fundprayer.com.

What’s Coming in 2026 for The Greenhouse?

Local prayer and discipleship in eastern North Carolina

• Prayer Room Expansion. Our goal is to at least double our prayer room hours in 2026 from three to six weekly hours of live worship and prayer. We aim to grow our prayer room volunteer team to 15, including two volunteer staff (in addition to the Lilleys).

• Worship Nights. We are planning monthly Greenhouse Worship Nights in 2026 to invite the body of Christ in the region into a time of extended prophetic worship, equipping from the Word, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our first event will be New Year’s Eve.

• Regional Events. We are planning two major gatherings in 2026: the Phenomenon regional prayer & revival conference in the spring and the Back to Eden homestead & worship festival in the fall.

• Leadership Roundtables. Our eastern North Carolina cohort of house of prayer leaders is gathering quarterly for in-person leaders’ roundtable events and weekly for Zoom prayer calls.

• Local Church Community. We are planning Greenhouse community nights to invite visitors to join us in fellowship with our local church community.

Sow Into Our 2026 Vision

What’s Coming in 2026 for Presence Pioneers Media?

Equipping the global Church in worship, prayer, and missions through books, podcasts, videos, courses, and articles.

• Matthew Lilley Books & Courses. I am personally working to release additional published resources in 2026 to supplement my David’s Tabernacle book (E-course? Study guide? Kids book?) and a prayer curriculum from the Gospel of Luke.

• Book Publishing. PPM will be publishing Brad Stroup’s hilarious and wild memoir, Take Nothing With You, about his missionary journey to Africa. We have a few other specific book publishing projects in the works, and we are also discussing partnerships with other publishing ministries to expand our reach and capacity. Stay tuned!

• 200 Podcast Episodes. PPM will continue producing our Presence Pioneers Podcast, and we are on track to hit episode 200 (!!) in 2026.

Give Now Towards Our 2026 Goals

To hear more about what God’s doing through PPM, check out this 2025 Recap (including our plans for 2026) that I recorded with my PPM partner Jonathan Friz:

In every November newsletter, I take a look back at the year and give thanks to the Lord for all that He did in and through our ministry labors. As you read through the infographics below, whisper a “thank you, Lord” wherever you are for His faithfulness and grace. And thank you to our Presence Pioneers partners who give and pray for us. Your partnership is vital for us to continue serving the prayer and worship movement both locally and globally.

Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Presence Pioneers 2025 Recap🔥

Presence Pioneers exists to connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities such as houses of prayer and praying churches.

Support our Work with Presence Pioneers

The Greenhouse 2025 Recap🌱

The Greenhouse is our local prayer room, house church, and equipping ministry here in the Greenville, NC area.

Help Us Build The Greenhouse

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in November🎙️

• The Power of Thanksgiving [article by Matthew Lilley]

• Hosting the Presence of Jesus [podcast]

• “I Have a Different Perspective” [article by Jonathan Friz]

• The Convergence of Prayer and Missions [podcast]

• The Oxen Are Stumbling: Man-Made Efforts vs. The Word of God [book excerpt from Graham Truscott]

November Travels ✈️

In November, both my wife, Shepard, and I travelled to minister. I taught and led worship at the Heart of David conference in San Diego, while Shepard led worship at a women’s retreat here in North Carolina.

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

These I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Isaiah 56:7

The prophet Isaiah makes a stunning claim that God’s people can find joy in His house of prayer. Yet for many Christians, their experience of prayer is not one of joy, but rather boredom or frustration. Where is the disconnect? God’s promise of joyful prayer can easily be hijacked by common hindrances such as a wrong view of God, a lack of identity, religiosity, the busyness of life, and isolation from the Christian community.

Enjoying Prayer: Knowing God and Transforming the World exposes these hindrances and provides a biblical roadmap for a thriving prayer life. Through keys such as intimacy with God, a foundation of worship, and a praying community, you can begin to enter into the joyful prayer that is promised to every believer. It’s time to start enjoying prayer!

Order "Enjoying Prayer" Today!

What Other Prayer Leaders Are Saying

Click Here To Order The Book

Table of Contents

Foundations for Enjoyable Prayer

1. Love: The Purpose of Prayer

2. Our Father: The Object of Prayer

3. Sonship: Our Identity in Prayer

4. First: The Priority of Prayer

Keys to Enjoyable Prayer

5. Worship: Combining Music and Prayer

6. Scripture: The Language of Prayer

7. Listening: Hearing God’s Voice in Prayer

8. Persistence: Faith-Filled Prayer

Transformation Through Enjoyable Prayer

9. Intercession: Partnership with God in Prayer

10. Tongues & Travail: Prayer Beyond Words

11. Fasting: Hunger for God Through Prayer

The House of Enjoyable Prayer

12. Together: The Need for Corporate Prayer

13. Unceasing: A Movement of Day & Night Prayer

Click Here To Get Your Copy!

Audiobook Now Available!

Listten to Enjoying Prayer on Audible

Recently, I spoke with a campus ministry leader from a university. She was sharing how something has shifted this semester. Unbelievers are literally showing up at their door to ask for Bibles. These college students are totally unchurched, but they are open to the Gospel and curious about Jesus. Their campus ministry is not doing anything different, but God is just drawing the students like never before. This minister thanked us for our prayer ministry and urged us to keep praying. She said that it was working! There’s no other explanation for what is happening.

Whether we see it or not, God hears our prayers! It makes a difference. This is why we do what we do. This is why we’re building the Greenhouse as a presence-centered church and prayer room for East NC. This is why we’re creating resources, media, and connect points for prayer communities through Presence Pioneers Media. And this is why we so appreciate those of you who partner with us in this vital ministry. Please continue giving to Presence Pioneers so we can connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities.

In this month’s newsletter, I share about our family’s trip to Washington, D.C., for Communion America, an opportunity to sow books in Ecuador, the launch of new prayer rooms in eastern NC, and our latest resources from PPM. Check it all out below!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Washington DC & Communion America🍷

Our family joined Awaken the Dawn and many other ministries for the Communion America event on the National Mall in DC. This included 50+ tents of non-stop worship (one for each state) and a nationwide pot-luck + communion service. This was likely the largest communion table in history - over a mile long!

While at Communion America, I was introduced to a lady who is doing similar ministry in the nation of Ecuador. Their ministry is full of those who are hungry for God’s presence, prayer, and revival. However, they have a limited amount of teaching and resources. We were able to send them ten copies of my book, David’s Tabernacle, in Spanish. We hope to send them more and maybe even visit them, as funds allow.

Give to Presence Pioneers

New Prayer Rooms in ENC 🙏

Along with the Greenhouse, which we planted here in Greenville in January, at least three other prayer rooms have launched in eastern NC within the last year - two in Wilmington and one in Jacksonville!

We have a loose cohort of leaders in eastern North Carolina who are pursuing day and night prayer and worship in our various cities. We’ve been gathering virtually to pray every week for the last few years, and we believe these new prayer rooms are being birthed as we unite together and intercede. And if God is awakening prayer here, we know it’s because He wants to pour out His Spirit and bring forth His kingdom!

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in October🎙️

• The Purpose and Pitfalls of Fasting [article by Matt Schneider]

• This is the Will of God: Pray. Sing. Rejoice. [article by Matthew Lilley]

• Report: Over 600 10 Day Prayer Gatherings Around the World [article by Jonathan Friz]

• The Convergence of Ministry Expressions Is Increasing [article by Gerald Murphy]

• For Pastors & Leaders: How to Launch & Lead Presence-Centered Communities

In this month’s newsletter, I share testimonies from our local house of prayer, photos from our second annual Back to Eden festival, and new articles published through Presence Pioneers Media. Check out all the goodness below!

Thank you for giving to Presence Pioneers and praying for us so that we can continue this ministry locally (The Greenhouse) and globally (Presence Pioneers Media).

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

The Greenhouse Worship Room Testimonies🌱

The Greenhouse is our local community here in Pitt County, NC, that includes our house church and our house of prayer (The Worship Room). We got this text from a young adult who visited the Worship Room recently before moving back to her hometown:

Another one of our Worship Room volunteers had this to say about his time in the prayer room:

The Greenhouse is one of the few ministries in our area with a vision to build a prayer room featuring live worship. Our goal is 20-25+ hours every week. We need your support to undertake this pioneering work here in eastern NC. Please partner with us!

Give to Presence Pioneers

Back to Eden Festival 2025 🚜

Our second year of the Back to Eden festival was beautiful! September 26-27, there were twelve homesteading classes/workshops, ten hours of worship & prayer, local vendors, and over 125 registrants from across our region.

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in September🎙️

• From Pastor to Pioneer [article by Matt Schneider]

• The Purpose and Power of Intercessory Prayer [article by Matthew Lilley]

• Sell Everything! The Door to a Life of Adventure [article by Jonathan Friz]

• Four Ways That Prayer Fuels Missions [article by Matthew Lilley]

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

We hit a significant milestone in the Lilley household in September. Our oldest daughter turned 16! Wow… how the time flies!

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Presence Pioneers Media has been on fire this year! If you’re not subscribed to our PPM Substack yet, you need to be. We’re releasing amazing articles every Monday and incredible podcast episodes every Wednesday. We also just published our fourth book of the year (see below for details). Praise God! PPM is a nonprofit media ministry that exists to resource the body of Christ with books, podcasts, e-courses, films, and music to see God’s kingdom come to earth through prayer, worship, and missions.

Our local community, The Greenhouse, is continuing to build our Worship Room as a place of day and night prayer and worship here in Pitt County, NC. We have had some incredible times in God’s presence, our School of Prayer has been strong, and we know God is hearing our intercession! New people are getting involved, and we believe God will provide for our vision for a house of prayer with 20-25+ hours of live worship and prayer. We are praying for more worship leaders, finances, and a dedicated facility for this purpose.

I depend on your support to continue this full-time work with both our global ministry through PPM and our local ministry with The Greenhouse. Thank you for giving to Presence Pioneers and praying for us!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Give to Presence Pioneers

Our FOURTH Book Published in 2025! 📚

Presence Pioneers Media published our fourth book of 2025 - To Weep With Those Who Weep by Weslea Pierson. To hear more about this project, check out this podcast we recorded:

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in August🎙️

• I Clean House Before I Visit [article by Jonathan Friz]

• Justin Rizzo on Lessons Learned from 10,000 Hours of Worship Leading [podcast]

• The Gift of Tears by Weslea Pierson [article]

• How To Structure Churches Around God’s Manifest Presence [article by Billy Humphrey]

• Five Verses About Exposing Sin That Get Taken Out Of Context [article]

Click Here to Give to Presence Pioneers

Back to Eden Festival 2025

A Christian Homesteading & Worship Festival

On September 26-27, The Greenhouse will host our second annual Back to Eden festival here in Greenville, NC. The event will feature homesteading classes/workshops, local vendors, and twelve hours of worship and prayer over the course of the two days!

Learn More about Back to Eden

Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

This month I took the kids to the Winterville NC Watermelon Festival. Fun rides, vendors, ice cream, and free watermelon!

I want to focus this month’s newsletter on what God is doing at The Greenhouse here in Pitt County, North Carolina. My wife, Shepard, and I planted the Greenhouse at the beginning of 2025 (as part of the Presence Pioneers’ mission to “connect, equip, and plant presence-centered communities” ), and God has been moving!

In May of last year, God spoke to me: “prayer room, living room, classroom.” This has been the Greenhouse DNA since the beginning. Here’s what that looks like at the moment:

Prayer Room - We have a vision and plan to grow our Worship Room to 20+ hours per week of live worship and prayer (currently at 2 hours), and we want to help catalyze expressions of 24/7 prayer across eastern North Carolina. We currently have 11 people committed to helping us grow the Worship Room, and we plan to expand our hours this fall. Here’s a snippet of worship from this past Tuesday night at the Worship Room:

Living Room - We have a simple expression of the local church in our home in Farmville, NC, with a desire to cultivate a thriving spiritual family around God’s presence! In recent months, we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount.

Classroom - We launched the School of Prayer here on Tuesday nights in June, and we will begin our second year of the Rooted homeschool co-op this fall. We want to equip and train believers and the next generation!

This is a lot for us to steward as a small community, but we are committed to building what God has given us, especially after our recent conference (see below). Please keep us in your prayers, and give to Presence Pioneers as the Lord leads you, to help us during this pioneering phase of The Greenhouse.

Thank you!

Matthew Lilley
President, Presence Pioneers

Give to Presence Pioneers

Culture of Prayer Conference 🙏

This month, we hosted the Culture of Prayer conference, with special guest Brad Stroup. We had an amazing time! Some people were introduced to the concept of 24/7 prayer for the first time. Others were freshly stirred about it after the times of worship, stories, and Bible teaching from Brad. The week after our conference, our Greenhouse Worship Room gatherings experienced a notable increase in attendance, as people were eager to engage in corporate prayer like never before!

Part of the purpose of Brad’s visit was also to provide private consultation to my wife, Shepard, and me in our leadership of the Greenhouse. Our private meetings provided us with a wealth of encouragement, clarity, insights, and courage to pursue the vision God has placed in our hearts.

NEW From Presence Pioneers Media in July🎙️

• The Tent of David is Now Open [article by Matthew Lilley]

• God Healed My Son Through Communion [article by Marcus Windle]

• The Value of Spontaneous and Creative Worship [podcast with David Vallier]

• Should Christians Bless Israel To Receive God's Blessing? [article by Jonathan Friz]

• Raising Up The Next Generation of Worshipers [podcast with Kelanie Webb]

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Family Update👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👧🏻‍👦🏻

International Prayer Connect is a coalition of worldwide intercessors, church groups, houses of prayer, ministries, organizations and networks - connecting to 100 million+ believers in prayer every year.

A Special Message from Jason Hubbard

In 2013, God spoke to me to connect, equip, and plant communities centered on God’s presence. This has become the mission of Presence Pioneers.

• We are connecting communities in East NC with our Awake ENC Leaders Cohort and nationally with our HouseofPrayerHub.com website.

• We are equipping hundreds of presence-centered communities through our PPM resources.

• We are planting as we build The Greenhouse locally and inspire other leaders to launch praying communities in their cities around the world.

Through our ministry work with Presence Pioneers globally and The Greenhouse locally, we are working to encourage, build, and mobilize prayer that fuels revival and the Great Commission. We are currently in need of an additional $1500/month in partnership to keep our ministry strong and growing in its impact. Will you partner with us today? Our biggest need is monthly financial support.

Thank you,
Matthew Lilley

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For example, check out our map of US prayer rooms on the HouseofPrayerHub.com website (a ministry of Presence Pioneers).

This is not a map of our network. HOPHUB is simply trying to keep track of what God is doing. This is an organic, Spirit-led movement. God is moving sovereignly as the Holy Spirit invites the body of Christ to participate with Jesus in the restoration of David’s Tabernacle in our day. Day and night prayer is arising across the world, and God is doing it. We’re just honored to participate in a small way with all the Lord is doing!

Help Fuel The Global Prayer Movement

Think about it. If prayer is the fuel for revival (and it is), what’s coming next? Get ready! As Charles Spurgeon said:

I’ve been honored to participate in this global prayer movement for over 20 years. We hosted our first 24-hour worship weekend back in 2003. I believe God has heard every prayer!

In 2013, God spoke to me to connect, equip, and plant communities centered on God’s presence. This has become the mission of Presence Pioneers.

• We are connecting communities in East NC with our Awake ENC Leaders Cohort and nationally with our HouseofPrayerHub.com website.

• We are equipping hundreds of presence-centered communities through our PPM resources.

• We are planting as we build The Greenhouse locally and inspire other leaders to launch praying communities in their cities around the world.

Through our ministry work with Presence Pioneers globally and The Greenhouse locally, we are working to encourage, build, and mobilize prayer that fuels revival and the Great Commission. We are in need of an additional $2500/month in partnership to keep our ministry strong and growing in its impact. Will you partner with us today? Our biggest need is monthly financial support.

Click Here to Give To Our Ministry Now

Thank you so much for your prayers and partnership.

Sincerely,
Matthew Lilley

We didn’t have everyone’s mailing address, so if you didn’t get a copy in the mail, you can download it below.

Download Our Summer Newsletter!

For those who don’t want to download the PDF, you can read through the special newsletter content below.

Presence Pioneers Media 🌏

PPM produces biblical resources to help the body of Christ to pursue intimacy with God and revival through prayer, worship and missions including books, podcasts, e-courses, films and music. We are on track to publish five books in 2025, and we are publishing weekly articles and podcast episodes.

The Greenhouse 📍

The Greenhouse is a new spiritual family in Pitt County, North Carolina with a mission to minister to the Lord, equip believers, and pursue the Great Commission. We are currently hosting weekly hours of worship & prayer at our “Worship Room” and discipling a house church on Sundays.

Give to Presence Pioneers

Building Day & Night Worship & Prayer for Revival 🔥

In 2013 God spoke to me to connect, equip, and plant communities centered on God’s presence.

• We are connecting communities in east NC with our Awake ENC Leaders Cohort and nationally with our HouseofPrayerHub.com website.

• We are equipping hundreds of presence-centered communities through our PPM resources.

• We are planting as we build the The Greenhouse locally and inspire other leaders to launch praying communities in their cities around the world.

Thank you for your prayers and support in these efforts.

-Matthew Lilley

#FundPrayer and Fuel Revival

"The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history." - Andrew Murray

As we mobilize prayer to fuel revival and the Great Commission, we are in need of an additional $3000/month in partnership to keep our ministry strong and growing in its impact.

Will you partner with us today?

Checks can be mailed to Presence Pioneers, PO BOx 170, Farmville, NC 27828 or give online below.

Give Online Now

Last year, God spoke clearly to me and my wife, Shepard, to plant The Greenhouse here in eastern North Carolina. We knew this meant that He would also rearrange our relationships. Relational shifts are a hard but necessary part of any transition in life.

I knew we needed to align with other leaders who could support and cover us as we pioneered this vision from the Lord. One of the unique challenges to the vision was that God wanted The Greenhouse to be both a praying local church and a regional prayer room. Who could help us navigate the unique challenges of establishing both ministry expressions under one roof?

Enter Brad Stroup. Brad is the founder of The Prayer Room DFW, a citywide house of prayer in Arlington, Texas that hosts 22 hours a day of live worship and prayer. He is also the lead pastor of Forerunner Fellowship there. He has the unique perspective of being both a church planter and the founder of a thriving prayer room.

When Brad mentioned the possibility of joining his network of pastors and house of prayer directors (called PINET), it didn’t take long for the idea to seem good to me and the Holy Spirit1. Brad has been a friend and ministry colleague for years, so there was a lot of built-in trust and respect between us. Brad is still a friend, but he’s also now my pastor and spiritual covering in this new season of ministry. I’m honored and grateful for his video endorsement below2.

Through our ministry work with Presence Pioneers globally and The Greenhouse locally, we are working to encourage, build, and mobilize prayer that fuels revival and the Great Commission. We are in need of an additional $3000/month in partnership to keep our ministry strong and growing in its impact. Will you partner with us today? Our biggest need is monthly financial support. Thank you!

Click Here to Give To Our Ministry Now

P.S. Brad will be at The Greenhouse on July 18-19 for the Culture of Prayer Conference. If you’re local, please come and join us!

This is me on the floor of a youth camp 23 years ago. This photo is special for multiple reasons. That’s my wife, Shepard, praying for me. She continues to be an intercessor, supporter, and partner with me in life and ministry.

This photo also shows the moment I described in the first chapter of my David’s Tabernacle book, where I began to believe that God’s presence changes everything. This was my call to ministry. Here’s how I describe it in the book:

On one of the last nights of camp, there was an extended time of musical worship after the message. Counselors made their way around the room to lay hands on the students and pray for them. When my fellow campers began experiencing God’s power again, I decided to lie on the floor. I didn’t know what else to do. I was not feeling God, so I just gave up.

What started in frustration ended in glory. God met me on that pungent floor. I lay there for hours with my eyes closed. God began to speak to me, reveal His love to me, and describe His purposes for my life. I had a vision of Jesus inviting me into His lap to experience His love. His perfect love set me free from the fear and insecurity that had dominated my teenage years...

I also saw visions of myself leading worship. God told me that my gifts and music were to be used for His glory, not my own. He said I was to be like King David, who carried God’s presence into his city. He said I was to be an “undignified” worshiper who was free from fear and passionate for God. Even in these supernatural encounters, God was teaching me what was important to Him and inviting me into His purposes for my life.

At that moment, I said yes. Yes to receiving His love. Yes to being a worshiper. And yes to being like King David.

I later reflected on that summer camp encounter as a moment of offering myself to God as a “living sacrifice,” which the Bible calls our “spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). This encounter was a major step along the journey of God, bringing me into an understanding of David’s tabernacle. At that time, I did not realize the significance of the seeds God was planting in my heart. Yet I came home with the realization of the power of God’s presence in extended times of worship and prayer…”

The Last 23 Years

I came home from camp convinced that I had to help other people encounter the manifest presence of God and discover the intimacy of prayer like I had experienced at camp. I knew God’s presence would transform a generation!

This truth has driven the last 23 years of our ministry, whether leading worship, teaching the Bible, planting houses of prayer, hosting events, connecting leaders, writing books, or producing media. It’s all been about the life-changing power of the presence of Jesus.

The Next 23 Years

As I look forward to the next 23+ years, I’m so excited about what God is going to do in and through the praying Church, both globally and locally. We are locked into connecting, equipping, and planting praying communities globally with Presence Pioneers and locally at The Greenhouse. However, we need your help!

As we mobilize prayer and worship to fuel revival and the Great Commission, we are in need of an additional $3000/month in partnership to keep our ministry strong and growing in its impact. Will you partner with us today? Our biggest need is monthly financial support.

Sincerely,
Matthew Lilley

Click Here To Give To Our Ministry Work