An Interview with Nathan Panke

International House of Prayer
Kansas City, Missouri

My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Psalm 45:1

Part of the fascination of the 24/7 house of prayer (sustained for 10 years now) is the flow of prophetic singers and musicians that have answered the call of God in their lives. Day

and night, night and day their instruments and voices cry out with clarion songs of love to the LORD.
As I sat gazing on the beauty of the LORD it occurred to me that there is a story, a testimony, behind each one of these virtuosos. The vast majority of them are young adults between the age of 18 and 30’ish. They have left it all behind to give their lives to worship before the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s. Nathan Panke is one of those mystifying individuals.

Born in St. Charles, Missouri in 1978 Nathan Panke began his musical journey on the piano; however, playing the piano is not his forte. Somewhere along the trail of life Nathan picked up a coup

le of sticks and found a set of drums to express his heart-beats for God. He loves playing the drums. His measured aptitude with beat and rhythm is gifted to say the least. Hold on a minute though…because the next tim

e you see him he is leading a team of worshipers with an acoustic guitar in hand and his melodious tenor voice escorting the prayer room into the presence of the LORD.
Nathan (which means “God will give”) shared with me how he grew up in the church and saw the Holy Spirit move again and again through revivals before the age of seventeen. He gave his l

ife to the LORD and received the gift of tongues at the age of five. Nathan says he would sing songs when talking to the LORD and that he prayed in tongues everyday.
From his adolescents up to his teen years, Nathan joined the Boy Scouts of American and earned the Eagle Scout Award. Less than 1% of the American male population has earned this award. As a Boy Scout, Nathan shared with me that his scout master, Mike Dodds was like a pastor to him, especially with his knack of correcting him without shame. Many Christian values were affirmed and instilled in him through his scouting years.
It was during his teenage years that a shift took place in Nathan’s fascination with music and in his relationship with going to church. His parent’s, who were leaders of their house church, beliefs were being judged and he could sense his “temperature got lower” towards the “church”.
His bands began playing in Christian coffee houses and then ventured out into secular music. His identity became a “Christian” in a band rather a member of a Christian band. He longed for a closer relationship with the LORD but he could “feel his heart getting colder”.
Nathan stopped meeting with other believers in their religious gatherings. His band became very popular and they played in venues with up to 5,000 people. He began to drink with the guys even though he wasn’t known for getting drunk. Nathan knew deep inside something was missing and as we talked he expressed his heart about being disconnected from the body of Christ.
“You cannot have a connection with Jesus unless you have a connection with the vine” he said, “There are no lone rangers in the Kingdom of God.” He was referring to the fact that when we separate ourselves from our brothers and sisters in Messiah it is like separating ourselves from the vine.
“Jesus didn’t go to find the one just to walk with him”, he said, “He found the “lost one” to bring him back into the fold, back into fellowship.” Nathan is passionate about wanting the fullness of what the LORD has for him and particularly in intimacy with Christ. He knows that when his life is found in fulfillment of the First Commandment that the Second Commandment will follow…and that means fellowship as well as reaching out to the lost!
Nathan’s and his band decided they wanted to do a Benefit Show to raise some money for exchange students, but when they went to the local churches they were shunned. Even though his band was very careful about the music they wrote and sang most of the “churches” thought his band was from the devil. He finally found a pastor that was willing to help him with a place to hold the benefit but he had one little caveat: go to his church for three weeks. Nathan ended up staying a year.
His pastor, Mike Masters, would always ask, “What can I do for you?” It was in this context of relationship with his new found pastor that Nathan found himself enjoying fellowship again. “Mike never expected anything from me,” he said, “he just loved me and served me. It was at this time that my drinking really slowed down.” Eventually he and his band began to lead worship at this fellowship.
Everyone in the band still was drinking and then one weekend someone came up with the idea to start drinking on Thursday evening and drink until Saturday. Nathan agreed and drank so much on Thursday night that he got sick and quit drinking. He knew deep down in his soul that something was wrong. He made up his mind that would be the last time he drank. That Sunday morning on his way to lead worship he encountered the LORD. Anthem by Michael Smith was on the radio and as he drove under a bridge Nathan heard a whisper from God, “Listen! This is what it sounds like in heaven” The heavens were open to him and…

To be continued

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