House of Prayer Spotlight is a monthly feature of Fragrance Arise (and honestly, probably my favorite series)! Every other month features interviews with different houses of prayer, and the in-between months feature interviews with my fellow staff members at The Prayer Room. God is doing so much in the house of prayer globally and this series aims to shine a light on what it looks like in different places.

This month, I am featuring Jade Cude, who is on staff with me at The Prayer Room! Jade had never heard of the house of prayer two years ago, but since then, God has thoroughly captivated her heart with His story and His dreams for 24/7 prayer. It has been one of my greatest joys to see her flourish and continually give over more and more of her heart to the story of God. She has been a full-time theology/ministry student at The King’s University and also simultaneously a full-time veterinary technician, and she still has made being part of The Prayer Room one of the central priorities in her life. (Also, if you ever get a chance, ask her about her stories from serving in the Coast Guard!)

I can’t say enough about how much I love and admire this woman… and as you read what she has to say, I’m sure you’ll fall in love with her too! (She even has some very exciting news about where God is taking her next in this journey…)

What do you do at The Prayer Room?

Right now my staff role at The Prayer Room is calling and following up with visitors who come for the first and second times. After they visit, usually a week or two later, they get a text from me asking if they have any questions about getting involved or if they need prayer for anything. I enjoy working with and talking to people, so this role is the best! As part of volunteer staff, my role is only about an hour commitment each week since I have been working full-time and in college full-time.

Last year in March 2018, we had many holes in our schedule at The Prayer Room and my heart ached with not being able to help more since I could not play an instrument. I decided to start taking piano lessons and within a couple of months I was leading worship. Now, I lead worship about twice a week as well as pray, usher, and section lead. I have two sections that I lead each week for about 6 hours each. (The section leader is the “manager on duty” overseeing the base for a certain block of time.) I love giving it all for God because what He did for me is worth everything I could ever give Him.

How did God lead you into being involved?

I got involved with The Prayer Room during reviveTX two years ago. ReviveTX is a ministry initiative that The Prayer Room partnered with that teaches the local church to go outside of the four walls and share the love of Jesus and the gospel. During that time, The Prayer Room went 24/7 and they were asking everyone who did outreach to get involved with praying for the people being encountered and lead into the kingdom of God. I had never heard of The Prayer Room before this, but I love prayer, so I signed up to lead prayer two sets per week, 3-5am.

After reviveTX was over, I decided to do the Immerse internship at The Prayer Room because I loved the community and how encouraging everyone was. After Immerse, I got a vision for the house of prayer and began to devour the end times teachings!

I have been on volunteer staff ever since Immerse two years ago, but I was also raising support to become a full-time missionary with Time to Revive (the ministry that did reviveTX). After about a year of being with Time to Revive, as well as volunteer staff at The Prayer Room, I decided that God was calling me to be full-time at The Prayer Room instead. So, now I am raising support to transition to being a full-time missionary at The Prayer Room! (Insert ticker tape parade here!!! We can’t wait to have her full-time!)

It has been a very difficult journey so far, but I know God is faithful and I am trusting Him more than I ever have in my life. Building the house of prayer is something that has been built in my heart these past two years and I can see God doing this globally! This is not just a good idea, but this is God’s idea and it’s biblical. I cannot even fathom God’s grand plan for our world, but studying the end times, the prophecies in the Bible, and Revelation has opened my imagination and understanding of what the Bible teaches.

What is meaningful to you about being on staff?

The most meaningful thing about being on staff is that I am helping build the house of prayer. By studying and praying, I have seen God’s heart for the house of prayer and for His bride to be living a full-devoted life, awaiting His return. This is what has made all the struggle, all the boring prayer meetings, all the misunderstanding from friends and family, and all the nerves about finances worth it. Jesus is worth it. There is no way that someone could come on staff and sustain building the house of prayer without the understanding that Jesus is worth it. He’s worth every second of our time and attention, but since we cannot give Him every second as individuals, the community that is building Him night and day prayer can give Him this together. It’s His inheritance.

My role at The Prayer Room is to invite guests and visitors to build with us and become a part of our community. I get the honor of inviting people into this love triangle of God, the house of prayer, and the community. This journey of building God a resting place for His presence to dwell is not easy, but having a community that comes with being on staff makes it so much more enjoyable and sustainable.

What has been the greatest difficulty and the greatest joy of being part of The Prayer Room?

The greatest difficulty of being part of The Prayer Room probably has been fighting with the enemy because he does not want the house of prayer to become a reality. The reality of keeping my thought life submitted to Jesus can be a struggle sometimes. Being at The Prayer Room where I minister to God’s heart has kept me so in love with Him that during my darkest times I have clung to Him for dear life. Without The Prayer Room, I don’t think I would be where I am today. Every day is a new day to wake up and be thankful for what God has done and is doing. While it may be hard for people to be vulnerable, even God’s priests that spend hours in The Prayer Room still have struggles and things that we fight to hand over to God.

The greatest joy of being part of The Prayer Room has been seeing so many people dedicated and committed to God’s word. Our community does not compromise or sway from God’s word. Each week we have an Encounter service where we get a teaching straight from the Bible, not a sermon about how to make our lives better. This community teaches to not love our own lives, but to lay it all down for Jesus. This reality is difficult because we really want to do our own thing with our lives. The community makes the sting of this reality a little better. We love each other, encourage one another, and pray for each other. This life is not easy, but having people around you who know your heart, love you through your mess, and accept you where you are while calling you to move forward has made life enjoyable. Seeing new people come around The Prayer Room and catch the vision for the house of prayer has been the greatest joy of staying involved with The Prayer Room.

How can people connect with you?

I’m still raising support as a full-time missionary, so if you would like more information about who I am and what I will be doing, email me and we can talk! Or if you would like to partner with me financially as a full-time missionary, go to theprayerroomdfw.com, click the donate tab, and scroll down to find my name (Jade Cude) to set up reoccurring payments.

Thank you, Caitlyn, for spotlighting me in your amazing blog/email! By the way, Caitlyn has been my teacher, mentor, friend, and biggest supporter since I began this entire journey.

Love you, Jade!!