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 get to highlight one of my wonderful friends and co-laborers at TPR. Vence has been a core part of our community for about two years, and I got to know him when he did our School of Supernatural Ministry and jumped on volunteer staff. He also did our Immerse internship and is currently in our Fire in the Night internship!

I blogged obliquely about him a while ago when I wrote about 6 Things I’ve Learned About Praying for Justice, because Vence has been my prayer leader on that intercession set for most of the year– except for a couple of months when he left to train as a parole officer to make justice literally his full-time career. This guy seeks the heart of God in a rare and wonderful way, and I’m honored to call him a friend and delighted to share him with you today!

What do you do at The Prayer Room?

I am currently on volunteer staff at The Prayer Room. I have the amazing job as the Encounter Service Usher for our Encounter services on Saturday Nights. I get to greet guests and share the vision of The Prayer Room. I enjoy reaching out to the guests that come and building relationships.

Along with our other volunteer staff members, Vence also participates in our weekly staff meeting and serves on at least two prayer meetings. Right now, he is also an intern in our Fire in the Night internship, taking classes and serving in the prayer room 9pm-1am three nights a week!

How did God lead you into being involved?

After I graduated from college, I felt the Lord telling me to come home (Fort Worth, TX). I did not know why nor did I want to come back. When I came back, I stepped into a dry season; I felt nothing was going right and I felt like my walk with God was becoming static. I asked the Lord to help me find a place that would help me grow in Him like a plant in the right soil. A week later God gave me a vision of The Prayer Room, when it was still on Pioneer Parkway (the location we used to have about 6 years ago). Benjamin (my mentor) would take me there sometimes when I was younger. When I got the vision I asked Benjamin, “Where is The Prayer Room?” He gave me the address of the new location and I have been here since. I am a plant that has found its soil.

What is meaningful to you about being on staff?

I think the meaningful thing about being on staff here at The Prayer Room is friendships. I have been on staff a little over a year now, and I have been engulfed into a loving community. I don’t feel like just a name on a roll sheet, but I feel that I’m a part of a family that really cares for each other. I get to serve alongside friends that want God’s heart and want to see God move in our midst in incredible ways.

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

The greatest difficulty of being on staff for me is sacrificing. When I joined staff I had to sacrifice many things that I thought mattered to me, like my time or my wants, but even though I’m sacrificing myself I’m also gaining Christ. I am learning that when I’m sacrificing myself I can see more Christ in the mirror than me.

The greatest joy of being on staff is the investment from others. The leadership here doesn’t just want me to serve, but to be transformed by the one I serve. I have been invested into by so many people on staff, whether it’s answering a question I have, teaching me to play keys, or helping me in something I need. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by people who are willing to invest in me and see me do well in Jesus.

Continuing my House of Prayer Spotlight series, this month I’m featuring my first international house of prayer – Sanctuary House of Prayer in Winnipeg, Canada!

Two of my IHOPU friends were part of Sanctuary before I met them in Kansas City! Stephanie, on the right in the foreground, was in my small group at IHOPU and now serves on staff with the YWAM base in Kansas City. Arielle, in the background, is back in Canada serving at Sanctuary and helping lead their Consecrate internship!

In hearing about Sanctuary’s heart and story, I was struck by the way they carry their mandate and the DNA of the prayer movement, even though they may be smaller than some of the other houses of prayer I know. Twelve faithful hours of live prayer and worship a week, with burning hearts of love for Jesus, crying out for revival, lifting the sweet fragrance of worship, positioning themselves as forerunners and friends of the bridegroom… that’s WAY more than many churches and ministries, and it’s a rare and beautiful thing to God!

I reached out to Sanctuary’s director, Brian Creary, and he was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions for us!

When and how did Sanctuary start?

This house really began as an idea on May 7th, 2002, when I visited IHOPKC for the first time. I was encountered by the Lord after seeing and experiencing what was happening in the prayer room that morning and felt the call to return to Canada to “build this” in my city of Winnipeg. I said yes but really didn’t understand what to do about any of it. Over the next four years, the Lord brought mentors to help me, a core group of young people that wanted to go for it, a free building to do it in and even some finances to help us along the way. We launched on May 7th, 2006, excited about the possibilities and a bit naive about the journey ahead. Since then, the Lord has been so faithful.

What does your weekly schedule look like now?

We have had many variations of our weekly schedule over the years, mostly because we don’t yet own our own place to meet. Currently, we have hours on Sunday afternoons and evenings, Monday evenings and Tuesday morning with the staff. We recently added an early morning intercession set focused on the marketplace needs. We do many other things in the community, as well. A team goes to the local hospital to pray the sick every Monday afternoon and is but one example of many extensions to the prayer room work.

Sanctuary runs twelve hours a week of live worship in the harp and bowl model! You can find their schedule online.

How many people do you have involved?

That number has also changed many times over the years. Since the first day I have always answered that question with “about 50 people” even though at times it was closer to 100 and at other times as low as 30. To be honest, I don’t really count that closely. So, to answer the question, I’d have to say it’s about 50 or so. 🙂

What do you believe is your unique mandate and vision as a HOP?

In the very early years of our development, I felt that we were to carry our city in prayer and ask for what was the prophetic destiny of His heart for us. Over time, He added clarity to this idea. At one very important moment, He spoke of a coming revival that would transform the city and surrounding region. There is much to say on that promise, for sure, but in short the coming move of God directly affected by the activity of our prayer room keeps us coming back.

In addition, the Lord has given us a clear and strong call to the priesthood as we see it biblically. We know that ministry to the Lord is central to everything we do and we function with that in mind in every set. In the early and very naive days we thought a 24/7 reality was just around the corner for us. Now, we don’t think so much about schedules and hours logged, but much more about being before him with integrity and really ministering to his heart.

What is something you love about the culture of your HOP?

We have grown to be people of faith! Our 13-year journey in worship and prayer has been filled with challenges and invitations to actually believe in what God had promised. Many times we were alerted that He was pressing us to have “extraordinary faith” and to trust in His nature, character and corresponding leadership when things went in unexpected ways. I can say now, looking back, that we gained far more by overcoming the adversity and pressing to know Him in all of it than we would have had we just had an easy ride with lots of people, money and public support. We have such a great community because they have made this journey about being as close to Jesus as possible, whether they understood or agreed with His leadership or not.

One of the fun things their community is doing right now is a great internship called Consecrate – they have a really fun promo video online!

What is something God has taught you in this journey of HOP ministry?

In the first couple of years, we had high expectations and lots of zeal to make it happen. But, growth was slow and we struggled more than we had anticipated. It wasn’t long before weariness produced grumbling and complaining. And worse still, once that began it was really contagious. One Sunday morning as I was preparing my message for later that day, I was suddenly interrupted by the clear strong voice of the Lord. He said to me, “When you complain like you are doing, you are saying to me that you disagree with My leadership and that you are unhappy with the way things have turned out. And when you complain like you are doing, you are saying that you do not trust Me to lead you forward and believe you could do a better job of it.”

I was stunned and felt the sting of a rebuke. I sat there, afraid to move or even think. I knew His accusation concerning us was entirely correct. Then, He said one more thing: “Your way forward and out of this is thankfulness.” I grabbed that part of the encounter, repented and immediately put it into practice, both personally and corporately, even having a “Thankfulness Day” now and then in our prayer room. It has changed everything about how we see our lives, the condition of this house and the possibilities that are ahead for us.

What do you believe God is doing in your midst right now?

We had a very difficult season recently that lasted for almost 2 1/2 years. People left us, the money dried up, the feeling in the prayer room was mostly discouragement and many secretly wanted to quit. When that season ended, I was grateful we were still standing and expected to get back to business as usual. Instead the Lord made it clear that this next season was going to be about developing friendship with Him, experiencing communion with His heart. And it’s been a great season! He has drawn near in many new and fresh ways. Jesus feels more real to most than ever before and there is life in the prayer room and a sense of wanting to go deeper. I have no doubt that there are busy and challenging days ahead. For now, we are being asked to go deep and root ourselves in relationship with Jesus more than ever before.

Check out Brian’s blog about this season of friendship with God.

Find Sanctuary House of Prayer on their website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

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!!

Welcome to my favorite new feature of Fragrance Arise – House of Prayer Spotlight! Every other month will feature interviews with different houses of prayer, and the in-between months will 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 will shine a light on what it looks like in different places.

For my first House of Prayer Spotlight, I am featuring Sarasota House of Prayer in Sarasota, FL. I’ve had the opportunity to serve alongside some of their team when they came for a week to help us run 24/7 live prayer and worship during Revive Texas in 2017. Several of my friends from IHOPKC and DFW have also moved to Sarasota to be involved. They are a passionate, genuine community cultivating a culture of holiness and devotion to the glory of Jesus in night and day prayer. I am so glad that Katie Floyd, one of their full-time intercessory missionaries, took the time to answer my questions!

When and how did your HOP start?

Our house of prayer started in October 2013 after some time leading up to it. For years a house of prayer had been hidden inside the heart of our directors, Roger and Jennifer Lee, and many others as well. In the year leading up to the founding of our house of prayer, God began opening doors and setting things into motion. The summer before we opened we held our first annual Consecrate Conference for the youth in our region. This conference was held simply because Roger and Jennifer wanted to see a generation set apart unto holiness; they were not expecting that from this conference the house of prayer would be birthed. In the weeks leading up to the conference, prayer meetings were held nightly in different churches across the region. This began to create a unity in the body in Sarasota and many people began to get the vision of the house of prayer. It became clear to the Lees that now was the time establish the house of prayer.

What does your weekly schedule look like?

Currently we are open from 8 a.m.- 10 p.m. Monday- Friday, with our worship school taking place on Saturday mornings and an internship beginning in the Spring on Saturdays as well. (On Wednesdays from 8- 10 a.m. we are closed for staff meeting.) In the mornings we have a devotional set followed by an intercession set at 10 a.m., in the evenings we have more devotional sets and open mic prayer times, and in the afternoon you can expect a mix of devotional sets and the IHOPKC web stream. We also have a service on Tuesday nights called Passion for Jesus, as well as a monthly outreach on Monday afternoons.

How many people do you have involved?

Currently, we have 23 full-time staff (six of them are involved in MAPS as well and are prepping for the Middle East), 2 part time staff, 12 students in our Voice Ministry School, and many different volunteers in our community that help in different areas whom we are very appreciative of.

What do you believe is your unique mandate and vision as a HOP?

There are many specific things we are called to as a HOP. We believe that God is looking for a unified bride and it is our desire to see that in our region and take part in it. We desire to see the generation of the youth committing to the way of the cross by denying themselves and choosing a life of holiness. We believe we are to train and equip this generation to be ones who can help prepare the way of the Lord’s coming. We also believe that God is doing something in the Middle East and that we are to partner with him by helping build the house of prayer in the Middle East.

What is something that you love about the culture of your HOP?

I love that our culture is established in purity and holiness. A big push for holiness is not something you see a lot in the church, but we are very serious about walking in holiness and keeping one another accountable. I have been able to grow and die to so many things because of it. I also love that we are family. You are seen and valued here. Everyone truly cares about one another and I truly feel that it is a place I can be vulnerable, and the person that God has made me to be.

What is something that God has taught you on this journey of HOP ministry?

Death is the only way. One of the things we say here a lot is, “Come and die.” Which basically means, come to the wilderness and let your flesh die. Let every prideful and vain dream that is not of God die until all that remains are the dreams and desires of God. Many times in my life I thought I had died to things only to realize there was still so much pride and vanity in me. My ways were not God’s ways, though I thought they were. At the Sarasota HOP I finally understood how much that was in me that still needed to die. As painful as it is to do, letting go of my dreams and taking hold of His has made my life so much better. And in the process, I realized one of the most important truths you’ll ever need to know- God is better than we think.

Follow Sarasota House of Prayer on Facebook and Instagram.