In September of 2007 I quit my job to go into vocational prayer ministry – without a job offer and with no promise of a paycheck. I was going to try to raise support like a missionary. The next month I proposed to my wife, and she actually said yes! She at least knew what she was getting into. We were married by the end of the year. This has been our life together from the beginning – “presence pioneering” by faith, the best we can. Trusting God for provision. Trusting the body of Christ to partner with us and sow into Davidic worship and prayer. Making mistakes but not quitting (despite trying many times 😆).
Some of the backstory…
16 years ago I was working a full-time administrative job at a healthcare facility. I started helping with billing too and got a raise to $15 an hour! I worked hard and efficiently so there was some downtime in the office. I would usually use the time for one of two things:
1) Check, send and respond to ministry related emails.
2) Use the yellow legal pads to write down prayers, journals, ideas and vision for ministry
I had the admin job to pay bills, but ministry was what I was really excited about. I had already spent a few years doing ministry (unpaid) 30-40 hour a week. I was leading and teaching at the church youth group on Wednesday nights, meeting with students during the week and helping lead worship on Sunday mornings (+ a rehearsal night). We had our 6:22 Friday night worship gatherings (2-3hrs of prophetic worship & prayer). There was separate band practice for those nights plus 6:22 leadership meetings. Plus my private time in worship, prayer, Bible study, music practice, songwriting, etc.
I was working the equivalent of two full time jobs. I was in my early 20s without a family, so I had plenty of time. I didn’t feel burned out. I was going hard for Jesus. I was young and stupid but also passionate, sincere and even a little anointed. And I knew I was called.
After a few years of longing for vocational ministry, I felt a “release” to do prayer & worship ministry as my job. Because neither my church or 6:22 could pay me, it required that I start raising support. Like I said, I was already doing full time ministry “on the side”, so I didn’t need more work to do. I just wanted to be focused and give more time to do it.
At the same time, there was already a desire for something “more” growing in my heart. Part of what God was showing me prophetically in those years was a “David’s tent” in eastern North Carolina. A house of prayer. Day and night worship. A dwelling place for God’s presence. A people who minister to Him, host His presence, pray for revival and go from His presence to impact others.
Four Houses of Prayer
By God’s grace, since that time, I have been involved in some level of leadership with four houses of prayer in this area over the years. Here is a snapshot of those four prayer rooms.
10 months of 24/7 prayer at a Pentecostal church (2008)
Shepard & I joined a small Pentecostal church right after getting married. They had already planned a month of 24/7 prayer in early 2008. We jumped in excitedly, of course. After a month, they kept going, and I was quickly put into oversight for the 24/7 prayer team (we had one person praying at a time in the church sanctuary). It lasted about 10 months, I think. Unfortunately, this was not a healthy situation, and we had to leave in less than a year due to spiritual abuse. The day & night prayer also stopped when we left.
The Boiler Room (2009-2016)
After the previous experience, we were disillusioned for a few months in early 2009, but we kept the house of prayer vision in our hearts. We were also hosting 24hr worship & prayer weekends (i.e. burns) at various churches to keep building momentum. By April 2009, God had spoken audibly to a man about a place of worship & prayer in downtown Greenville. The Boiler Room launched in July of 2009 and lasted seven years. It was a small missions base above a skateboard shop downtown with about 20-25 hours of live worship & prayer each week, lots of teaching and training, plus events for the city and region. God led us to end the Boiler Room lease in 2016, which was really hard. But we did continue doing burn events for a bit. We soon realized that God was uprooting us to send us to Durham, NC. I passed off the Greenville Burn leadership to Gary Edwards before we moved.
The Burning Room (2017-2020)
I did not intend to lead or launch anything when we arrived in the Raleigh-Durham area in 2017. But it didn’t take long. We started helping folks who were already hosting burn events, and then they soon asked me to take the lead. From there, we started also doing weekly worship & prayer hours at our church, which we called the Burn(ing) Room – about 10 hours per week led by volunteers. After three years in Durham, God sent us back home to the Greenville area. I passed off leadership of the Burn(ing) community to Lee Winters, and we moved back home in 2020 – in the midst of COVID. (Sorry Lee! Worst timing for a leadership handoff ever. )
Opendoor Prayer Room (2022-Current)
Everything was shut down when we moved back, but within a year or so, things were brewing for a house of prayer again. In early 2022, our local church launched its first public worship-based prayer meeting. In September, the downtown prayer room location opened – only two blocks from where the Boiler Room was. We’re now doing three hours a week there.
I thanked God for all of this today and asked Him for grace for sixteen more years. I have no idea what secrets those upcoming years may hold, but we will keep moving forward as we have from the beginning. Pursuing God. Trying to follow Jesus. Rooted in prayer. Listening to His voice. Taking steps of faith as He speaks. Trusting His provision for the journey.