We’re excited to share news from Josh Warren, who until this summer was a student with us, and will now be staying in Durham to undertake an internship with Burn 24-7. Josh explains all….
Hello everyone,
I’m Josh and I’m a recent maths grad from Durham uni. This year I will be staying on in Durham to open a House of Prayer/Prayer Room in the heart of this beautiful city. Alongside the Prayer Room, I will be interning with Burn 24-7, a prayer and worship organisation.
The vision for the House of Prayer is of a place full of a blissful joy where peoples of every nation would be welcome. Our prayer is that this would be a space where people from across the churches can come and be with God, their loving, heavenly Father who spoke the sky into being; a space where people can rest in the Almighty’s presence, enjoy his closeness and be empowered by him; and a place of unity amongst the followers of Jesus. The vision for the House of Prayer is that it would be God’s house, where we align with Jesus’ heart and pray, according to the Holy Spirit’s leading.
In my opinion, there’s nothing more exciting than prayer. To speak to the King of all kings, the ruler of all things, the being of infinite power and perfect majesty, of goodness in epic proportions and the creator of all the Earth and the Heavens. To speak and be with him is a glorious privilege! Not to mention that our prayers will shake the Earth (see Revelations ch.8, the Bible). The fact that we can come before this epic being as his children is really something quite special.
Although prayer can feel amazing, it can also feel mundane and this is perfectly normal. Our faith however is not about feelings; for the spiritual and physical power of prayer, or rather relationship with God, is immense and should never be underestimated! Not to mention, that the Bible underlines the necessity of believing ‘God rewards those who earnestly seek him’ (Hebrews 11:6).
It must be said that we have decided to not open the Prayer Room straight away. A group of friends passionate about ‘Houses of Prayer’ and myself have been meeting to pray, asking God for his heart for the Prayer Room; we have found that God has spoken to us about starting slowly to form strong foundations. With strong foundations we believe the House of Prayer will stand the test of time (God willing). As it happens, this is also necessitated by COVID-19.
In the first six months of lockdown, the number of ‘24/7 Prayer’ rooms worldwide has almost doubled; this country is being rocked by waves of prayer, and our hope is that Durham can join in on this move of God. At some point in the future, we wish this to be a place which is open 24/7, prayer and worship continuing throughout the day and night, every day of the week. However, before we do open, please join with us in asking God if, and how, to get involved.
With the rest of my time, I have a few extra plans. I will be working with Junction 42 as a financial assistant two days a week, an amazing charity working with criminal offenders and bringing about restoration to their lives. I will be trying to write some music, principally worship music, but also God-inspired music as a means of reaching the lost (sharing truths about the goodness of God). And as part of the internship, I will be doing the Burn 24-7 course, which gives Biblical teaching on prayer and worship, whilst helping out at various Burn events! What’s God been showing you this lockdown? I’d love to hear it, send me an email: warren.josh@hotmail.co.uk .