FURNACE PRAYER ROOM
FURNACE PRAYER ROOM
“I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” – Psalm 132:4-5
The Furnace Prayer Room exists to establish a place where Jesus is the centre of the gathering, and where individuals can unite through music-led prayer meetings.
Our goal is to orchestrate the prayer of Jesus, that on earth it would be as it is in heaven where there is never-ending prayer and worship around God’s throne.
We aim to create a space for New Zealand and surrounding regions to encounter God in the place of worship and prayer, become equipped to love Jesus wholeheartedly, and be empowered to do the greater works He has invited us into.
The Prayer Room hours and locations does change regularly so check our Instagram page for details.
Consistent Hours:
Tuesday: 8am – 10am, 1pm – 2pm
Wednesday: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Thursday: 8am – 10am
Friday: 8am – 10am
Location:
36 Sutherland Road, Judea Tauranga
MORE INFORMATION:
The Furnace Prayer Room is a ministry that operates as part of YWAM Furnace New Zealand. Although the Prayer Room is a part of YWAM, participation in the prayer room and/or on worship teams isn’t limited only to YWAM associates.
We welcome anyone to come and join us in the prayer room at any time that it is open. Anyone from the city is welcome to participate in the worship team, however, we do have a simple audition process, so as to ensure a basic level of “quality control”, to maintain our value of enjoyable prayer.
If you would like more information on how we can serve you, your local church, ministry or business in prayer and worship – or how you can be involved – please contact us: furnacepr@yfnz.org
OUR STORY:
In February 2006, a small group of (mostly!) young adults gathered in Bethlehem, Tauranga, New Zealand, and started a gathering of prayer and worship that still exists today. Although the Prayer Room does not operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, there has been a consistent expression of prayer within our city throughout the weeks, months, and years since then.
Why do we continue to gather?
- Because God is incredibly great that He is worthy of extravagant worship and devotion (Ps. 145:3)
- Because He is the God who hears our prayer and He will be faithful to answer (1 John 5:14-15)
The time of history in which we live is urgent as the return of Jesus draws closer. As a generation, we stand on the brink of witnessing the greatest crisis and the greatest glory the earth has ever seen. Along with trials to come, there will also be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit resulting in salvation and signs and wonders like never before. We are committed to praying for the church to be made ready for all that lies ahead, both the great and the terrible.
VISION:
Simply put, the prayer room exists for three primary reasons:
- It is a place of encounter between God and man. He is worshipped and adored as we discover the beauty and wonder of who He is. (Ps. 27:4)
- It is the place where we are equipped as we worship, pray, and study the Word. We are transformed into His likeness. (2 Cor. 3:18)
- It is a sending place. From the place of encountering Him, we go into all the world as a witness of who He is. (Isa. 6)
The prayer room is for:
- God. The primary reason that the prayer room exists is because He is worthy of an extravagant outpouring of worship and adoration. We desire it to be a ‘resting place for God’ within our city.
- It is a place where we can gather together daily to worship, pray, study the Word of God, and engage together in community. We pray for our city and that all of Tauranga would experience the presence of God.
- For the nation and the nations. The prayer room is a resource to serve the prayer and missions movements both domestically and abroad.
WE VALUE:
Enjoyable Prayer:
- Isaiah 56:7 promises that we will find joy in the place of prayer. Prayer is enjoyable when we discover the beauty and wonder of the One we pray to and when we discover the place of value that we hold in His heart. A significant natural dynamic of enjoyable prayer is combining it with music-based worship just as we see modelled in Revelation 5 around the Throne room. All of our prayer meetings are led by worship teams.
The Centrality of the Scripture:
- The Scriptures act as our plumb line and our discovery map to the heart of God. It is the language of His heart and mind, so when we sing and pray the Scriptures, we are coming into agreement with and declaring the will of God. The Scriptures unify our hearts with God and with one another.
Being Inclusive:
- We believe prayer is for each and every person, and we want to make space for all to gather together and participate in our prayer meetings. The prayer room is not only for elite musicians or intercessors but for everyone. It is a place for families, children, young, old, trained, untrained, skilled, and unskilled.
Sustainable:
- Our goal is to have prayer meetings that are sustainable for multiple hours per day, multiple days per week/month/ years, day and night. Around the Throne, we see worship and intercession that never stops; our desire is that it would be on earth as it is in heaven (Revelation 5:11-14).
OUR PRAYER STYLES:
There are 4 primary ‘prayer formats’ that we use in the prayer room. Each format is led by a worship team, and sometimes also by a prayer leader.
Devotional:
The purpose of a devotional is to create an environment conducive to personal Bible study, prayer, etc. for those who are in the room. These times are typically led by one person (operating as both a singer and musician), or by a small worship team. They are our quietest times and are designed to be “individually focused” in nature, rather than “corporately focused”.
Adoration:
These times are led by a small worship team and a prayer leader, with a specific focus on declaring the attributes of God so that we can grow in our experiential knowledge of who He is.
Worship with the Word:
This prayer format is designed to be a “musical Bible study” in which a worship team (along with a prayer leader) will sing through a passage of Scripture line upon line.
Intercession:
During Intercession, we gather corporately to both worship and also to pray for specific prayer focuses. We alternate corporate worship songs with a time for prayer, along with spontaneous singing, in which the singers sing out what we have been praying for.
THE MANDATE:
Everything that God has ever done has always come out of the context of day and night worship and prayer around His throne. This eternal, heavenly reality is God’s strategy for expanding His Kingdom on the earth as we join with His desire for it to be “on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Malachi 1:11 promises that worship and prayer will fill the nations of the earth before the return of Jesus, and Isaiah 24:14-16 and Isaiah 42:10 describe the specific role that we have to play in that glorious promise here at the “ends of the earth”. For this reason, we join our song with the chorus of worship and prayer arising from the nations of the earth, that His name would be made great among the people.
INTERNSHIP:
For anyone who would like to set aside a month to give themselves to prayer, worship, and study of the Word in the context of the Prayer Room, we offer a four-week internship program that is centred around the four primary themes that undergird the prayer room.
Click here for more information about the “One Thing Internship”.
