Today we’d like to introduce you to Darius James.
Hi Darius, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Flames On The Altar, also known as FOTA, started off as a 24-hour prayer call in 2016 while doing college ministry and turned into other 24-hour prayer events over the next few years. In 2019, I began to truly focus on FOTA and since then, it has evolved into a multi-dimensional brand offering apparel and accessories that bring awareness to prayer; providing prayer services to individuals, businesses, and organizations; and educating people on how to live a life of intimacy and impact via social media, YouTube, and courses.
The e-commerce side of the business is called the FOTA Shop. The FOTA Shop is where we sell Christian apparel centered around bringing awareness to prayer. We want our apparel to cause people to want to pray and go deeper in their relationship with God. The service provider aspect of the business is to partner with individuals, organizations, and churches to help them develop and execute prayer initiatives. Also, I offer service as an intercessor (travel & non-travel) to Christian leaders and CEOs. The educational side serves as an avenue to equip people in praying effectively.
Vision: We exist to provoke every generation to pray.
Mission: To equip and empower individuals, churches, and organizations to become prayer catalysts and spiritual architects. Prayer catalysts provoke others to pray. Spiritual architects are intercessors who build, govern, administrate, and occupy through strategic prayers.
Purpose: To eliminate prayerlessness, to increase people’s hunger and thirst for God’s word and presence, and to empower people to walk boldly in their identity as a son and daughter in Jesus.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For the most part, the path has been smooth, with a few speed bumps and pot-holes along the way. FOTA started off as a 24-hour prayer call and several prayer events. The expansion to providing products and additional services did not come short of challenges. The expansion to products and additional services finally required me to truly put on the hat of an entrepreneur. With the help and support of my wife, we began to learn about website design, product design, marketing strategies, and so much more. My wife became a full-time researcher, and I felt like I was enrolled in school, taking various courses. There is still so much for me to learn, develop, and grow. I am committed to the sustainability and growth of my company and am fully persuaded that FOTA will eternally impact the world.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an entrepreneur and intercessor, but most importantly, I am a son of God. I am most proud of seeing people grow in their relationship with God. I love to provoke people to pray through teaching and edifying as God leads me. I think strategic prayers sets me apart from others, precisely the concept of being a spiritual architect. When God placed this concept in my heart, I envisioned a person building with God. I imagined a person having the blueprints to build businesses, organizations, infrastructures, and governments in God’s way and through prayer. Spiritual architects are people who know their identity in Christ, and from the place of prayer, they govern, occupy, and build.
Moreover, I sit on the intercessory leadership team for a prayer ministry called Moravian Watch under the leadership of Pastor Darrian Summerville. In this ministry, I partner with a group of intercessors from across the country to pray for the body of Christ and the world as the Holy Spirit leads us. I am also a recent graduate of Southeastern University of Lakeland, Fl, with my doctorate in education focusing on curriculum and instruction.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Some of the most important lessons that I have learned is that consistency is one of the biggest deal-breakers in business, ministry, and life. If you start something, then finish it with excellence. I learned that it is a terrible disservice to yourself and others to compare your progress, life, business, family, ministry, and skills to others. Everyone has a race to run. Run your race and stay in your lane. Your life is uniquely different from others, and that is okay. Let your struggles build character in you, and let your victories bring you to humility because no one can succeed on their own.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@flamesonthealtar.com
- Website: https://www.flamesonthealtar.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flamesonthealtar/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlamesOnTheAltar/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFZs80GVKQdtllY0_ShvQzA
Image Credits
Photos owned by Darius James and Flames On The Altar. Photography by Antoine Lever, IG: @antoinelever
