Jacksonville Father of Four Launches Prayer App on Ash Wednesday Second Time Entrepreneur Turns His Attention to Faith

ThyWord helps Christians stay connected to their faith every day, not just on Sundays.

Jacksonville resident Ajith Joseph has spent his career in technology, building enterprise software products for some of the largest companies in the country. Now, as a second time entrepreneur and father of four, he is launching something different. Something personal.

ThyWord is a prayer companion app that listens when you pray and responds with the Bible passage that speaks to what you are going through. It is not a chatbot. It is not a game. It is a simple, quiet tool that helps people who want to pray more but do not know where to start.

"I am a father of four," Joseph said from his home in Jacksonville. "My youngest is a year and a half. My life is busy in a way I never imagined. And for years, the only time I felt spiritually grounded was Sunday morning at church. The other six days, I was on my own. I knew I was not the only one feeling that way."

Joseph calls it the "6 days between Sundays" problem. Christians attend church, feel connected for an hour, and then go back to their regular lives. Most want to pray more, read the Bible more, stay connected to their faith. But life gets in the way. ThyWord is designed to take that daily prayer experience and make it as simple as talking.

"You just speak," he said. "Whatever is on your heart. And ThyWord finds the Scripture that matches what you are feeling. It is like having a conversation with your Bible."

The idea came to him at 3 AM, after years of building technology products for others. "My wife Nisha and the kids were asleep. I had this feeling of gratitude, but also this void. I had spent years building tech products. Now I wanted to build something that actually helps people's souls."

Joseph grew up in a deeply faith oriented family. His grandmother prayed every day and believed that at least one person in the family should spend time in God's presence daily. That conviction stayed with him across cities and careers, from Minneapolis to New York to Pittsburgh to New Jersey to Washington DC, and finally to Jacksonville.

He did not build ThyWord alone. His co-founder Bijees had been on a parallel journey. Bijees built ChapelDesk, a platform that helps churches of any denomination manage their online presence. When Joseph shared his vision, the two discovered they had been carrying the same verse from the book of Isaiah for years without ever telling each other. Joseph had it framed on his wall. Bijees had it tucked in his wallet.

"When you realize that the person you are building with has been carrying the same Scripture you have, you stop calling it a coincidence," Joseph said. "You start calling it a calling."

That sense of purpose was confirmed when Bijees met a schoolteacher at a parent conference. She had recently lost her mother and was going through an incredibly difficult season. When he showed her what ThyWord does, she looked at him and said, "I wish I had this right now."

"That is when I knew this was not just an idea," Joseph said. "This is something people actually need."

"Jacksonville is where we put down roots," he said. "My wife is a nurse here. Our kids are growing up here. And now this company is here too. This city has been good to us and I wanted to build something from here."

ThyWord launches today on the App Store and Google Play. It is free to download. Joseph and Bijees are partnering with churches in the Jacksonville area and across the country to make it available to congregations during Lent.

About ThyWord Inc.

ThyWord Inc. is a Jacksonville based company building a voice first prayer companion app for Christians. Founded by Ajith Joseph and Bijees, two seasoned technology entrepreneurs and fathers who wanted to build something that helps people stay close to God every day. Headquartered at 245 Riverside Avenue, Suite 100, Jacksonville, FL 32202. Learn more at thywordapp.com.

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