A group of young adults studying the Bible and praying together. Selective focus on the girl with red hair. - Buy credits

Mobilizing Students to Pray

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“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)

“Young people in student led prayer bands have been at the forefront in almost every awakening.” J Edwin Orr

THAT IS WHAT GOD WANTS TO DO FOR YOU!

  • He asks you to PRAY. “Call to me, He says.
  • He gives you a PROMISE. “I will answer you,” He vows.
  • He provides you with POWER. “I will tell you great and unsearchable things,” He exclaims.

Nothing of any significance will happen with your friends or at your school until you pray. When you do, God moves into action. When He acts, He doesn’t just give you peanuts; He does things beyond your wildest imagination.

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR SCHOOL, YOU HAVE ALL KINDS OF OPTIONS.

  • Become part of a prayer triplet
  • Do a prayer walk around your school.
  • Join others in praying during See You at the Pole and then throughout the year.
  • Conduct a concert of prayer with a large group of students praying together.
  • Try “yearbook praying” where you pray through your school’s annual.
  • Design a plan to pray locker to locker for every person in your school.
  • Go room to room asking God to work in the lives of students and teachers in every room in your school.
  • Take prayer requests asking people at school how you can pray for them.
  • Do “doorway praying” by standing at the doorway of your school and praying for every person who comes in the door.

THE LIST IS AS LONG AS YOU ARE CREATIVE:

However one approach needs to be at the heart of your prayer strategy. Jesus laid it out for us in Matthew 18:18-20: “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them.” New International Version [NIV]

Here Jesus promises that all of His resources are available to you. When you pray to Him, He releases those resources and answers your prayers. That’s awesome! Then He tells us that there is incredible spiritual power when we pray in unity with other believers. When we pray in twos and threes, His presence is with us in a special way. Jesus’ presence and power are available to change peoples’ lives when we meet in twos and threes to pray! That’s incredible!

IT CAN ALL BEGIN WITH YOU!

Who else might you ask to pray?

There are lots of adults in the community who would love to join with you in prayer. Some individuals or groups may include:

  • Moms in Prayer
  • Mothers Who Care groups
  • Christian teachers who are committed to praying.
  • A person in your community who could be your Community Prayer Leader. This person could take your prayer requests and mail or e-mail them to community people to pray for you. They may also organize a prayer chain for your ministry.
  • Previously organized prayer groups or missions boards of local churches.

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What they’re saying about Cru

As you prepare to go hiking, whether in the Rocky Mountains or through an Amazon jungle, you must first know where you’re headed. Without a map and a compass, your trip is doomed to aimless wandering at best, and death at worst.

As you seek to influence your campus, you will want to make sure you know the campus and its people. Otherwise, you may just run aimlessly from one activity to another without really changing things on your campus at all.

  1. You must know the basics about your school.

    You may think you already know the school very well, but there are some valuable questions you can begin to answer that will help your ministry get started in the right direction:

    • Who are some other people who know the school very well? If I didn’t know anything about the school, what would I want to learn?
    • What do other people – adults and students – think of the school?
    • Who are the most influential students?
    • What groups are most influential on the campus?
    • These are good starter questions for helping you get oriented to the school.
  2. Now that you’ve got the basics down, become an expert.

    Like a private eye or a reporter in search of a story, dig a little deeper. To truly familiarize yourself with the campus, you need to find out more about the community and the school.

    Here are some of the many things you can do to get familiar with the school:

    Look through the most recent school yearbook. Notice students who appear often. Look for those in leadership of various groups. Try to use the yearbook to get a general impression of the school.

    Next you could look through local newspapers and publications. Ask yourself, “What kind of reputation does the school seem to have? Is it mentioned often? Are the articles positive or negative?”

    Also, find out who are the most influential students and teachers. Try to determine the key Christian students on your campus. Seek to meet them as soon as possible and share with them your desire to impact the campus. Meet supportive adults in the community. Talk with teachers, coaches, and administrators. Find out what makes the campus tick. What recurring problems are mentioned? What are the strong traditions?

    Attend sporting events, plays, or other performing arts events. These are great ways to get a feel for the school and the student body.

  3. Finally, start meeting students.

    Start with known Christian students, student leaders, and athletes. Your research of the campus will help you decide which students to go to first.

So, get to know the basics about the school; then become an expert on the school; and then you’ll be ready to meet the key students. When you’ve done these initial steps, you can confidently move ahead, trusting God to bring results through your ministry.