New school supplies, check.
Overpriced books, check.
Fast food gift cards, check.
Prayer guide, check.
As we approach the fall semester, there are millions of students who are returning to study math, education, art, history and many other areas of study. They are doing this in order to receive a great education and get a well-paying job. Being educated and having a solid job are great things, but even better is when a student has a sense of God’s presence in their life and what it is that God is calling him or her to do.
As the school year approaches, we have an opportunity to pray for the next generation of Christian leaders as they head to college and university campuses. From August 23, 2010, through October 1, 2010, we want to have an emphasis on prayer for our college campuses for 40 days.
The 40 days is an opportunity for the Church to pray for college students and also an opportunity for campus ministries to focus on helping college students learn to pray. The 40 days is not a conclusive time period when we simply say our prayers and wish our students the best, but it is a specific period of time in which we can expressly pray for a group of people who so desperately need our prayers.
The “40” also comes from Isaiah 40 to “prepare the way of the Lord.” This is a chapter of Scripture where we see God calling his people to hope from despair, to understanding from futility, and to strength from weariness. This is our prayer for the generation of college students who populate campuses around the world…that they would come to trust in the One, true God and be strengthened to run the race that is before them.
The prayers were written by campus ministers, college students, bishops, authors, pastors, and other leaders. Collectively, they express a heart for God to inspire, challenge, and transform the lives of college campuses and individual students.
The prayers follow the rhythm of morning, noon and evening prayers. The morning prayers are written by pastors and leaders who support the work of shaping the lives of future Christian leaders. The noon prayers come from campus ministers who themselves have often prayed these prayers on their own, but now open up their own call by sharing their prayers with the world. The evening prayers come from college students themselves, whose prayers reveal the passion they have for ministering to others in their generation.
There are several ways that people can join in this prayer effort. The website, www.Pray40.com provides the opportunity for people to sign up to download a prayer guide to print, or sign up to receive an email, follow us on Twitter or receive a text message with a link to the prayer.
We are hoping that people will spend this time specifically lifting up college campuses and students in their prayers and then discerning how God might have them specifically reach out to those students in their midst. We also hope that campus ministries will spend this time specifically focused on learning to pray.
The intentional focus of Pray 40 is happening because of the support and effort of others who are passionate about reaching this generation of college students. This initiative is a collaboration between College Union, The Upper Room, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The Foundation for Evangelism, with special thanks to United Methodist Communications.
Rev. Ashlee Alley is campus minister at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., and is co-coordinator of the Pray 40 initiative. She is a deacon and member of the Kansas West Annual Conference.
