NAU is doing some cool stuff (as told by my friend Sue):
“Pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on you” –Pete Greig
This has become the rally cry of students in Arizona. They want to follow Jesus in radical ways, through their service and their prayer life. This battle cry has led to a movement of what one school news paper called, “prayer marathons”. The 24-7 prayer movement has its roots in Chichester, England beginning in a student church in 1999. You can read about the formation of the type of prayer that has captivated a generation of students in Peter Grieg’s book, Red Moon Rising.What I can tell you is that as you read this letter students on each campus in Arizona are praying; they are in the midst of their own “prayer marathons”. Each group has had a different journey to the same place. Each group has gained permission from the administration of their university to set up a tent in the middle of their campus and to organize one-hour prayer shifts that go round the clock for 40 days – ending together in a state-wide worship service on Sunday April 21st. Any of you who are around are invited. Email me for more information.
Here is why I am so thrilled at this development. I have known for a long time that students needed a big challenge to capture their imagination AND they needed an evangelism style that was incarnational and radical all at once. What I didn’t know was that these prayer tents are both of those things wrapped together. They love the big challenge of keeping a chain of unbroken prayer for long stretches at a time. And as they do this they are seeing God move. And they love the witness of a tent of prayer. People who are curious and interested stop in to pray and end up experiencing God in a new way…People who are skeptical of the authenticity of Christians see the dedication and commitment of this group and their interest is piqued. And, groups of believers on campus who have long wanted unity between them are finding it through prayer for themselves, for their campus and for the world.
Arizona Schools Experience 24-7 Prayer
The University of Arizona in Tucson gained a vision for 24-7 prayer last fall and quickly gained the permission of their university. They also quickly created a partnership between six different Christian campus groups who have bonded together to cover the 168 prayer shifts per week. The school news paper interviewed the president of the Geniuses of Diversity: Atheists, Agnostics, Deists and Freethinkers about the prayer tent, he was quoted as saying, “They have a right to (pray), I don’t feel offended in any way; I don’t think most atheists would.” God has given this group favor, and the campus is accepting their witness as authentic and genuine.Students at Arizona State University in Tempe had a prayer tent last fall. They prayed for 56 consecutive days; they are going for another 40 this spring. They saw people renew their faith or begin a faith journey in their prayer tent.
Northern Arizona University students have been working toward a 24-7 prayer push for over a year and finally gained the permission of the university, and the partnership between Christian groups to take on such an adventure. Churches in Flagstaff are so excited about this that they are hosting a 24-7 prayer event simultantously.
I can’t say for sure what the effects of these concentrated prayer efforts will be. But, I do know that in other places where this has happened students have gained a love for God and a love for the world that has turned them to service in rapid order. I expect to see students changed, campuses renewed and world changers developed…just what InterVarsity is all about.
Pray with Us…
–Pray for the student leaders of these movements at U of A, ASU and NAU. Pray that they would be encouraged and refreshed, and not burdened by the task they have undertaken.
–Pray that many students who come into the prayer tents would have their faith renewed and revived. Pray that they would be open to God’s leading.
–Pray that any pre-Christians who come into the tents would be met by God as they pray their first prayers. Pray that Christians who are also there would respond sensitively to them.
–Pray that the universities would be blessed by these prayer efforts. Pray a blessing over the administrators who allowed this and worked hard to let these groups of students do an unconventional event on their campus.
–Pray for lasting fruit from these 40 day prayer events. Pray that the fellowships would have new impetus to reach out to their campus and to their world with God’s love.
Here’s an NAU “fansite”, if you will. (View the site in a non-Safari browser.)
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