All throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament), people would encounter God, call upon his name and make altars to Him.Time and time again, the children of Israel forgot the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These things that God did in the past would seem far off. For some, the God of their fathers did not become their own God.
In the same way, our first colleges were marked for Christian training and have now become some of the greatest higher learning institutions in the world. The fact that our institutions draw some of the brightest in the world is a great thing but the name of Christ has many times become a byword. Some of our young people today feel the same way as the children of Israel and these things of the past sound like fables. They long for the real thing today!
One mark of what God did in more modern times was the Haystack Prayer Meeting at Williams College. Before it was a prayer meeting, they first debated the theology of missions although they had an interest in the spiritual welfare of other nations. Five students began to pray. And out of what is known as the Haystack Prayer gathering, the modern missions movement was birthed. And just as in that day, we have young people today with an immense desire to change the world and make a difference.
And lest we forget, the church was birthed in unified prayer. The crucified Savior was resurrected and was with His disciples in the flesh again. Then He ascended to the Father. And just as Jesus declared, the Holy Spirit came from heaven and His ekklesia (church) was propelled forward with power. This began as the disciples were together and united in prayer.
What could happen as our technologically connected generation comes together and yields to the power of the Holy Spirit?!
The history books are filled with examples of people, young and old, who gathered together in faith and the Lord worked through their prayers, both transforming them in the context of unified prayer and transforming the world through radical obedience.
Why Not Today?
What better place for His fame than the college campuses? In college, our young people become adults and make major decisions about the trajectory of their lives. It’s here that they engage in the battlefield of ideas and the joy of learning.
A generation is wondering if what they see in church is this just the old-time religion and a thing of the past, or is God alive and at work today? A generation is out to change the world. In a place where there can be intense pressure, temptation, depression and hopelessness for many, Jesus has answers.
Now is the time for a generation to encounter the Living God!
I invite you to participate in the Collegiate Day of Prayer 2019 on February 28th to contend for the destiny of a generation that Our Father has set His love upon.
Authored by Clinton Scroggins, Ignite Ivy/Ignite America United Awakening Initiatives