Prayer is a powerful gift from God to use for His service. In “Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 1,” Ellen White says, “At the sound of fervent prayer, Satan’s whole host trembles.” What an amazing thought! God is willing and able to do so much for us if only we will take the initiative to seek Him and ask for His blessings. He promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists started a “10 Days of Prayer” initiative to pray for God’s Spirit to work mightily within our church and the world, and Southern is blessed to have students who are eager to step up and lead their colleagues in joining the world church in prayer. Joi McClellan, junior music/major, felt the desire to bring students together to pray during the first semester, but she was unsure how to accomplish this and decided to pray about the idea.
While on Christmas break, she attended a Generation Youth for Christ (GYC) conference where God reminded her about her dream of a praying campus. In the next week, she shared her idea with several Southern students, and they began working diligently to ensure the “Adventist Students Pray” idea and Facebook page would be ready to roll during the first week of school.
God’s hand was guiding every step, and now there were students in at least six universities, both Adventist and non-Adventist, as well as two Adventist academies participating in the “10 Days of Prayer”.
Last week on Southern’s campus there were 11 small groups in which students came together for 15 minutes to read several scriptures and pray on specific topics.
McClellan hope was that like in the story of Daniel and his three friends, God would bless our intentionality in these 10 days and would pour out His Spirit and wisdom on our campus this semester.
Caleb Cook, a group leader, described the experience as “refreshing and uplifting.” He said he tends to be the type who would rather pray alone but finds that “gathering with like-minded young people and praying was more of a blessing than I could have ever imagined.”
Kayla Goodman, prayer group leader at Southwestern Adventist University, that the number of people praying was of less importance than the sincerity behind their prayers.
God wants to hear your voice, and He is excited to work in your life, display His power and shower you with love. So what are you praying for?