Nonstop Prayer Hits College Campuses in Tents
Tents are the latest venue for Christian students who have spearheaded 24-7 prayer movements at their schools, with more prayers ringing from pitched tents on college campuses where thousands of students pass by.
Students at the University of Arizona (UA) have been praying in an unbroken prayer chain since last month. They move from 12 hours of prayer in a tent on the campus mall to another 12 into dawn at an empty apartment at the Catholic Newman Center.
"I guess we feel like there's a lot at this campus that really needs to be prayed for," Andy Hall, a freshman involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, told the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the university's student newspaper. "I feel like the campus is kind of a place of darkness and that the power of God can help. There are a lot of people who are hurting; there are a lot of people who are lost."
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InterVarsity is one of nine UA Christian groups engaging in 40 days of 24-hour prayer until Easter, April 8. While specific groups are assigned for each day, the tent is open to anyone who wants to pray, according to the student newspaper.
Students at the University of California Los Angeles recently finished a prayer chain with the similar 12-hour prayer tent pitched near the school's renowned Janss Steps. Prayers at UCLA began at the beginning of the school year in the fall, but students were kicked out of the apartment where they were praying nonstop, according to a brief post by Sam Kim on the website of 24-7 Prayer USA, a network of "like minded people" that exists "to transform the world through a movement of Christ-centered and mission-minded prayer."
Feeling that "God put on [their] hearts" to take the prayers to campus, the students parked themselves on a grassy spot, praying hour after hour. Distractions in the public space, however, led the students to propose the tent idea. While not originally approved by the school events staff, the proposal was soon confirmed and gave them a spot at UCLA's Wilson Plaza.
The Southern California students plan to start revival prayer meetings all over the campus, Kim said.
Prayer participants do not expect negative reactions from other students, the Arizona Daily Wildcat reported.
"I think that even atheists or people who don't believe in God don't think that praying will hurt," said Hall. "I think it'll be a positive response despite people's religious views."
The campus prayers are part of the larger 24-7 prayer movement that began in 1999. Nonstop prayer is nothing new, but ever since a group of young people in England took up the idea in September that year and continued until Christmas, student prayer meetings and chains have spread around the world. In fact, 24-7 Prayer USA states that a 24-7 prayer room has been running since its start in the European country.
The main vision behind the movement is to turn the tide of youth culture back to Jesus, especially young people in the West.
"We recognize that the Body of Christ in the West is bleeding young people," the 24-7 Prayer USA website states. "Something has to change. But clever strategy alone is not the answer. Never has been. History shows that the tide turns when God's people pray."
There are 23 groups around the world participating in 24-7 prayers at this time.
