IT IS TIME FOR ANOTHER PRAYER MEETING -
BECAUSE SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENS WHEN STUDENTS CALL OUT TO GOD!
Students make history when they band together in specific prayer!
It happened once in 1806 when five students in the northeastern corner of Massachusetts met behind a haystack during a severe thunderstorm to ask God to use them to impact their entire generation. This simple prayer meeting became the catalyst for the “Second Great Awakening” or the “Student Volunteer Movement” that according to historians propelled over 10,000 foreign missionaries into the world’s harvest fields.
It happened again in early 1990 when “a small group if teenagers in Burleson, Texas came together” asking the Lord to use them to impact their generation. “Compelled to pray, they drove to three different schools that night. Not knowing exactly what to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders.” Another incredible prayer movement was born. By the third Wednesday of September 1990 the news of this simple prayer campaign had spread as over 45,000 teenagers met early in the morning at their school flag poles to pray – and See You At The Pole was born. In one year this phenomenon had increased to include over 1 million students and this past year over 3 million American students met at their schools for intentional prayer for this generation. Plus, SYATP has now spread to over 20 other countries around the world.
It’s time for another prayer meeting!
BECAUSE SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENS WHEN STUDENTS CALL OUT TO GOD!
Students make history when they band together in specific prayer!
It happened once in 1806 when five students in the northeastern corner of Massachusetts met behind a haystack during a severe thunderstorm to ask God to use them to impact their entire generation. This simple prayer meeting became the catalyst for the “Second Great Awakening” or the “Student Volunteer Movement” that according to historians propelled over 10,000 foreign missionaries into the world’s harvest fields.
It happened again in early 1990 when “a small group if teenagers in Burleson, Texas came together” asking the Lord to use them to impact their generation. “Compelled to pray, they drove to three different schools that night. Not knowing exactly what to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders.” Another incredible prayer movement was born. By the third Wednesday of September 1990 the news of this simple prayer campaign had spread as over 45,000 teenagers met early in the morning at their school flag poles to pray – and See You At The Pole was born. In one year this phenomenon had increased to include over 1 million students and this past year over 3 million American students met at their schools for intentional prayer for this generation. Plus, SYATP has now spread to over 20 other countries around the world.
It’s time for another prayer meeting!
Our Lord Himself challenged His disciples to pray specifically in Luke 10:2, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.”
It’s important to remember that God is still calling people to work in His harvest. The world-wide need is greater now than it has ever been. God’s plan is still that His people must pray for “the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest.” According to projections by the United Nations, the total population of the world will exceed seven billion people sometime in the middle of October 2012. If the harvest of souls was great in the first century, just think of what it will be by the time our world’s population reaches seven billion. It’s more important than ever that we pray “the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers.”
It’s time to be intentional about implementing this Biblical strategy. Praying for laborers is God’s plan - it is something that He wants to bless. If the Lord used the fervent prayers of five college students meeting under a haystack to thrust over ten thousand missionaries into the harvest, just think of what He could do if churches all across this nation (and maybe even around the world) would intentionally mobilize their people to pray specifically for harvest workers. Who knows what might happen? Perhaps our Lord would supernaturally bless a new prayer emphasis to launch another great awakening of students into worldwide vocational ministry!
So we are asking youth workers everywhere to prayerfully consider an organized and intentional prayer emphasis for harvest workers. Let’s set aside Sunday, October 12, 2008, as “Harvest Sunday.” We can pray in Sunday School, in youth group meetings, and in church services. We can also organize other creative ways to call our people to pray. This could be huge. Perhaps through our combined efforts to be intentional about praying for harvest laborers, God may choose to launch another great movement of students heading into global missions.
Let’s all begin to think of how we can network with others to make this happen. Let’s call on youth groups, churches, Christian colleges, and missionary organizations to join with us on Sunday, October 12, 2008, for “Harvest Sunday.”
It only makes sense for us to select that particular day for this renewed prayer emphasis. It is the anniversary weekend of when the world’s population reached the six billion mark, (see http://www.unfpa.org/6billion/) and it is close to the time of year, projected for October 2012, when our population is slated to hit seven billion. Plus, it’s during the harvest season, so this time of year can be a God-given visual aid of praying for harvest workers.
Let’s do everything we can to challenge youth workers and other church leaders to make “Harvest Sunday” a reality this year on October 12th. Let’s think this through and share ideas of how we can emphasize intentional prayer for harvest workers that day. Perhaps some readers will want to make contacts with other influential leaders and so on. We need to get the momentum rolling, so let’s share ideas and creative ways to promote this endeavor.
In the meantime, place this date on your calendars. Sunday, October 12, 2008, is “Harvest Sunday.” Please send us your ideas at info@visionforyouth.com. Or just post your ideas for Harvest Sunday as a post to this Blog. This is a perfect way to create a conversation and momentum for Harvest Sunday.
It’s time for another prayer meeting!
Posts
