Pray 40
August 23-October 1, 2010
Praying for and with our college campuses
Right-click to download: Pray 40 Welcome Video
Each fall, over 17 million American students head to college and university campuses. Millions more will head to college when you include universities around the world. These students are making decisions, learning lessons, and being shaped into the next generation of teachers, accountants, mothers, fathers, doctors, CEO’s, journalists, and ministers, among others. Shouldn’t it be our prayer that as they make these decisions, learn these lessons and become these people that they do so having been shaped by Christ?
This fall, we invite you to join us as we pray for the next generation of Christian leaders as they head to college and university campuses. Starting August 23, we are calling the Church to prayer for our college campuses for 40 days. We have a two-fold purpose: to call the Church to pray for college students and to help college students learn to pray. The 40 days is not a conclusive time period when we simply say our prayers and wish our students the best, but it is a specific period of time in which we can expressly pray for a group of people who so desperately need our prayers. The “40” also comes from Isaiah 40 to “prepare the way of the Lord”. This is a chapter of Scripture where we see God calling his people to hope from despair, to understanding from futility, and to strength from weariness. This is our prayer for the generation of college students who populate campuses around the world…that they would come to trust in the One, true God and be strengthened to run the race that is before them.
Authors
The prayers have been written by campus ministers, college students, bishops, authors, pastors, and other leaders. Collectively, they express a heart for God to inspire, challenge, and transform the lives of college campuses and individual students. As you pray the prayers offered by these fellow Christians, may you see how God is calling you to minister to those future Christian leaders who may not yet profess the name of Christ.
Rhythm of Pray 40
As we seek to call forth prayer from the Church, we’re following the words of Psalm 71:24, proclaiming God’s righteousness all day long and offering three opportunities for prayer: morning, noon, and evening prayers. The morning prayers are written by pastors and leaders who support the work of shaping the lives of future Christian leaders. The noon prayers come from campus ministers themselves who have often prayed these prayers on their own, but now open up their own call by sharing their prayers with the world. The evening prayers come from college students themselves, whose prayers reveal the passion they have for ministering to others in their generation.
How to Participate
We have several ways in which people can join in our prayer efforts:
- Daily Emails—Receive an email morning, noon, and evening with the prayer for the day.
- Downloadable Prayer Guide—Download and share a book of prayer with the daily prayers that can be shared with your family, your church, your Sunday School class/small group, your prayer group, or prayed alone.
- Twitter prayers—Follow us @CollegeUnion and we’ll send you a link to the prayers online.
- Text Messages –Receive part of the prayer as a text message and be reminded to pray for college campuses and get a link to the prayers online. Sign up by texting “pray40” to 41411, standard text messaging rates apply.
Campus Ministers, Wesley Foundation directors, and those who minister to college students in other ways are going to be encouraged to connect several ways:
- By joining the prayer effort by praying themselves and inviting their students, board members, and partnering churches to do the same
- By signing up for a 24 hour period of continuous prayer within their ministry
- By teaching about prayer in their ministries this fall or utilizing some recorded teachings on prayer that we are providing at no cost
- By considering signing up to have students pray as a part of the Living Prayer Center, a ministry of The Upper Room
Special Thanks
Pray 40 is happening because of the support and effort of others who are passionate about reaching this generation of college students. We are grateful for the collaboration and partnership between College Union, The Upper Room, General Board of Discipleship, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The Foundation for Evangelism, with special thanks to United Methodist Communications. We also want to thank the 120 authors for lending their voice to this project. We are once again indebted to Barbara Bowser of The Foundation for Evangelism for the work on the new Pray 40 website. Finally, we need to thank Dr. Tom Albin, Dean of The Upper Room Chapel, for championing this project and believing in us.
Pray 40 Coordinators
Ashlee Alley, Campus Minister at Southwestern College – Winfield, KS
ashlee.alley@sckans.edu
620.229.6362
Creighton Alexander, The Campus Coach
creightonalexander@gmail.com
785.218.7502