Today, prayer will break out across thousands of America’s colleges. The annual “Collegiate Day of Prayer” (CDOP) takes place on the last Thursday of February and involves thousands of students coming together to worship the Lord Jesus. This year, it is expected that around 100,000 students will be involved in praying, with locations spanning some 3,000 college campuses.
What is it all about?
The event dates back to the 1800s and is rooted in the Second Great Awakening (1790-1845), which sparked a number of spiritual renewals within the student population. Thai Lam, CDOP facilitator and the national director for Luke18, said that the day of prayer was a “collaborative effort of many ministries coming together for the purpose of mobilizing students and the body of Christ to pray for college campuses.”
Collegiate Day of Prayer 2019 from Collegiate Day of Prayer on Vimeo.
Some of the ministries involved in the event include Cru, The Navigators, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, Youth With a Mission, Passion Conferences and InterVarsity.
“Students today need our support and earnest prayers” a description of the event reads on the CDOP website. “However, college students don’t just need more prayer, they need our UNITED prayer. Without a greater degree of genuine, unified prayer, our hopes and dreams for this generation may never be realized.”
History of Collegiate Day of Prayer from Collegiate Day of Prayer on Vimeo.
Another aspect of the CDOP is the “Adopt a Campus” initiative, whereby churches vow to cover one particular college in “meaningful, consistent and specific” prayer. So far, just over 3,000 colleges have been adopted, with around 1,700 still needing commitment.
It's Collegiate Day of Prayer (#CDOP)! ? Join in praying for college campuses! Pray for one without a ministry presence (https://t.co/Gxc55cwOmI), your alma mater, current school, or another campus you feel led to pray for! Go to https://t.co/GccsKdagVg to adopt a campus! pic.twitter.com/h4gRgpS5iE
— InterVarsity USA (@intervarsityusa) February 28, 2019
Why are the students taking part?
With students facing so many challenges in our current political and cultural climate, CDOP offers up a day for the next generation to seek God for the future of our nation.
“I am participating in CDOP because I know God is willing and able to transform my campus and our nation for the better,” Parker Colbath, a student at North Carolina State University, told Fox News. “Our hope is that through prayer, the broken would be healed, the poor would be helped, the depressed would have joy, and the people of our nation would know how much they are loved by God. Big things happen when we pray!”
Luke Heaton, a student at Texas A&M University said that it was “exciting” to be a part “of something so unique and so powerful.”
“I’ll be praying for God to continue to transform hearts and minds on college campuses as I ask him to do the same in my life every day,” he added. “Days like these produce fruit, even if we don’t see it immediately.”
Please pray for all those involved in this wonderful event!