A Glimpse Back in Time: Part 7

As far as Prayer Room attendance, junior year was a roller coaster.  Although it was often just Chris, Joy, and I, several freshmen got involved early in the year and came on and off.  One guy was immediately drawn to the Prayer Room and joined us faithfully for several weeks.  But one day he stopped coming and never really came back.  Love and hunger for God can so easily be choked out by the pressures of college, especially at W&L.  High academic stress + social pressures + extreme busyness make it very difficult to devote regular time to God. 

Other freshmen would come daily for a whole week but then not again for a month.  We saw desire in them to really surrender everything to Jesus, but that desire was so easily overcome when homework got heavy or other fun activities seemed more appealing than singing and praying in a dim, lonely basement.

Spring Term, however, which at W&L means the last 4 weeks of school, was different.  Knowing that everyone was only taking one class, we decided to offer a challenge.  It was for anyone and everyone but especially targeted to our freshmen friends who wanted to commit more to God but needed a push.  And it was AWESOME.

First, we issued the challenge.  A week or two before spring break, we wrote a commitment on the whiteboard in the Prayer Room, signed it, and encouraged others to consider signing it as well.  The commitment was to come to the Prayer Room for all 25 nights of Spring Term.  It wasn’t about attendance or checking “God time” off a to-do list, but it was really about providing an opportunity for those that said they wanted to give God more of their time to actually do it. 

When Spring Term finally rolled around, we had eight signatures counting our own.  It seemed like a small number.  Eight?  Who would be excited about an event with eight people?  But coming from our usual three, eight was pretty miraculous!  Eight people would be praying for W&L EVERY NIGHT of Spring Term! 

The first night of the challenge was awesome.  I remember sitting on the floor and listening to the sound of the worship.  I don’t know if you’ve ever heard a group of 8-10 people singing in a small, open room, but it sounds AMAZING!  Especially when people begin to sing their own songs to Jesus.  It all blends together in this beautiful harmony, literally a new song for the Lord.  And I’m pretty sure we’ve been blessed with a greater than normal percentage of talented singers.

That night, a freshman guy who had never been to the Prayer Room before showed up and added his signature to the list. Already, our little group was growing.  And with nine people, there was an opportunity for community that hadn’t really existed before.  It suddenly became easier to imagine a group of students living lives abandoned to the Lord, forsaking the temptations of college, and enjoying fellowship with God and each other.  I really believe it was a glimpse of what we’re praying for down the road.

During those four weeks, we held many special events to better focus our time in prayer.  We did a prayer walk, where we prayed at different locations on campus, asking God to move there and touch hearts.  We visited freshmen dorms to pray with people and chat about their beliefs.  We invited the other campus ministries to the Prayer Room and met Christians that we hadn’t known before.  And we had post-prayer events such as game night and prayer for gifts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen both our friendships and our hearts.  It was truly a sweet time and such an answer to prayer.  Seemingly out of nowhere, people were hungry for God and acting upon that hunger.  Nine people were signed up, but on some nights, we had even more come to pray.

Of course, there were also nights when some of our committed friends were unable to make it.  But even those nights were sweet!  On one Friday or Saturday night, there were actually only three of us.  But as I looked at the freshman guy praying with Chris and I, I was touched by the fact that his experience in the Prayer Room was so different than mine.  In those 25 days, he came to our prayer meetings consistently, but he only experienced one prayer meeting with less than five people.  To him, the Prayer Room was exciting and full of life, not lonely and boring as I had so often experienced.  I wouldn’t trade my first two years in the Prayer Room for anything, but if no one else has to experience the difficulty of two-person prayer meetings each night, it will be a cause for rejoicing.

The last night of the prayer challenge was by far the best.  I cry every year at the last night of prayer, but this night was special in a different way.  For the first time, Chris and I were surrounded by a circle of faces, a circle of friends who had been deeply affected by the Prayer Room and by our prayers for them before they even started coming.  When I think back to each of those friends at the beginning of the year, it’s amazing how far God brought them.  One girl wasn’t sure she had a relationship with God.  One girl didn’t acknowledge Jesus as Messiah.  One guy couldn’t make God a priority.  One girl constantly said, “I’ll be at prayer tonight,” but rarely made it.  And me? I wasn’t sure if God was ever going to bring people to the Prayer Room.  But He changed us all.  And He gave us a hunger to keep on pursuing Him through the summer months.  Because the Spring Term Challenge was just the beginning!  Summer is round two.  And then comes the fall.  I pray that they all come back.  But regardless, it’ll be my last year at W&L, and I am going to give it everything I have.  Jesus laid down His life for me. Why should I do any less?

This is my last post for now about my time at W&L.  Through these “glimpses back in time,” I hope you have a better idea of where I’m currently at in life, ministry, and my relationship with the Lord.  Now you are ready for my posts about this summer!!