I was lost… seriously lost!!
I had promised a few students that I would meet them at their See You At The Pole event. SYATP is when Christian students meet before school to pray for their school, teachers, friends, and community.
It was early on a brisk September morning. The pressure was building in my spirit as I watched the minutes tick away on the clock in my car.
I was looking for a high school that I had only been to once before. Then I saw him. One guy, standing beside his flagpole with his head bowed. My heart sunk.
"Is this the school?" I thought. I looked at the sign and my heart sunk further. It WASN'T the school that I was planning on going to, but I just COULDN'T let him pray alone. I stopped my car across the street, ran across traffic, put my hand on the student's shoulders and prayed for him. After I finished praying, he looked up at me with a surprised look. I looked him in the eye and said, "You are NOT alone."
The truth is many Christians feel alone. They watch the news; they see their world; they retreat into their world of safety… meanwhile, Jesus commands us to, "Go."
I believe in SYATP because of two reasons: leaders and prayer. SYATP gives Jesus-followers the opportunity to unite the body of Christ through our most powerful resource, PRAYER. Future leaders of the church link arms with other leaders realizing that the body of Christ is much larger than their local church.
Collecting student leaders doesn't "just happen." Many times a church only has one or two students that will lead. One of our greatest needs in the body of Christ is a catalyst for connecting student leaders for encouragement, inspiration, idea sharing, and strategy.
For most youth leaders it is difficult to plan one more event, much less an event that brings together leaders that are not in their own local church. This is why it's so important to network for outreach.
Throughout the country there are tens of thousands of schools with students gathering to pray. Add those together and this is a substantial movement of God! Our prayer is for a movement of the Holy Spirit within our schools, resulting in a God-created revival. We pray that our students' example of working together would be a model for the adult body of Christ as they witness the younger generation coming together in prayer… as leaders.
Many times, we as leaders are simply strategizing. God keeps convicting me that we really should just drop to our knees and start praying. Would you join us as we pray for these students as they pray for their schools? Pray that God would work in their hearts to generate a revival within our schools. Our schools need Jesus!
I believe that EVERYTHING is here for a massive revival; it's simply a matter of connecting the dots!
For more information on See You At The Pole, please visit www.syatp.com.