The gathering takes place annually on the fourth Wednesday of September. and is recognized nationwide in middle schools, high schools and colleges. Photo from http://www.examiner.com
Colorado State University-Pueblo ministries set aside time this week to recognize National Student Prayer Week.
The entire week is designated to focus on the importance of prayer in a person’s life, and the most well known event of the week is “See You at the Pole.”
“See You at the Pole” was created 23 years ago in Burleston, Tex. when a youth pastor challenged his students to gather publicly to pray for their nation, their peers and their own personal lives.
The gathering takes place annually on the fourth Wednesday of September and is recognized nationwide in middle schools, high schools and colleges.
On the designated day, students gathered around the flagpole of their school or university to pray for the state of the country, the world and other important parts of their lives.
“I think that SYATP went pretty good even without good advertisement,” said Dustin Cox, a student at CSU-Pueblo and member of the organization CRU, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. “Four students, including myself, were there at 7 a.m. to pray for our school, our nation and the world.”
Schools all over the nation participated in SYATP, and according to the Christian Post, millions of students from sixth grade through college participated in the event.
“See You at the Pole is important to me because it allows me to come together with other Christians to pray together for others,” said Cox. “It is a place where we can see God do amazing things and I have yet to be disappointed by going to SYATP.”
“I think it’s (SYATP) important because it brings students together who care about the campus, our country, and the world, and want to make a difference,” said student Kaylah Schwartz.
“To me, prayer is the difference between religion and a relationship. Praying and seeing God answer those prayers just reassures me that I have a strong relationship with him. Prayer just makes me feel better because I know that he is always listening and caring about my struggles when people may not be aware of them,” said Sydni Riley, a second year student at CSU-Pueblo and a devout Christian.
For students such as Cox, Schwartz and Riley, prayer is a key part of their daily routine. While SYATP is an important day set aside annually for prayer, it is not the only day that these students set aside time to talk to God.
“For us as Christians, we believe that Jesus said in the Bible that ‘Where two or three are gathered together, I am there.’ Prayer becomes even more powerful in numbers,” Cox said.
Schwartz went on to say, “Prayer is important because you are talking to the creator of the world and I’ve seen how powerful he is.”
National student prayer week will continue through the end of this week.