In 2003, there were two world-changing prayer walks happening in America. Little did they know, a group of high school students in Michigan and Colorado would birth a national student-led prayer movement. The group of students in Michigan communicated a desire to continue praying for their school to their youth pastor! He encouraged them to meet weekly in their school, so they did.
Together, they discussed and discovered there was one issue their campus faced that needed change. Fights were happening every day in the halls. The high school was known for violence. They began to pray persistently for an end to fighting.
After these students started consistently interceding for their school, the youth pastor heard astounding news from his lead pastor, who had attended the school board meeting. School officials reported that, for some unknown reason, fighting had completely come to a stop. The lead pastor knew why. The youth pastor knew why. A group of eight young intercessors knew why fighting had stopped. To the youth pastor who witnessed it all, he begged to ask the question:
“What if this happened in every school in America?”
God downloaded a specific vision to see students in every middle and high school in America weekly praying for change. If 15 in every school prayed, there would be 1 million young intercessors! There have been thousands of stories like the first all over the nation since this youth pastor, Geoff Eckart, said “Yes” to starting and leading Claim Your Campus in 2009.
After the official start of this movement, four sophomores answered a call to regularly intercede for their high school in Marion, IN. There were three issues things they focused their prayer time on each week: an end to violence, grades to improve, and bold Christ followers. With several fights happening a day and test scores rating the school as an “F-rated school”, these students longed to see better days.
Not too long after this group started meeting consistently, a student realized she couldn’t remember the last time she saw a fight at school. This group was amazed and challenged to move their meeting from their hidden spot in the library out into the front hallway. It was time for people to see what was changing their school!
The principal of this high school pulled one of the sophomores into his office after witnessing this prayer meeting. He asked the student what was going on in this group. The student shared his faith and shared the power of prayer with his principal. What he soon discovered was the school’s test scores had sky-rocketed that year. They were now an “A-rated school,” with the majority of their students passing AP exams.
As the student shared the power of prayer with his principal, he invited the principal and his family to church. The principal and his family were baptized! Stories like this have been heard all over the nation because young people choose to intercede with faith for their schools and their generation.
Since 2009, 30,000+ students have heard the call and been trained through Claim Your Campus resources. Training happens at national conferences, churches, CYC Gatherings, virtual training calls, and on their free prayer app. With new leadership under its current director, Olivia Williamson, the movement is growing as generations rally behind this prayer movement.
After navigating difficult times through 2020, students have gained a new passion and understanding of why prayer on their campuses matters. People are desperate for hope, belonging, and truth! Students are seeing the need and showing up weekly to ask the Holy Spirit for change in their schools.
There are CYC prayer groups all week long, from early Monday mornings to Fridays after school. Whatever it takes, Generation Z is answering the call to pray. Because of this, God is bringing healing in hallways. There have been reports of healed hearts, principals no longer needing wheelchairs, addicts finding freedom, and people hearing the Gospel because of these holy, sacred prayer meetings.
As this student-led prayer movement is growing and building more momentum than ever before, CYC is calling generations ahead of these students to support and pray for this movement. While a movement of student-led prayer is happening on the inside of middle and high school campuses, adults are praying on the outside as they walk. The Lord is calling generations to join together to prayer walk schools!
The Prayer Walk Project is a new CYC initiative to mobilize a prayer walk in every middle and high school in capital cities in 2023. Parents, churches, students, and caring adults are uniting together to cover schools in prayer for GRACE, PEACE, JUSTICE, and MERCY in that campus. They also pray that a student-led prayer movement would start or continue there. This project will bring more awareness to the need to pray for schools and equip students to intercede intentionally for their generation.
The Prayer Walk Project is only possible if there are caring adults, churches, and students who will claim their capital city and mobilize prayer walks. Claim Your Campus has built the prayer walk routes, school lists, prayer walk guides, and promotion strategies. All that is needed now is people who are willing to stand in the gap for students and declare each school as holy ground!
Go to claimyourcampus.com/prayerwalkproject to mobilize or learn more about participating in your capital city. Join multigenerational prayer walks as a movement of prayer for schools grows nationwide!
No matter who you are, join this movement! If you are a student, download the Claim Your Campus app, invite 2+ friends to join you, and show up weekly to pray. If you are an adult, consider being a part of the Prayer Walk Project! Times are urgent, and prayer is needed. Let’s unite together in the name of Jesus to pray for change in schools across our nation!
Claim Your Campus empowers middle and high school students to begin praying for change on their school campus. Find out more at claimyourcampus.com.
Original article written by the Intercessors for America
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