Hundreds of churches, ministries, and individuals have committed to pray for 250 million students worldwide for the Collegiate Day of Prayer on February 27.
This annual event, held on the last Thursday of February, is expected to see participation from over 700 congregations and individuals praying for students across more than 1,100 campuses.
CDP Executive Director Thai Lam told The Christian Post that while his organization launched its efforts in 2009, the roots of the prayer day focused on colleges and universities can be traced back to a similar observance in the early 19th century. Lam referred to it as “the oldest day of prayer in American history,” adding that “every year, it kept on growing.”
In February 2023, shortly before the Collegiate Day of Prayer, a significant 16-day revival occurred during a chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, garnering international attention.
Lam described the Asbury revival as “really significant” for his group, stating that the CDP organizers “were blown away” by the developments, calling it “what we’ve been praying for.” Organizers of the CDP collaborated with members of the Asbury campus community, and they adjusted their plans for an earlier campus event to incorporate the ongoing revival among students.
Lam noted that one effect of the Asbury revival on the Collegiate Day of Prayer was the shift towards focusing on college students internationally. He explained, “We’ve been mostly focused on prayer for 20 million students on 4,200 college campuses [in the U.S.], and we had over 2 million engaged from the nations.”
“It’s been a point of prayer for us since Asbury. So, the big change this year is that we’re launching the Collegiate Day of Prayer global, where we’re shifting from just 20 million students in the U.S. to 250 million students in 195 countries.”
One ministry involved in the Collegiate Day of Prayer is Cru, a student group founded in 1951 following a 24-hour prayer event at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dan Allan, executive director of Mission Expansion for Cru, explained that the organization is participating in the annual observance because “prayer has been at the heart of our mission since our founding.”
Allan attributed the 2023 Asbury revival to a “renewed spiritual hunger” that “significantly increased awareness of the Collegiate Day of Prayer among believers.”
He noted, “The impact is evident in the ministry results displayed at the bottom of the CDOP website, where you can see a noticeable jump from 2022 to 2023 in the number of campus ministries, churches, and individuals committed to praying.”
