Wednesday, September 28, 2011

See You at the Pole

“I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. Whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you.”   Matthew 18:19-21 (CEV)

Today is the national day of prayer for students known as See You at the Pole.  The above verse is the verse for the event and the theme this year is Converge.  The definition for converge is to come together from different directions; meet. This morning that is exactly what happened.  Students all over the world converged with each other and with God to pray for friends, leaders, and their schools.  

This simple verse above is a comforting and encouraging promise from Jesus Himself that helps us to know He is always with us. When we gather and agree together, placing Him first, He is there. And when God and His people converge for prayer, lives change!  

SYATP History
The global day of student prayer began in 1990 (in Burleson, Texas) when students came together for a DiscipleNow weekend in early 1990. Seeking God, they prayed and became burdened for their friends.  Saturday night, not knowing what else to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders. This event birthed a vision for youth leaders all over Texas.  In June 1990, at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Tx , the idea was presented to over 20,000 teenagers and a challenge was issued to  carry on this practice of uniting in Christ at their school flagpoles and praying for friends, schools, and leaders.  A few months later youth ministers from all over the country gathered for a national conference in Colorado.  Many of them had already heard of the grass-roots movement and were eager to do the same for their schools.  Students across the country were ready to begin their own national day of student prayer.  

The very next year on September 11, 1991, at 7:00 am, one million students gathered at school flagpoles all over the United States!  It is amazing how this fire spread through the youth of our country.  From the east coast to the west coast, from north to south, students came together to pray. Some sang, some read Scripture, but most importantly, they prayed. Like those first students, they prayed for their schools, for their friends, for their leaders, and for their country.  During the first few years, the movement began to spread to other countries through missionaries.  Now, more than 3 million students around the world participate in See You at the Pole including students from 20 different countries!  God showed up at the very first See You at the Pole and He continues to make His presence magnificently known!

Come, Be Blessed!
See You at the Pole is an amazing event to witness.  Last year we had around 850 youth on our campus for Polevault, the rally on the evening of the national day of prayer.  It was an incredible experience to worship with all those teenagers who are sold out to God.  To look around and witness abandon on their faces, their hands held high in worship, makes a parent’s heart humbled.  I urge you to pray for the Polevault rally tonight at North Side in our Worship Center at 7:00 pm.  It is an experience that you will be glad you to be a part of.  Be in prayer for the event, staff and kids involved.  Pray that hearts will be open and God’s voice will be heard.

Scripture to Claim:
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.   Matthew 7:7-8

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