Let’s Pray!

The Apostle Paul called on believers to pray continually and to pray for each other.  

Shouldn’t we do the same on campus?

My institution is a four-year public university located in southwest Ohio. Like many other universities, we were hit unexpectedly and hard by Covid-19 when the pandemic swept the state. Classes went remote in a matter of days.

Faculty kept the learning going by developing online content while they were teaching. Students scrambled for support and resources. A student lived in a rural area, and unfortunately, that area was not serviced by the internet. The student made it through the semester by sharing his neighbor’s satellite link.

People did many things to help each other. Faculty and staff worked extremely hard to ensure our students received the same education as they would in normal circumstances. It was hard. It felt sudden.

Amid all the turbulence, I started a virtual group – Let’s Pray. It was comprised of twelve believers, including students, faculty, and staff. We started a monthly prayer email in March 2020 and have run 19 issues since. 

Each prayer email is centered on a verse in the Bible with a short devotion. The subject line of the email is always: Let’s Pray. There is only one rule – when the email arrives in the inbox, we read it and pray.

The prayer requests concern the campus and its people. We have prayed for health, safety, support, trust, unconditional love, persistence, forgiveness, and more. After I sent out the email, I would often get a reply from someone in the group thanking me for the word of God and the reminder to pray for the campus.

Everyone in the group is a prayer warrior. We routinely dedicate our time and thought toward Jesus, our Lord and Savior. 

We are committed to supporting others and making the university a better place.

The campus welcomed students back in person last month. The Let’s Pray group rejoiced! We continue to pray for our students, staff, and faculty. We continue to battle the complex challenges facing higher education today. When I go through the Let’s Pray emails, I’m reminded that we are loved, and Jesus is right here with us no matter what we are going through.

Like Paul said, “Brethren, pray for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:25). We are called to do His will, not just in our prayers but also in our daily, professional work. By praying together (even in a virtual group), we strengthen our faith and become more conscious of God’s instruction for us.

My colleagues, would you join us? Let’s pray…