Why Student Leaders Should Pray Together

On college campuses, it’s easy for groups of Jesus-followers to feel like they are alone in a vast sea of people who could care less about God. Many Christian students aren’t even aware that God is moving in incredible ways all across their campus because they rarely hear stories of what he is doing through ministries they aren’t a part of. At The University of Texas, we’ve started a weekly student Fusion prayer group. We have found that when student leaders from many different campus ministries join together in united prayer and worship, incredible things start to happen.

So why should student leaders pray together?

It builds a unified vision on your campus

When student leaders (or any other group of believers) unite in prayer, we are all drawn closer to Christ and to each other. Jesus himself tells us that “where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). By praying together, our hearts are formed and molded to be more like God’s Heart. In prayer, God shows all of us new things we didn’t know or consider before (Jeremiah 33:3). Many times during our Fusion group meetings, we don’t even ask for anything but simply thank and praise God for who he is and what he is doing in and through us.  As student leaders pray together, our ministries’ visions for our campus converge to one vision, God’s vision.

It builds the Body of Christ on your campus

One of the biggest benefits of unified student leader prayer is that campus ministries become much more aware of each other. Even when campus pastors are united, sometimes it’s hard to get students to see what is going on in ministries beyond their own. Praying together helps student leaders open their eyes to better see the whole Body of Christ on their campus. Students discover ministries they didn’t even know existed, experience styles of prayer and worship different from their own, and make new friends across ministry lines. In addition, by praying directly with and for one another, students are encouraged to develop deeper relationships and fellowship with leaders of other ministries. Through praying together, student leaders are fulfilling Jesus prayer “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21).

It builds God’s Kingdom on your campus

In the 2nd half of John 17:21, Jesus prays to the Father, “May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Paul commanded the Colossian church to “devote yourselves to prayer…And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should” (Colossians 4:2-4).  In our Fusion prayer group, we always take time to pray for students who are going out to share the love of Christ and the people far from God they are reaching out to. At the same time, we develop a heart for the lost on our campus. By joining together to intercede for our campus, student leaders advance God’s Kingdom and his mission to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every tribe, tongue, and nation at their school and around the world.

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