Students began to gather at Satsuma High School before daylight this morning (Sept. 27), preparing their hearts for See You at the Pole, an annual student-led prayer event.
Students sang together, and then individuals prayed and shared their favorite Bible verses as they worshipped alongside their classmates and friends.
Student Claire Boyett said it was her second year to participate in SYATP. She told Mobile’s Fox 10 News she hoped fellow students saw the event as “a safe place to pray and worship.”
Annual observance
Every year since 1990 on the fourth Wednesday in September, students from around the globe have come together to pray, to lift up their friends, families, school, city, state and nation to the Lord.
This year’s See You at the Pole theme was “Wholehearted,” taken from Jeremiah 29:13.
Debi DeBoer, ministry director for First Priority Greater Birmingham, said the theme is “very convicting and serves as a reminder that God wants our full commitment.”
First Priority Greater Birmingham and First Priority organizations around the state provided resources and support for many schools as they planned and carried out their SYATP events.
At Andalusia Elementary School, older students from the school’s Priority Kids chapter led worship, and students then divided into small groups to pray for their school and its staff, fellow students and the community.
Parent Hillary Dent said “it was a beautiful thing to see students worshipping with parents, grandparents, friends, teachers and administrators.”
A crowd of homeschool students gathered at Glynwood Baptist Church in Prattville to pray.
Providing support
As student ministries report an uptick in attendance at Bible study and worship events this fall following reports of revival on many campuses earlier this year, SYATP is a “moment,” said Doug Clark, national director of the National Network of Youth Ministries, which coordinates SYATP promotion.
Organizers hope adults and students will consider turning SYATP into a movement that results in regular student-led prayer gatherings, he noted.
“The heart of SYATP is extraordinary prayer,” Clark said, adding that SYATP partners with Claim Your Campus to encourage students to pray daily at their schools.
Ways to pray
Clark suggested several ways students and others can pray regularly:
- Pray every time you drive through a school zone.
- Prayer walk a school in your community in the evening or on a weekend.
- Engage with students and teachers in your church.
- Start a weekly prayer gathering at your school.
For more information on the history of SYATP and additional resources, go to syatp.com.
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