Today is Collegiate Day of Prayer, an annual event held on the last Thursday in February.
CDP Executive Director Thai Lam told The Christian Post that while his organization launched their efforts in 2009, a day of prayer focused on colleges and universities traces its origins to a similar observance in the early 19th century but faded out after World War 1.
In February 2023, shortly before that year’s Collegiate Day of Prayer, a 16-day revival broke out during a campus chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, which garnered international attention.
Lam said the Asbury revival was “really significant” for his group, saying they “were blown away” by what was happening, calling it “what we’ve been praying for.”
Ultimately, Lam said his “hope and ambition” for the event “is that every college campus” will have a congregation or small group that was focused on its spiritual well-being.
One of the ministries involved in the Collegiate Day of Prayer is Cru, a student group founded in 1951 as a result of a 24-hour prayer event at the UCLA.
Dan Allan, executive director of Mission Expansion said, “Ultimately, we pray this day ignites a lasting commitment to intercede for students and faculty, believing God for transformation on campuses across the nation and beyond.”