One night last summer, I lay in bed thinking about what needed to change at my school, the University of Chicago. Two things stood out in my mind: a heightened commitment to prayer and a bold proclamation of the gospel. These ideas continued to take shape throughout the summer as I prayed, talked with fellow Christians, searched the Scriptures and even fasted. I soon found out that God’s vision was at work in more people than just me!

As a result, we’ve had a small group of Christians praying in nearly every dorm on campus almost every weeknight this year. We pray for each other, our families, our dorm neighbors and friends, and our campus. It’s not easy praying every night, especially at a demanding school like the U of C, but we see God at work as we are faithful to him.

This is how we got started: when the school year began, I shared my vision with three Christian friends who were also committed to advancing God’s kingdom at our school. We began praying every night at 11 p.m. for non-Christians throughout the university.

I also began meeting with Christians from all over campus, and I found that God had gone ahead of me. In an awesome way, God was stirring our campus to pray.

Josh Mercer, a second-year student, was the first to follow suit in hosting nightly prayer meetings in his dorm. “I was looking for something like this, and God stirred me to present it to all the new first-years.” Soon, six Christians were meeting regularly for prayer in Josh’s dorm.

The next prayer meetings sprang up in two of the largest dorms on campus, Woodward and Burton-Judson (BJ). From four to six nights a week, students from BJ would meet to pray because “we wanted to see God work, both for the sake of his own glory and for the sake of our non-Christian friends.” While small in number, they were blessed to have a new Christian join them in prayer on many of the nights.

I longed to see a prayer meeting develop in the largest dorm on campus, Shoreland. I was close to several Christians there, and I began to urge them to start a similar prayer group. Instead, God raised up three other women to serve him in this way. One of those women, Carrie Wong, explains that “when I first heard that there were nightly prayers in some dorms, I became very excited and wanted to initiate one in my dorm.” As a result, five days a week they host a dorm prayer meeting.

It was a first-year student who took the initiative to begin nightly prayer meetings in yet another dorm. Sure enough, God brought together four people to join in prayer four nights a week. Now we have regular prayer meetings in most of our dorms.

Beyond the nightly prayer meetings taking place in the dorms, several campus-wide prayer meetings also began. Each weekday morning, several students gather as early as 8 A.M. to pray. Every Monday night, Christians gather for corporate prayer in one of the campus classrooms. God has raised up so many committed to prayer as a remarkable testimony to his power.

We’ve had some difficulties and adjustments throughout the year, but we will continue to pray for each other and the campus so God’s work will be accomplished.

—James Seward is a third-year student at the University of Chicago and says he’s learning each day the importance of God’s Word.