[Editor’s Note: As we continue to turn, pray, and unite, let’s focus our attention on the world of higher education. Our good friends at Collegiate Day of Prayer have been mobilizing churches and campus ministries to seek God for a spiritual awakening on college campuses for the last six years.If you would like to link arms with thousands of people across our nation to intercede for students and professors on February 26, please register to pray and adopt a campus here.While the following was written for those participating in the Collegiate Day of Prayer, it contains insights that will help you lead a fruitful prayer gathering anywhere.]

Collegiate Day of Prayer Is February 26

No one wants their prayer meeting to be awkward, unorganized, or poorly attended. Every prayer leader would prefer to host a well-organized and popular prayer event.However, effectual prayer and organizational efficiency are not always the same thing. The biggest and most organized meetings aren’t always the most spiritually significant.How then can we measure the success of our prayer event? A successful Collegiate Day of Prayer gathering can be summed up with three simple words—agreement, allies, and answers.

Agreement

One of this generation’s greatest needs is not just more prayer, but rather more agreement in prayer. According to Matthew 18:18-20, Christ’s promise to move heaven and earth depends more on our agreement than on the number of hours we pray.While unity with agreement is one of the best ways to measure the health and strength of a successful prayer movement, coming together at the same time and place does not always result in true agreement. We must beware of letting all the little administrative details of our physical meeting distract us from our larger kingdom goals.The visible gathering is only an outlet for the deeper work of the Spirit of unity. Above all the logistics involved in organizing a smooth prayer event, we must always seek to work and pray together like a team.God is looking for intercessory integrators—prayer mobilizers who can unite individual believers, campus ministries, and local churches to storm heaven for this generation. A good prayer meeting is united and focused!The Collegiate Day of Prayer is a clarion call to agree in prayer for the spiritual needs of this generation. Let’s unite our prayers around seeking God for another mighty spiritual awakening throughout the world of higher education.

Allies

All our goals of agreement in prayer will mean little without the strength of spiritual allies. The most effective prayer meetings are usually among a close-knit group of kingdom friends and coworkers. The more they pray together, the stronger and more effective they become.Additionally, genuine united prayer is a team activity, demanding that we learn how to reach out to new and different kinds of praying believers with grace, humility, and respect. Our goal is to have every college community in America (including faculty) thoroughly covered in fervent prayer. This goal will never happen by enlisting the help of other college students only.True prayer saturation can only be achieved as America’s fathers, mothers, grandparents, and church leaders from every class, culture, and denomination begin to cry out for this generation. A successful Collegiate Day of Prayer builds bridges, opens locked doors, and establishes new friendships and prayer allies!This is much more than just strategic networking and good logistics. God is asking us to open our hearts to Him and His whole Church—to walk and work together like a real family.The spiritual needs of this generation are crying out for us to pull down every wall that divides and weakens us. If we can find a way to do this, we are half-way home.New kingdom friendships and allies are a sure sign that God is beginning to crown our prayer efforts with lasting grace and victory!

Answers

Ultimately, a successful prayer movement is not judged by its goals, organization, or passion, but by tangible answers to God’s biblical promises.One of the initial ways we know God is beginning to answer our prayers is a strong sense of His presence. This is usually evident by an increased sense of faith, urgency, and freedom in intercession. These are all good signs that the Father is drawing close, listening, and blessing our corporate prayer efforts.Another indicator that God is honoring our prayers for revival is a growing desire to be still, tarry, and worship in God’s presence for extended periods of time. When this is accompanied by conviction, brokenness, and repentance, we know that God’s answer is on the way.This is both the biblical prescription and description of all the great historical revivals. When this spiritual process is sustained long enough to produce lasting joy, peace, and transformation, we know God is blessing our prayers for revival.But our hopes and prayers shouldn’t stop with just the refreshing and empowering of believers. True revival should always mobilize God’s people to share the Good News with the lost and unreached.We know God is answering when there is a widespread turning to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Such a move of the Holy Spirit will transform our college campuses, restore a morally broken generation, and rescue our whole nation.Even when these prayers are fully answered, it won’t stop there. THE ANSWER to the hopes and dreams of God is nothing less than the evangelization of the whole world—every tongue, tribe, and nation turning to Jesus Christ. This is the ultimate crown and answer to all of our united prayers!On February 26, let’s be in agreement to seek God to answer our prayers for another great move of His Spirit on each of our campuses, and invite as many friends and allies to intercede alongside us as possible. Our most fruitful CDOP may be just around the corner. David Smithers serves as the English minister for the Chinese Christian Assembly in Pomona, California. For the last 30 years, David has been committed to encouraging intercession and corporate prayer meetings for revival and spiritual awakening. He is the founder and director of Awake and Go prayer network and also serves on the leadership team for the Collegiate Day of Prayer.