"When College Students Pray" by Kim Carson

Kim Carson serves as Baptist Campus Minister at California University of Pennsylvania.

One of my favorite experiences as a campus minister is praying with students.  I enjoy teaching them how to pray out loud and encouraging them to pray specifically for the things on their heart.  See You at the Pole (SYATP), a global day of student prayer at the end of September, is one of my favorite days of the year because we pray together for our campus, community, and world.  It has been an encouraging time to collaborate with the other Cal U campus ministries.  When students pray, they connect with God.  When students pray, they have more peace.  When students pray, our campus is changed for the better.  We may never know the total impact of our prayers, but God assures us that he hears us when we pray.

Prayerwalking has been an important part of my life at Cal U for a few years and it is incredible to share it with students.  When students come for the first time, they are curious and nervous.  By the end of their first walk around campus, they have more confidence and more peace.  We connect together in prayer, and we ask for God to open our eyes to see Cal U as He sees it and our minds to pray in alignment with His will.  Where most students struggle to stay focused on any one thing for more than 5 minutes, they find they can stay focused on prayer for over half an hour when we are prayerwalking.  If you would like to pray along side us, I encourage you to say a prayer for us and for Cal U when we are prayerwalking on Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

From Arliss:  Often we encourage students to pray but we do not teach them how to pray or pray aloud with them and help them learn to pray aloud.  A key part of teaching discipleship with our students is praying with them and encouraging them in growing in prayer.  Kim Carson is one of those fabulous College Ministers that raises her own salary in order to serve where she does.


Arliss Dickerson is the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook and print at amazon.com (Type in Arliss Dickerson) and is a part time college ministry consultant for Lifeway Christian Resources.