It is late August and fall is quickly approaching, signaling for some the anticipation of football and hunting seasons. But, for over 160,000 University students, it signifies the start of classes on our Arkansas campuses. Students from all the states and from many countries have arrived in Arkansas seeking higher education.   

According to many polls and research, these students represent a generation that is largely lost and unchurched. Many are seeking after the world and have little concern about spiritual matters. It is a great comfort knowing the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) exists on most Arkansas campuses, which have become the most strategic mission field in the world. The BCM is positioned to engage students with the Gospel and to help students connect with the local church.  

Within a short distance of every church there is a local campus, and they need your help. One of the greatest resources church members can provide is prayer. There is a great need for prayer warriors to be lifting each campus across the state of Arkansas in prayer. Below is a prayer guide that you can use as you pray daily for our universities and the students that populate them.  

1. Pray for the BCM Campus Ministers.  Pray that they would have wisdom, strength, and endurance to lead university students to a stronger relationship with God.  Pray for their families as they spend long hours ministering to students through worship, discipleship, and mission trips.  

2. Pray for the incoming freshmen who are leaving home and moving into dorms. Pray that as they seek a community to connect with, that they would find the BCM and become connected to a body of Believers.  

3. Pray for the international students who have travelled from all over the world to attend our universities. Pray for them as they adjust to a new culture. Pray for them as they work through homesickness. Pray that they would encounter Believers who will share the love of Jesus with them.    

4. Pray for the students who will be graduating this year.  Pray that God will guide them during their last year of classes and as they prepare to enter a new stage of life.  

5. Pray for the salvation of the administration, faculty, and staff.  Many professors have a liberal agenda and need to come to have a relationship with God.  

6. Pray for the Believers on each campus. Pray that they would be obedient to God in their lives. Pray that they would have a boldness to share the Gospel with their classmates.  

7. Pray for an Awakening on the university campus.  Past Awakenings have begun on a college campus. Pray that God will do it again. 

Prayer is the foundation of our spiritual lives and for all that we do. The BCM needs faithful men and women to be lifting them and their ministries in prayer daily. Let us commit to being faithful in praying for the thousands of university students and let us see what our God does as a result!