By Talia Wise —
Liberty University students are in awe of how God moved on the hearts of hundreds of young people during a 24-hour prayer and worship service held last week.
Liberty’s Office of Spiritual Development (OSD) usually coordinates 24/7 prayer and other special prayer events throughout the academic year.
But this year, OSD organized a worship and prayer service that coincided with the National Collegiate Day of Prayer last Thursday.
And the turnout shocked the entire student body.
Daniel Spinney, a third-year religious studies student, told K-LOVE he doesn’t usually see more than 10 people inside Worley Prayer Chapel at any given time.
“When we got there, there was a line out the door which I’ve never seen at the prayer chapel before,” he explained. “There were so many people that were there…that couldn’t even fit inside the chapel to where they started worshipping and praying outside on the lawn, in front of the chapel…it was like 30 degrees outside but they were undeterred.”
Spinney describes the experiences as a raw and real experience of encountering God.
“It was like something I’ve never experienced before. There were so many people in there to where when we were singing, we were singing so loud that we couldn’t even hear the microphones and the worship collective singing through the speakers. The voices of the people in the room were just overpowering the microphones,” he added.
OSD has been working the entire year to encourage students to grow in their faith.
Every day at 6 a.m., the Worley Prayer Chapel opens for students and staff to come and pray alone or with others.
From 8 a.m.-10 p.m. on weekdays, students, primarily the Community Group Leaders (CGLs), take turns praying, Liberty University reports.
Then in the evening, certain residence halls take turns praying overnight throughout the semester.
“We want to teach them how to pray on their hall and watch them grow throughout the four years that they’re here,” said Prayer Ministry Assistant Kara Wheeler. “It’s amazing to see their transformation…”
Last year, LU Shepherds, the university’s pastoral care team, launched a 9-5 prayer initiative on select days that included worship.
“We are doing these events now to establish a culture of prayer,” LU Shepherd Director Brandon Milks said. “We want to create an understanding that prayer is not just at certain times of the day or the events that we put on, but it’s truly a cornerstone of life.”
February’s initiative coincided with the national Collegiate Day of Prayer which, as CBN News reported, was a day of focused prayer to see revival spread across college campuses and universities.
On that day, Liberty students lined Worley Prayer Chapel for nearly 24 hours seeking the Lord.
“It was amazing,” one current student shared. “I thought I was going to go for one hour and I ended up staying 20 hours. I lost my voice.”
“It was really powerful,” another student commented who showed up to the service at midnight. “The Lord showed up in cool ways…It was literally overflowing outside. It was so cool.”
Students confirmed that at least 300 students showed up.
“God moved in so many ways. [People] waited in line to get into the prayer chapel. There was just a whole group of people worshipping outside…it was so evident that the Holy Spirit was on this campus,” a young woman commented.
“It was a life-changing experience,” another added.
Spinney told K-LOVE, “I got to experience a little bit of heaven on earth. Being in a room full of people worshipping and singing was like nothing else.” — CBN
