Collegiate Day of Prayer Global: 40-Day Prayer GuideSample

Day 29: Never Give Up

By Dr. Steve Shadrach (Steve is the Founder of the Center for Mission Mobilization (now Via) and has served as Mobilization Director for the US Center for World Mission. He lives with his family in Fayetteville, Arkansas.)

For the love of Christ controls us….

– 2 Corinthians 5:14a (ESV)

Mike was a fun-loving partier like a number of my college fraternity brothers. We spent many star-filled nights on the roof of our chapter house talking about our lives, dreams—and his soul. He knew he wasn’t a Christian, but he promised that if he did come to Christ, I would be the first to know. Never in my life have I been more burdened to intercede for someone’s salvation—late nights and early mornings on my knees crying out to God on Mike’s behalf. I was absolutely sure the Lord was going to redeem his soul. “The love of Christ” controlled my prayers.

One afternoon I was horrified to hear someone running through the hallways screaming, “Mike’s been killed in a wreck!” I staggered to my knees and sobbed. I could not believe it. The Lord had promised me! In total denial, I couldn’t speak, eat, or sleep. I wandered around campus in a daze for three nights, hurling heartfelt accusations at God.

Then a fraternity brother knocked on my door. With tear-filled eyes, he told me what happened to Mike. They had gone to the lake to smoke marijuana when a minister engaged them in a spiritual conversation. Mike became so convicted he prayed to receive Christ. He immediately got up, threw his drugs in the water, and said, “Let’s go. I’ve got to tell Shad.”

As he drove back, a speeding car rounded a curve in Mike’s lane. He had an instantaneous decision. Rather than hit the car head-on and risk killing everyone, he chose to sacrifice his own life by turning his vehicle off a steep dropoff. The full weight of Mike’s car crushed him.

I instantly envisioned my friend in heaven. He was saved! Mike was with Jesus. God had kept His promise to me. Never again would I give up on anyone. I would continue laboring in prayer for his or her salvation, sharing the gospel, and laying my life down. This is what 2 Corinthians 5:14 truly means: “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died.”

PRAYER POINTS:

• Go into your prayer closet and labor in prayer for the campuses near you. Intercede for specific students to come to Christ (Matthew 6:6; Mark 1:35).
• Ask God to raise up laborers for the harvest (Luke 10:2).
• Believe God for worldwide student movements of great harvest (John 4:35).