I spent this morning with about 70 other members of the National Prayer Committee meeting with and praying for Christian student leaders on the campus of one of America's largest university, Arizona State. Our passionate young hosts told us that God is at work among their campus's 52,000 students--inspiring 24/7 prayer rooms, empowering bold witness, prompting compassionate outreach, and causing nonbelievers to notice, inquire, and sometimes be saved. As we prayed with these young adults, we couldn't help but catch their vision. They reminded us that the future of our nation--whether in government, media, business, or education--is all being shaped now, on university campuses. As the students go, so goes the nation, they pointed out.

It was wonderful to hear that students are praying--and I mean really praying! With contagious zeal and faith and persistence. But the young people begged us to pray with them and for them. They covet the prayers of those of us in our 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80's and beyond.

Historically, revival has come when God has caught the hearts of youth and young adults. To that end, student leaders from across the nation have united to launch a new prayer initiative: Collegiate Day of Prayer. The idea is simple. On the last Thursday of this month, ask God to move on college and university campuses and in the lives of students, faculty, and staff. To find out how to participate, go to http://www.collegiatedayofprayer.org/. For specific ideas on how to pray, check out the Pray! resource, 18 Prayers for Higher Education.

Do you already pray for colleges and universities? Does your church or prayer ministry invest in the future by praying for college students? Share your stories and ideas with the rest of us!

My theology tells me that God can save anyone; no one, no matter how antagonistic or apathetic, is beyond His reach. That's probably what you believe too, right? But practically speaking, I have to admit that from my vantage point, some people seem more likely to be saved than others. So I was encouraged and inspired recently when my former pastor told me a wonderful true story.

Several years ago he challenged his congregation to think of someone who seemed "impossible" and pray for that person's salvation. It so happens that there was a young man in the community who wrote prolific and caustic letters to the editor, railing against the things that Christians hold dear. This woman decided to make him her prayer focus. For the next couple of years she cut out his letters and put them on her refrigerator and used them as reminders to pray for her impossible person's salvation.

Several years passed. Then one Sunday in the "meet and greet" time in the service, the man standing in front of her introduced himself. He was none other than the writer of those letters to the editor, the man she'd prayed for for two or three years! She was too dumbstruck to say anything then, but following the service, she found the courage to ask if he really were the same person of letter-writing fame. Sheepishly, he replied that he was. So she told him that she'd been praying for him. And then hetold her his part of the story.

He worked for a local coffee shop where some people he met invited him to church. For whatever reason (could it be the woman's faithful prayer?) he decided to go. Over time, through prayers of the faithful woman, the witness of his friends, the proclamation of God's Word at church, and the work of the Holy Spirit, he came to trust Jesus. And now, several years after his conversion, he continues to grow in his faith and openly shares his story of meeting Jesus.

That story inspires me to pray for the "impossible" people in my life. And to ask you: Have you seen "impossible" people come to faith through prayer? Would you share your stories with us?

I didn't plan to spend the night praying. It's just that I'm in the middle of a Situation. And when I'm in the middle of a Situation I can hardly think of anything but the Situation. Of course I pray about my Situation. But--I have to confess this--sometimes my prayer sounds more like worrying than prayer. So, in the wee hours last night when my Situation loomed large and kept me from sleep, I handed it over to Abba one last time, then switched channels. 

I decided to intercede through the alphabet, asking the Holy Spirit to give me someone or something to pray about for each letter. Sometimes He gave me more than one prayer for each letter. Usually I prayed for family and friends, but when I got to H, it was Haiti He led me to pray for, and when I got to O, He urged me to pray for our President. I dozed off a few times, but each time I awoke and my mind raced toward the Situation, I pulled it back to where I'd left off in the alphabet.

When I finished that, I was still awake and tempted to go back to my Situation, so I started the alphabet over again, this time naming something about God that corresponded to each letter. I tried to use names and attributes that had personal meaning for me and rest in those qualities of who God is--for instance, my Deliverer, Glory, Healer, Lifter of my head, Protector, Provider, Shalom, and Vindicator.

As before, I dozed on and off, but each time I awoke, I'd pull myself back to where I'd left off and continue centering on God and worshiping Him.

Honestly, I didn't sleep much last night. But by handing my Situation over to Him and focusing on systematically worshiping Him and praying for others, I still got up this morning refreshed and much more at peace. And somehow, I suppose it shouldn't surprise me, the Situation isn't nearly so large this morning.

To help myself and others like me who find it challenging to pray in the midst of enormous tragedy, a few years ago I asked the Lord to give me some Scripture-based prayers for just such times. He did. The result was the bookmark prayer guide, "Prayers of Hope in Times of Calamity." It includes prayers like these:

Dear Lord, if these hurting people have not called on You before, may they begin calling on Your name right now; may they find You to be their refuge and strength, a very present help in their time of trouble (Genesis 4:26; Psalm 46:1).

Loving Father, draw the children involved in this tragedy to Yourself. Let them come to You without hindrance. Strip away any foothold in their lives that Satan may try to gain through this tragedy. Rather, use it to refine their faith in You. (Matthew 19:13-14; Luke 17:1-2; Ephesians 1:27; 1 Peter 1:6-7).

Stir Your body to action, Lord Jesus. Surround these hurting people with those who will minister to them. Send believers who will offer food, visits, and other ministry in Your name. Prompt Your people to reach out and offer the comfort they themselves have received from You. Give them opportunities to share the reason for the hope they have (Matthew 25:37-40; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4; 1 Peter 3:15).

If you're like me and could use some focus and depths as you pray for Haiti, perhaps these prayers, and the others on the prayer card will help you. You can see the entire prayer card by going to "Prayers of Hope in Times of Calamity" and clicking on "Read a sample chapter."

A lot of us are more concerned than ever for the welfare of the communities we live in. So it was encouraging for me recently to realize that on Palm Sunday Jesus was grieved enough about Jerusalem to weep over it (Luke 19:41-44). Clearly, Jesus understands our concern for the spiritual needs of our cities.

Would you like a way to channel your concern into prayer? Each year thousands of churches across the nation join in prayer for their cities using Waymaker's prayer guide, Seek God for the City. The prayer initiative begins 40 days before Palm Sunday each year, which means that in 2010 it will be from February 17 until March 28. Scripture-based prayer guides are available to help you focus your prayers and pray in Kingdom-minded, wholistic ways for the needs of your community. Children's companion guides are available, as well as Spanish versions.

Waymakers is under the leadership of Steve Hawthorne, a former Pray! author, advisory board member, and leader of the prayer movement. For more information, go to Waymakers.