Despite the weather, Liberty students and the spiritual life team from Student Government Association (SGA) prayed for the campus April 14 in the Montview Alumni Ballroom for the first Student Body Prayer Walk.
During this hour-long prayer event, students prayed for everything from revival, freedom, relationships, staff and Sodexo employees and their families to academic buildings, dorms, executive leadership and President Donald Trump.
“We pray that God is in those things, stays, and forever will be,” Jairus Truss, director of spiritual life at SGA, said.
The original plan was to meet on the Montview steps and walk around campus to pray for these areas. Due to the weather, tables were set up in the ballroom with labels for the different areas that students were able to pray for.
Students prayed individually for the designated parts of campus and then unified to pray specifically for revival and freedom for the campus and beyond.
This event was created in a reflection of how Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr., founder of Liberty University, used to walk over the mountain Liberty now stands on and pray over what was to come.
“This entire university is the result of a man being attentive to the voice of God and praying,” Nate Diaz, member of the spiritual life team, said. “Years and years later, standing on the result of prayer and praying is amazing to me.”
The group wanted to rekindle this pattern of prayer over the school with this event, remembering that the devil can also be present at Liberty.
“We love our university,” Truss said. “We love our school, but obviously even we have issues. Every place has issues because the enemy is prevalent everywhere.”
Allison Heise | Liberty Champion
SGA also saw it as an opportunity to return something to the administration they see working hard to provide for the students.
“For us this was a give back project,” Truss said. “How can we show that we are appreciative of the things that God has allowed us to have, but also at the same time our school has invested? And this was a cool way to do that.”
Students are encouraged to continue to pray over the campus, specifically using the prayer points from the event. SGA hopes this will become an annual event.
“The fact that people can come together and pray means there’s still a hunger for God,” Diaz said. “There’s a power to prayer, not to the people who are praying, but to the one they’re praying to.”