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Students across the nation and around the world will gather for prayer at their school flagpoles on Wednesday morning, September 27, before classes begin. They will join hands and hearts to pray for their friends, families, schools, and nation.

“For 30 years, See You at the Pole (SYATP) has been about one simple act—prayer. “SYATP is still about students uniting themselves in prayer before God, interceding for their generation,” according to their website www.syatp.com.

“See You At The Pole,” described as a student-organized and student-led event, began with a small group of teenagers in Burleson, Texas, during a DiscipleNow weekend in 1990.

On Saturday night that weekend, their hearts became broken before God and burdened for their friends. “Compelled to pray, they drove to three different schools that night. Not knowing exactly what to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders. Those students had no idea how God would use their obedience,” their website tells the history of SYATP.

Three decades later, millions of students from all 50 states and many countries will pray at their school flagpoles. The event “brings students to their school flagpoles to intercede for their leaders, schools, and families, asking God to bring moral and spiritual awakening to their campuses and countries.”

“Wholehearted” is this year’s theme, based on Jeremiah 29:13 NLT, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” During the ten-to-fifteen-minute event before school starts on September 27, students who choose to attend are asked to pray for God to bring moral and spiritual awakening to their campuses and countries.

According to the national organizers who coordinate the promotion of SYATP, “Every year, we have seen this day serve as a springboard for unity among teenagers.” “See You At The Pole” isn’t about which grade a student is in or what church he or she attends. It’s not a political rally or a stand for or against anything. It’s about coming together to pray.

An online guide to SYATP states, “The key to finding what we seek when we seek God is to put all of our heart into it. We have to value God and a relationship with Him more than anything else in our lives to seek Him with our whole heart. When we search for God, He promises that we will find Him. So pray! Tell God what is going on in your life and ask for help! When we call out His name, we are searching for Him.” That’s a message we all need to do!

Someone once said, “Don’t underestimate two minutes with God in prayer.” Commit to pray for students around the globe as they gather for See You at the Pole on September 27. On that Wednesday morning, when students gather to pray around their flagpoles, let us join our hearts with them and pray for our children, their teachers, their schools, and our country.

— Jan White has compiled a collection of her columns in her book, “Everyday Faith for Daily Life.”