Could Flagpole Prayer Be the Start of Something Greater?

By Richard Land - Sep 25, 2007 - 8

See You At The Pole resources available at syatp.com

I expect a great number of high school students will be setting their alarms to awaken them earlier than usual Wednesday morning.

These faithful students will be more than usually eager to get to school September 26, just so they can gather with their friends around their school’s flagpole before the official school day begins.

Seventeen years after a small group of young Texans in the Fort Worth suburb of Burleson were moved by God to pray for their fellow students, teenagers across the U.S. and around the world will join their hearts in prayer in the annual See You at the Pole event.

The student-initiated and student-led movement will see over three million teenagers interceding for their friends, their schools, and their families in asking God to bring “moral and spiritual awakening” to their campuses and to their countries this week.

Students in more than 20 nations, including Canada, Guam, Korea, Japan, Turkey and the Ivory Coast, will be gathering and praying around the See You at the Pole theme this year: “Gather. Unite. Pray. Come Together” (John 17:20-23).

In John 17:23, Jesus prays that those who chose to follow Him will by their actions make Him known: “I am in them and You are in Me. May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

These students’ courageous obedience to Jesus’ call for us to proclaim publicly His name brings glory to God and testifies of His redeeming love to those who do not know Him. There is no question that other students, watching those who gather to pray, will be drawn to these faithful witnesses, if only to inquire about what makes them different.

While some may question the legality of students gathering to pray on school property, it is certainly a constitutionally protected activity. Students do not leave their rights of religious expression at home.

In fact, guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Education in 1998 state that not only do “students have the same right to engage in individual or group prayer and religious discussion during the school day as they do to engage in other comparable activity,” but students in public schools “may also speak to, and attempt to persuade, their peers about religious topics just as they do with regard to political topics.”

Faith-centered speech and activities must not be disruptive, nor may a student harass or coerce another student over this or any other issue.

While school administrators and teachers cannot discourage or encourage participation in faith-centered events, such as See You at the Pole, “students may participate in before or after school events with religious content … on the same terms as they may participate in other noncurriculum activities on school premises.”

Students can read their Bibles or other religious material at school; and they can pray before meals, and even before exams, as long as their behavior does not disrupt classroom activities.

Whether they realize it or not, when students gather for this year’s See You at the Pole event, they will be beneficiaries of the wisdom of our forefathers who inserted provisions into our founding documents to insure this nation’s citizens will always be free to exercise their God-given rights of free speech and assembly, as well as freedom of religious conscience.

While we have the liberty to practice our faith in America, too often our worship is shallow, our faith fleeting and our lives reflective of spiritual anemia.

America desperately needs the repentant spirit that always precedes revival, a heaven-sent, Spirit-led burning in the hearts of God’s people that flames into an awakening that will shake our culture to its core.

That revival will not flow out of Congress, the White House, or the Supreme Court, but will find its origin in the prayer closets and church pews of dedicated saints of God, in the living rooms and at the dinner tables of families, and perhaps, at the flagpoles in front of our nation’s schools.

Throughout the church’s history, revival has more often than not been fueled by the spiritual zeal and energy of young people. May it be so yet again. See you at the pole!

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8 comments (post your own) feed

1 On Sep 25th, 2007, at 8:13pm, Paul Chong wrote:

Let us rise for His glory once again.

2 On Sep 26th, 2007, at 6:58am, Tommy Vowell wrote:

I attend a SYATP location every year because I am a Youth Pastor. But, today I experienced something I will not soon forget...I attended a SYATP gathering at an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! I listened as young ones actually prayed for their school, their families and their nation and world! It was only 10-12 minutes, but it was minutes worth every effort it took to awaken earlier than normal.

Thank God for children, youth and adults who not only attend SYATP, but who also know it’s not the pray-er, but its the God of the prayer that makes a difference. I pray the Lord will spark revival as a result of SYATP as well as students who pray for their school, nation and world every day after SYATP too.

3 On Sep 27th, 2007, at 12:22pm, eric wrote:

Matthew 6: 5-7

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

4 On Oct 10th, 2007, at 11:16pm, Greg A wrote:

I have a serious theological problem with praying around an icon for a nation. It is a poignant symbol for religions nationalism. This compromising of Christianity and the state has been the persistent heresy of the western church—from middle ages Catholicism to the Protestant state churches of Europe and now to American (especially conservative) Evangelicals. When will we learn not to do this?

5 On Oct 11th, 2007, at 12:19pm, Matt Hawkins wrote:

RE: Greg A’s Post 4…

I certainly am no fan of “religious nationalism” and agree, in general, with your that statement. However...

I attended multiple SYATP events when I was in jr. high and high school in the 90s and I can assure you that See You at the Pole events have nothing to do with religious nationalism, national idolatry or the like. To presume so is simply to misunderstand the project.

“The pole” simply represents a central, public location (common to most schools) where students have the opportunity to profess their beliefs. The SYATP FAQs confirmed my experience and understanding of it:

When organizers in Texas in 1990 first challenged young people to meet on a common day to launch their school year in prayer, one of the concerns was how to help those who wanted to pray together find each other. It was noted that virtually every school has a flagpole, and it provided an easy-to-identify place to gather.

It could have easily been titled, “See You at the Gym” or “See You at the Cafeteria.” (If I recall correctly, my jr. high didn’t even have a flag pole, so we just met in front of the school where the students arrived.)

Warnings against national idolatry do have their place and appear in ERLC.com articles as recent as this week. But I believe directing those warnings at SYATP is simply misguided.

(Matt is on staff at ERLC.)

6 On Oct 11th, 2007, at 12:38pm, Matt Hawkins wrote:

Since I’ve waded in here, I might as well provide SYATP’s response to eric’s post (3).

SYATP’s full response can be found on this page. Click on the last FAQ: “Is SYATP biblical? Didn’t Jesus condemn public prayer?” Here are a couple highlights…

“Some have said of this passage, “Jesus is saying here that prayer should be a private matter between God and the one praying.” We would respectfully disagree that this is the concern of what Jesus is teaching in Matthew 6.

Jesus clearly seems to say that the MOTIVE of those He condemns in this passage is “that they may be seen of men.” One should be extremely cautious about judging that the motives of teenagers who pray at See You at the Pole™ is “for show,” even though it is in public.
...

It should be pointed out that any public prayer runs the risk of being for “show” or a “display of righteousness” that falls within the condemnation of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus Himself prayed in public. So did the Apostle Paul, and others. Any student of God’s word could cite specific references. A careful review of the Scripture would not lead one to the conclusion that public prayer in and of itself is unbiblical.

7 On Oct 13th, 2007, at 8:48am, Greg A wrote:

Dear Eric,

I believe you are sincere but you’re missing the powerful message that praying around a flagpole sends.

There is an intentional reason we’re organizing out kids to pray around a flagpole and not in the cafeteria.

The symbol we’re sending to the rest of the world is we Evangelical Christians are the true godly patriots and they are not.

Before you totally dismiss what I’m saying, I strongly encourage you to talk openly with your liberal/non-Christian/non-Evangelical friends. Ask them specifically, what kind of message praying around a flag sends. My guess is that you’ll think a little differently about this.

BTW—I too prayed in high school. We, however, did it quietly by our selves. But, that was before Evangelicals incorporated conservative politics so much into their theology.

8 On Oct 25th, 2007, at 1:10pm, Molly wrote:

It only takes a spark to keep the fire going. Praise be the kids that take that time to keep the fire going! They are our future!

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission