Praying at the Monument: “Where Water Once Flowed, May It Flow Again”
A first-hand account by one of those praying at the Haystack monument – August 15, 2006:
Background: The central theme of the Haystack Prayer Summit prayer time at the monument was based on a more-than-one-hundred-year-old prayer that was prayed by Luther Wishard, one of the founders of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions. In 1878, upon learning of the Haystack students, he visited the same monument in Williamstown, and knelt in the snow and prayed, “Lord, where water once flowed, may it flow again,” and consecrated his life to God’s purpose praying “I will go anywhere at anytime to do anything for you.” Recognizing that the same spirit that existed among the Haystack five was for his generation he declared “What they have begun is ours to complete.”
Looking Back and Praying It Forward
Using Wishard’s prayer as an outline, we began by thanking God for what He’s done in the past through students and celebrating the Haystack Prayer Meeting, the Student Volunteer Movement and the many other acts of obedience and devotion to Christ that are a part of the heritage that students of any generation share.
The next central focus of prayer was in crying out for today’s generation. We were instructed to face away from the monument (so that our backs were facing the monument). That way, we had to turn our heads to look back to the monument. This symbolized that while we were there to remember and celebrate the past, our prayers were for going forward. After looking back at the monument, we looked up to the sky and asked for God’s grace in our generation. Then our gaze turned toward looking outward and we asked God for vision, for fresh ideas and for God to give the faith that is required to attempt the visions that he gives.
Then, our intercession turned to lifting up our friends and neighbors who don’t know Christ, for students on our campuses and all around the world and specifically for the students within reach of each of our organizations and ministries. Prayer continued in asking God for the good news to be known in the least reached countries and regions in the world.
Linking Arms
Recognizing the major barriers of parental and societal expectations, prayer was turned to asking God to break through these and other hindrances to whole-hearted involvement in the great commission. We asked God for a heart in our generation that will live Romans 12:1-2 and will not run from suffering. We asked God for unity and for God to give us the grace to fulfill his prayer of John 17. And we linked arms and prayed and thanked God for one another, and for all of those who work with us in Spirit and asked for God’s protection and blessing. We were praying it forward, asking God to move in our generation in order to see the good news preached and disciples in all nations.
The spirit of time of prayer at the monument could probably best be described as a sweet, faith-filled expectation. Since we were remembering the great things that God’s done in the past and we were in a location that holds a significant place in each of our hearts as mobilizers and campus ministers, our faith was renewed and our visions were expanded.
We were all gathered for the same purpose: to remember the past and pray it forward in our generation. We gathered in the belief that the fulfillment of the great commission is something that could very well be what God will do in our generation. Understanding the hugeness of the task, our prayers were in faith and unity. We closed our time by making a circle, and then linking our arms in unity of spirit and purpose. All of us were blessed personally through the time, and we walked from the monument envisioned for what will be done through our generation!
