What happens when schoolgirls pray?

The CU in our school was not a very lively one, so with the encouragement of a new Christian PE teacher, a few of us decided to get together once a week to pray.

Each Tuesday we met at 8.30 am for 15 minutes; the focus of our prayers was the conversion of our friends, whom we prayed for by name.

To our surprise (shame on us!) we began to look forward to these prayer times so much that we met on Thursdays too; after a while it became every day. As well as drawing us close together as a group, the most exciting aspect was that our prayers were being answered beyond what we could ask or think!

Throughout the school

Our weekly CU meeting became a talking point throughout the school. I realised something remarkable was happening when a meeting entitled simply 'What is a Christian?', led by a 16 year-old girl, was packed with pupils really wanting to know the answer to the question. We also invited ministers from local evangelical churches to speak and clear gospel messages were given. Interestingly, they came from different 'camps', and were equally used by the Lord - David Pawson from a Baptist Union church, Paul Bassett from an FIEC church and John Salter from the Anglicans! They were all in leadership of growing churches, but were not too busy to support the CU of a local school. One title I remember was 'Born once, die twice - born twice, die once'! In response to these meetings and to Christians witnessing personally to their friends, many girls were born again. Small groups of pupils would be found animatedly discussing spiritual issues - sometimes with no Christian present!

Daily prayer

We met together daily to pray, we simply presented the biblical gospel, we believed and expected that God would work. If this is a little reminiscent of Acts 2.42ff, no wonder the Lord added to our number those who were being saved!

The Holy Spirit & the enemy

The Holy Spirit was evidently at work and so of course was his enemy. The head teacher became disturbed that the school was being so influenced by evangelicals that she came to one or two of our prayer meetings to find out what we got up to! That rather quenched the spirit of prayer - she forbade us to pray for people by name and eventually appointed a new 'ecumenical' CU committee composed of pupils from different de-nominations who had no interest in the CU at all.

The Lord on the train

The same period was characterised by similar spiritual life in the YPF I attended. There, too, we prayed expecting to see the Lord's answers and he did not disappoint us, with many being converted. Several of us travelled to school together by train, and one year used the journey time to read a chapter of the Bible together each day.

One day I will never forget, my friend and I were the last two in the carriage on our way home. We were quietly reading, not talking, when I became aware of the almost tangible presence of the Lord in the compartment. Looking up, I saw that my friend's eyes had filled with tears; she smiled radiantly across at me and said 'He's come!' She had not been sure whether she was truly converted or not, but now we knew that the Holy Spirit had come into her life - and I was privileged to witness his coming.

Lasting results

All this happened 30 years ago. Was anything lasting achieved or were we just a group of excitable teenagers? Of course I've lost touch with most of the people involved, but those I do still know are going on with the Lord. A few years ago I watched Songs of Praise because it came from my home town. I was greatly encouraged to see interviews with a GP and a journalist, who came across clearly as being bright Christians, and who had been converted through the CU at school during that exciting period.

Unashamed of the gospel

In those days I and my friends were absolutely unashamed of the gospel and would not have dreamt of attending an evangelistic meeting without inviting someone to come with us. We were glad to go to daily prayer meetings (leaving home at 7.20 am to do so) and a spirit of expectancy made us wonder 'who will be saved today?'. The enthusiasm of youth? Yes, but also faith in God, who has not changed and can answer the prayers of middle-aged Christians in 2001 as well as those of teenagers in the 1970s!

The YPF in the church I attend now is seeing a similar blessing, with unusual numbers of conversions and many non-Christian school friends becoming in-trigued and coming along both to YPF meetings and to Sunday services. It cannot be coincidental that this has occurred since the young people became serious about praying together and began a weekly praise and prayer meeting they call 4.12 - their motto being 1 Timothy 4.12. They are certainly setting an example to us older believers and I hope we have the faith and courage to follow it.