From its earliest days as an institution, BJU has set aside one day each semester for the university family to spend time in prayer, offering praises and bringing requests before God.

This semester’s Day of Prayer will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

The theme for this Day of Prayer is taken from Psalm 5:2, which says, “Unto Thee will I pray,” said Kyle Wilcox, special assistant to Dr. Stephen Jones and one of the coordinators of the day’s activities.

Dr. Samuel Saldivar of the Bible faculty will preach the opening chapel at 8:15 a.m., followed by two prayer sessions. After the second prayer session, the university family will meet back in the FMA at 11 a.m. for a praise service, featuring testimonies of answered prayer. Lunch and a half day of rest will follow the praise service, and classes and activities will resume at 5 p.m.

Wilcox encourages students not to think of the day as just a break from classes but to come into the day with a mindset for prayer. He said the Day of Prayer should reflect what we already do each day. “It’s an expansion of what daily should be going on in our walk with the Lord,” he said.

According to Wilcox, a practical way for students to prepare their hearts for the Day of Prayer is to work hard to clear their schedules so they can focus on prayer and not be distracted by other assignments and responsibilities.

During the afternoon of rest, students may also attend the Missions in Focus meeting in Lecture Room A from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Mark Vowels, a faculty member of the Division of Practical Studies in the School of Religion, said Missions in Focus meets each semester on the Day of Prayer and discusses a topic of missions. Past topics have included reaching minorities in the U.S., persecution in missions, and tentmaking versus traditional missions, Vowels said.

According to Vowels, this semester’s meeting focuses on the topic of ministry and conflict, which will be addressed via Skype by Dr. Edgard Traboulsi, a pastor serving in Beirut, Lebanon.

Vowels said Traboulsi will share his story and what is happening in his ministry in Lebanon, which is currently a dangerous area because of conflict between Muslim groups. The Christians in Lebanon are able to help Muslim refugees from Syria, giving them food, clothing and shelter, and then sharing the Gospel.

Vowels said that typically, the speaker gives information about the topic for the first half hour of the meeting, and the second half is devoted to questions and answers and a time of discussion.

All missions majors attend Missions in Focus, but the meeting is open to students of any major.