Thank you for joining us on this Pray A to Z journey. I hope these stories have encouraged you and prompted you to pray for your community.
Would you please do me a favor? I’m looking for testimonials. If Pray A to Z has helped you, encouraged you, and sparked your prayer life, could you please share your thoughts with me? We are working on printing a set of new cards that available for sale soon and creating a brand new website. I’d love to feature testimonials of how Pray A to Z has helped others. You can fill out the contact form here, or if you receive these blog posts in your e-mail, you can simply reply to the e-mail.
Here’s a note I received early in the series:
I was just thinking today while I was driving back from taking the kids to school that I’m feeling over-whelmed by all the prayer requests and fear that I’m forgetting someone/something! I prayed at that moment for help with this, and then here is this email. God is so good!!!!!
Next week Monday, the series will wrap with Zero Prejudice. Today, Dan Scott, a professional working in ministry to youth shares with us.
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Over the past almost 20 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with youth of all ages. Needless to say, in that time a lot has changed.
Youth today have unprecedented access to the world not only from computers and tablets at home, but increasingly right from a mobile device in the palm of their hand.
There’s an increased pressure to succeed. From sports to academics, everything they do is more competitive. Our youth are being pushed to their limits. Child stress disorders are on the rise as kids face daily struggles with depression and anxiety.
School violence seems more and more prevalent. On top of weather and fire drills, many schools must now run drills for what to do if someone enters the building with a firearm aimed at hurting them.
Yet in spite of all that has changed with youth culture, at the core of it, kids are still very much the same.
Kids want to be known by family who LOVES them unconditionally.
Kids want to be known by people who LIKE them.
Kids want to feel safe.
Kids want to know that they’re “OK” in the eyes of the people around them.
Kids struggle to know who they are and are discovering their identity.
It’s in these constants, where we find the basics of how to pray for our youth.
5 ways to pray for our youth:
1. Pray that they will experience unconditional love:
First, that they will come to know the awesome love of God who sent Jesus to give His life for them.
Second, from family and friends who will pursue a relationship with them no matter what the child does.
2. Pray that they will be known by a group of peers who will positively impact their life and encourage them to make wise choices.
3.Pray that God would keep them safe:
That he would keep them safe from what they could see or hear that could harm them
That he would protect their hearts from anything that might creep in and become toxic to their lives
That he would keep them physically safe as they go to school and engage in extra-curricular activities.
4.Pray that they would be able to balance between doing their best and becoming stressed out about their performance. Pray that they’d find time to sleep, relax, and find peace in the middle of their hectic lives.
5.Pray that kids will discover their identity in the One who gave them life. Pray they will realize that what they do and who they hang around with are not what defines them. They are children of the Most High God, made in His image, valuable because they are His.
Take time today to pray for our youth. They pressure of being a child or student in the 21st Century is unlike anything most of us have ever experienced growing up. Come alongside these kids as they walk this journey and learn to navigate the world around them.
These kids are important. They are the next teachers, leaders, and cultural architects who will one-day shape the world. Pray that God will capture their hearts at a young age and allow them to bring about change in our world.
Dan Scott currently serves as the Director of 252 Basic at Orange. He spends most of his time leading the creative team that writes the elementary weekend experience curriculum. Prior to coming on board at Orange, Dan served as the elementary children’s director at Ada Bible Church. He has spoken all over the world to all age groups as a Bible communicator and storyteller, as well as an event stage host. He has also trained leaders on best practices in family ministries. Dan and his wife, Jenna, live in Cumming, Georgia, and have four amazing kids: Liam, Ellison, Addison, and Taye. You can find him over at his blog: DanScottBlog.com
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[tweetherder]@danscott77 offers 5 ways to #pray for our #youth today. #PrayAtoZ[/tweetherder]
[tweetherder]As we #PrayAtoZ Y is for Youth.[/tweetherder]
[tweetherder]Join us in #praying for our youth. #PrayAtoZ, 5 things to #pray[/tweetherder]
[tweetherder]#Pray our youth will experience unconditional love. #PrayAtoZ[/tweetherder]
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