A week of prayer for young people
All this week, the organisers of next Saturday's Youth Work Summit event (which include Premier Youthwork) are inviting you to join them in praying for the young people of the UK. You can find out a bit more about the idea here. Each day, we'll be posting a few prayer pointers on here, as well as suggesting some of the people and organisations that you might like to join us in praying for who work in that area.
So far this week we’ve mostly focused on things immediately relevant to the young people themselves - education, relationships and faith. Today we’re going to step back a bit and pray for youth ministry, and the ways in which the church engages with the younger generation.
Suggested prayer points:
- Thank God for all the youth ministers and youth ministry organisations you know of. There’s a vast array of brilliant stuff going on out there so let’s be thankful for the opportunities, the creativity and the work that God’s doing.
- Pray for youth ministers to be inspired and re-envisioned for their youth ministry. Ask God to show them what’s on his heart for the youth in their area and great ideas to make the most of the connections they have.
- Pray for a release of practical resources to enable those great ideas to become reality, whether that’s volunteer time, venues, kit or money.
- Pray for the students currently studying Christian youth ministry at some of the colleges across the UK, developing the next generation of youth ministers to pastor and support more young people.
- Pray for boldness in the decision making processes necessary for youth ministry to continue to find the best ways forward at all times, knowing what to continue, what to stop and what to start.
Just a few organisations and individuals working in this area:
- Youth ministry courses and research at CYM, Moorlands, Oasis, Cliff College, Oak Hill College and many more
- Concrete YW, working on developing fresh approaches to urban youth ministry
- London Reclaimed, a charity helping young people to develop skills and raise their aspirations
- Youthscape, helping the church to innovate and 'dream bigger' for youth ministry
And as ever, keep sharing your reflections using the #prayforyouth hashtag.
