Day 11 - Pray for the Children and Youth of Our Congregation
I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. Romans 15:30-31
We might find it curious that Paul asked the church in Rome to pray for him. Did not Paul have all the spiritual gifts? Did not God make himself known to Paul through visions and revelations? Did Paul expect to receive something because of the prayers of the church in Rome that he would not have gotten otherwise? In spite of all his spiritual gifts, Paul coveted the prayers of the Roman Christians. He obviously thought that God listened to people’s prayers and took them into account in his governance of the world. If Paul thought the prayers of others important, we should not neglect to include other people in our prayers.
For whom should you pray? One obvious subject of your prayers should be your family. If you have children, you ought to pray for them every day. Perhaps no one else in the world will pray for them every day, but you will. Your children need someone to pray for them every day, and parents are the people God has ordained to do so.
Does God take the prayers of people into account as he governs the world? The Bible consistently affirms that he does. Remember when the children of Israel angered God by worshipping the golden calf? God told Moses that he was ready to consume the people in his wrath and make a great nation out of Moses and his descendants (Exodus 32:9-14). But Moses prayed for the people, and the Bible says that God did not bring on them the disaster of which he had spoken. If we knew how much God listened to our prayers, we might be more confident to pray boldly.
Today pray especially for the children and youth in our congregation. Pray that God will build deep and authentic faith in them. Pray that they will grow to be true Christian disciples.