STUDENT MINISTRY: Praying for Our Students
We have touched on this subject before, but I don’t think there is ever a bad time to be reminded about our need to pray for our students. Around Arkansas and beyond this week, students are venturing back into the classroom. Some are going to Christian schools. Others are enjoying some of the perks of being home schooled. However, the largest majority of students represented in our churches are attending public schools.
While the first two groups need our continued prayer support, the last group must have it. Our students are facing things we may have never confronted. There is still the issue of drugs and alcohol, but students must also be concerned about the pressures coming from social media and liberal policies within our educational system.
Even in saying that, I don’t want to be all doom and gloom. I believe God can make a difference in the current generation of students, and we could see our world transformed as a result. For any of that to happen, our students must love Jesus, so it makes sense for caring adults to pray for students as they walk back into the classroom.
Where do we start? How should we pray for them in the days ahead? Let me share a few ideas that might help, whether you are a student ministry worker or simply a concerned church member:
• Pray for their salvation. Pray that God will save the young men and women that are connected to your church. Pray that student ministry workers in their lives will clearly present the gospel and that the Holy Spirit will draw these teenagers to Himself.
• Pray for their relationships. We tell our own children to make good choices, and we hope they will do that as they select friends. Relationships can make or break your student’s high school experience. I made some good choices back in those days. I hung out with people smarter than me and more talented than me in band and choir. It always pushed me to be better. By and large, we made good choices together. Our students need friends that help them do that.
• Pray for their mission. What is our mission as believers? We are to be Great Commission and Great Commandment Christians. Our job is simple — we are to love God, love people and make disciples. Our students are walking back into the largest mission field they have in their lives. They will see all sides of humanity and have an opportunity to be a light for Jesus. Pray that they will be strong when it is hard. Pray that they will stand for what is right when others don’t. Pray that they will boldly share Jesus when they are given that opportunity. Ben Schelling, of the First Priority Clubs of America, recently shared on our podcast that it is a nine-month mission trip. Students have that great opportunity. Let’s pray that God will use our students in big ways.
Praying for our students is nothing new. It is something we should embrace all the time, but we forget. We let days pass without lifting them up before the Father. Make a commitment this year to pray for your students and get others to join you. Their world is quite different from the one we grew up in, and they need God’s supernatural influence as they navigate classes.
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Dan Carson
BMA Youth Department Director Dan Carson writes a weekly column titled, Student Ministry Matters, through which he inspires, challenges, and informs BMA of Arkansas churches and church staff about all things pertaining to student ministry.
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