Prayer For Youth Groups In Our Churches

Youth With A Mission – Praying for Partner Churches

Prayer For Youth Groups In Our Churches

Join YWAM staff and students around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

God has commissioned the local church to go into all the nations and preach the gospel. As YWAMers, we could not do what we do without our partner churches.

These partnering churches send us, pray for us, support us and alongside us for training, church planting, mercy ministry and other gospel-related activities.

The relationship between the church and those who are sent is a beautiful partnership, one that God has chosen to change the entire world!

So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

Acts 16:5 (NKJV)

Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, this month to pray for our partner churches on November 9.

We ask you to celebrate this partnership on a local level by praying for your partner churches, and if you sense God’s leading, by taking action to strengthen those relationships.

If you have only a few minutes to pray this month, please pray for the health of your partner churches and that God would bring blessings to them. If you are praying with a group or if you have more time to pray, please see below for the complete list of prayer suggestions.

YWAM Queenstown DTS team at a YWAM Bangkok partner church: Khlong Toey Church
Photo credit: YWAM – All Nations Bangkok

Prepare to Pray:

Take a moment to bring to mind the congregation of your partner church, whether at home or in your present location. And then consider the lead pastor of this congregation.

What are all the things the pastor of a congregation such as this would have to think about, take responsibility for, or take care of? As a group, use a whiteboard or large sheet of paper to brainstorm all the ideas that come to mind in response to this question. Make note of as many things as you can.

Next, take some time to reflect on how such a pastor might feel about all these responsibilities, concerns, and opportunities. Enter into those feelings as much as you can.

Finally, as you hold before God these possible feelings and needs, ask Him how He might to love, encourage, and strengthen this church leader through you. What comes to mind as a response, whether in prayer or in action? Share these ideas with one another and make a note, so that you can follow through on Holy Spirit’s prompting.

YWAM goals are realized while churches go forward. A true win-win situation.

Mark Nebauer

Pray for Our Partner Churches:

Serving Chai in Partnership with a Local Church Outreach
Photo Credit: YWAM Brisbane

  • Praise God for successful partnerships that YWAM has had and is having around the world with local churches and sending churches.
  • Praise God for your partner churches.
  • Pray for the health of your partner churches and ask the Lord to bless them.
  • Pray for unity and healthy and equitable partnerships between YWAM locations and partner churches.
  • Pray for solid relationships between YWAMers and the people of the local church. Pray for YWAMers to make consistent commitments to the local church.

“The healthy cooperation of the local church and global mission is a major threat to the kingdom of darkness.”

Lynn Green, a YWAM leader

  • YWAM provides opportunities for churches to engage in mission through outreaches for church youth groups, serving opportunities for adults through Mission Builders, mission awareness programs, seminars for families, and more. Pray for long-lasting results.
  • Pray for the church to send more workers to the field where the needs are the greatest in less-saturated nations.
  • Pray for YWAM locations to understand and minister to the needs of churches and the congregations they serve.

YWAM’s Dan Baumann teaching at partner church Oakland Baptist
Photo Credit: Oakland Baptist Church

  • Pray for God to prepare churches in developed countries and in developing countries to send and support those called to Go.

Take Action:

  • Identify all of the partner churches that are involved with your location. Display a map with each church marked. Pray regularly for these churches.
  • Host a thank you event for your partner churches. Brainstorm on ways they can even partner with one another to build the church.
  • Schedule meetings with local partner churches and their pastors/leaders to listen to their needs and dreams without focusing on the needs and dreams of YWAM.

The best way to maintain a relationship with local churches is to concentrate on how we can serve them.

Lynn Green

  • Invite partner churches to send a DTS student to the next DTS at your location.
  • Identify local churches where there might partnership opportunities in the future but where none exist today.
  • Encourage staff and students at your location to regularly attend and participate at a local church.
  • Communicate partnering opportunities via YWAM channels, including, but not limited to:
  • Schedule an outreach event with one or more of your partner churches.
  • Offer to help one or more of your partner churches with a Mission Sunday type event to raise awareness within the church.

A partner church, Living Stones Christian Fellowship, praying over long term YWAM Richmond missionaries
Photo Credit: YWAM Richmond

How We Prayed

October 2017 – Prayer for the Hindu World

  • There was a lively discussion on about praying for Hindus. One person noted that they regularly pray that Hindus will know Jesus with not only their mind, but also with their heart.
  • YWAM Surabaya, Indonesia prayed for the Hindu world and asked for prayer for pupils to join their DTS starting January 2018 and for staff preparation.
  • YWAM Vanuatu, Oceania also prayed and asked for prayer for teachers that have a DTS background in education to come and teach children alongside locals.

Future Topics:

  • December 14, 2017 Pyongyang
  • 2018 Theme: YWAM Foundational Values (along with other topics)

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

  • Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
  • Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
  • Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the page on the second Thursday at .com/youthwithamission or on  @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
  • You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
  • If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

Источник: //www.ywam.org/blog/2017/11/03/praying-for-partner-churches/

What is the role of youth in church?

Prayer For Youth Groups In Our Churches

Religion is one of the most important aspects of many people’s lives. Churches serve as valuable hubs for people of all ages. However, one of the groups that is often left the conversation is the youth group. Therefore, today, we will be talking about youths in the church, their role and the importance of the church for the youth. Check it out!

Traditionally, youth is considered to be a period of transition from childhood to adulthood. Most of the time, people use the word ‘teenagers’ when referring to the youth, even though there are no defined age boundaries. Anyone can be a youth if they want to 🙂

Youth in the church can actually be and do anything they desire. For instance, some young people choose to attend a youth ministry, where they can learn, communicate and grow in a safe and faithful environment. Others are actually in charge of said youth ministries and other similar religious organisations for young people, where they can give back to the youth in their communities.

Now, let’s talk about the role of youth in the church in a little bit more detail.

Role of youth in the church

As we have mentioned before, youths can take on any role they in the church. First and foremost, they can be the consumers. Young minds are perfect vessels for information.

There is no better time to teach them about God, religion and spirituality other than in their younger years.

If they are encouraged enough to participate in the life of the church when they are young, they will continue to do that in their adulthood.

Another important role of the youth in church is providing a fresh perspective on things. Some older people might be too stuck on outdated ideals. The goal of the youth is to offer their own view on the situation/topic, from which everyone can benefit.

Young people often have more energy than adults, which makes them the perfect choice for various organisational jobs. Lots of teenagers are great at organising and holding various celebrations and events, as they usually have lots of amazing ideas.

Here is the thing:

Apart from being in control of things planning, youths should also act as a helping hand. This could mean many things: young people can take on the cleaning duties; they can help the oldest members of the church; they can also help other youngsters in their search for God and spirituality.

Most importantly, the youth is the future of any church. They are the ones who decide whether to continue preaching what their predecessors have preached or to introduce something new and fresh. If the youth is not interested in going to church, then the whole institute of religion might fall apart. Therefore, it is important to encourage the youth to get involved with the church.

Role of the church for the Christian youth

READ ALSO: Prayer points for the church in Nigeria

Apart from considering the things the youths could do for the church, we should also think about the things that the church could do for the youth.

The most important thing any church can do for youth is provide guidance and knowledge. While many young people are blessed with wonderful parents/guardians/teachers, some do not have that luxury. In order to save them from themselves or from the situations they might be in, the church has to show them the righteous path that involves faith in Our Lord.

Church can be a great way for many young people to find some meaning for their lives. With help from other church members (pastors, priests, other believers), the youth can find a place for God in their hearts and lives. They can learn from other people’s experiences, share their own and hear feedback from others.

Churches should offer educational programmes for young people that can teach them how to be good, faithful people in the future. These programs should also provide information that children cannot find at school or at home.

However, that is not all:

Church’s role in youth development should not end with just providing important knowledge and guidance. It should also provide the youth with all forms of support. The support can come from anyone within the church and take on any forms.

It can be spiritual, financial, moral, social, or any other form of help that the youth might need.

As young people are quite a vulnerable transitional group, they should have all the support they can get in their complicated journey towards adulthood.

After all, a church should serve as a safe space, a light at the end of the tunnel, an answer to the many questions that fill young minds. It should be a home and a main destination for those who are lost, confused, scared or hurt.

This is our view on the relationship between youth and the church. We tried to present it in the clearest way possible. If you have any questions, suggestions or remarks, let us know in the comments. We would love to hear from you. If you agree with what we have said, do not forget to share this article with your friends. God bless you.

READ ALSO: Benefits of thanksgiving to God

Источник: //www.legit.ng/1135163-who-a-youth-church-role.html

11 Good Fundraising Ideas for Church Youth Groups

Prayer For Youth Groups In Our Churches

Home » General » 11 Good Fundraising Ideas for Church Youth Groups

Fundraising is an integral part of belonging to a church youth group. While there are tried-and-true ways to raise money, being creative with your fundraising ideas will help get the community interested in your cause. Below are some unique fundraising ideas for church youth groups.

Sell Refreshments

Selling refreshments and food is a great way to raise money for your youth group. You can sell boxed lunches after church or host a chili cook-off. Sell refreshments at your church’s socials or host a bake sale on Sunday morning. Food is something that everyone loves – and needs. Choose your time wisely and select appropriate foods for the occasion.

Candy Sales

Candy sales are always a popular way to raise money and are most effective during the holidays – especially Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day.

Candy can be purchased in bulk from a club, such as Sam’s Club or Costco. You may also purchase candy from a vendor that specializes in fundraiser candy.

You can choose to sell the candy as-is, or you can create candy gifts. Candies can be sold after church or in town.

Sell Friendship/Love Notes

Sell friendship/love notes and deliver them to the recipient during retreats. This idea may not be a huge money maker, but it’s a simple idea that is easy to organize and can raise some extra money for your youth group.

Dances

Dances are another great way to raise money for your youth group. These are fun to organize, but will require a dedicated group of volunteers to make it a success. Some dance ideas include:

• A Valentine’s Day dance.• Barn or square dance.• 50’s dance.• 80’s dance.

• 20’s dance.

Decade-themed dances are really popular and so much fun. Encourage everyone to dress according to the decade of the dance, and sell tickets after church.

Pranks

Pranks are a fun way to raise money, but how successful they are will depend on your church community’s sense of humor. Many youth groups have had success with the Flamingo Project.

Members of the group are paid to place a plastic flamingo in a person’s front yard. The group then has to be paid to have the flamingo removed.

Victims can also choose to purchase insurance that will prevent them from being “flamingo-ed” for 6 months.

Christmas Play with Dinner

Have your youth group put on a Christmas play during the holiday season and offer dinner with the show. Charge for each plate. To raise the most money, choose a meal that is inexpensive. Spaghetti dinners are a great option.

Weekly Bagel or Donut Sales

After Sunday church service, sell donuts and bagels. This idea can easily generate quite a bit of money for your youth group as church-goers often leave service feeling hungry. Use this to your advantage.

Make sure that you set up a table in a visible spot and charge a reasonable price for the bagels and donuts. You can also sell coffee, or throw in a cup for free if they purchase a bagel and a donut.

Reach out to local bakeries to see if they would be willing to give you a discounted rate on weekly purchases.

Dodge Ball Tournament

Charge $10 for each entry into the tournament. In addition to the entry fee, you can also sell some snacks and refreshments on the side. Offer a prize to the winner of the tournament. The prize doesn’t have to be extravagant. Look for something inexpensive, but useful.

Golf Tournament

Golf tournaments can easily raise a thousand dollars or more. Charge an entry fee into the tournament and sell concessions. Get in touch with a local golf course and ask if they would be willing to offer a discounted rate or donate time on the course. In addition, you can also host a silent auction. Ask the community for donations to make the silent auction a success.

Car Wash

Have the youth group members get others in the community to pledge a donation per car. Youth group members will wash cars for free. Each car that they wash will raise money from their sponsors.

If a person sponsors $1 for each car washed and the group member washes 50 cars, that sponsor will donate $50. This can easily raise quite a bit of money if each member can get multiple sponsors.

Money Wall

Hang envelopes on the wall with varying dollar amounts ranging from $1 all the way up to $100. Ask members of the church to take one of the envelopes on the wall and donate the amount written on the envelope.

Inside, they can include a prayer request or needs. The envelope can be returned to the youth minister. The person who donates will become a prayer partner with the youth group member.

This is a quick and simple way to raise a lot of money.

Источник: //brandongaille.com/11-good-fundraising-ideas-for-church-youth-groups/

3 Things Our Church Plant’s Youth Ministry Does Well

Prayer For Youth Groups In Our Churches

After celebrating two years in our church plant, we finally have seven teenagers in our youth group.

Our church was started by 30 millennials who wanted to create a new faith community in our town for folks them—people who didn’t feel safe in a traditional church setting but who desperately wanted to connect with a body of believers on a weekly basis.

Even though the majority of our congregants are still millennials (65%), the few families that do have teenagers have jumped on board to help create a youth ministry that fits our non-traditional approach to church.

Here’s a look at a few things that make our situation unique:

We’re a mobile church

We’ve met in a movie theater, an inter-faith chapel, and we’re currently meeting in a local art gallery. Being a mobile church means we don’t have any form of a youth space—or any space—so we have to get creative about when and where we meet up with our students outside of Sunday mornings.

We integrate all ages into our worship services

As more families start to come, we’re carefully designing and rethinking our worship space to include entire families. We love hearing the babies, the giggles of the young kids, and the occasional interruption from some of our teens.

It also creates some incredible opportunities to plug our youth into volunteer roles in front of the entire congregation.

The whole approach is a little messy, but we think the imperfection is worth it if our kids grow up feeling they belong and have a place to serve in the church.

We’re starting from scratch

There’s no full-time youth director on our church staff, and we’ve never had programming for teenagers, so we’re really starting from scratch. It’s a tricky spot to be in, but we have room to experiment and to try out new ideas for youth ministry.

In the process, our volunteers, our students, and our parents have realized that they need to be hands-on and personally invested in the youth ministry for any part of it to happen.

It’s another messy aspect of our church, but it creates a unique sense of ownership in everyone.

As a church with no building, an intergenerational worship service, and zero youth ministry structure, it would be easy for us to feel overwhelmed by the limitations of our ministry.

Instead, we’ve decided to focus on the resources that we do have, which has helped us realize that it is possible for us to build a strong youth ministry in our unique situation.

So we’ve narrowed our priorities down to three things that we can do really well:

1) We’re building a relational youth ministry

Our relational youth ministry structure is built on a foundation of mentorships. Every student has an adult who serves alongside them on Sundays. That means, when we need a game, there’s always an adult and a student leading the game together.

Discussion groups have adult and student group leaders. The coffee and donuts are set out by adults and students. Our Sunday morning worship team is a mix of adults and students.

Every aspect of Sunday morning involves our youth ministry, even if it’s not a youth only gathering.

By integrating students into all areas of leadership, students have 1-2 adults who intentionally use Sunday mornings as an opportunity to get to know them, to encourage them, and then have the chance to build a mentor relationship with them that goes beyond just Sunday mornings.

Our Sunday morning worship team is a mix of adults and students. Every aspect of Sunday morning involves our youth ministry, even if it’s not a youth only gathering.

By integrating students into all areas of leadership, students have one to two adults who intentionally use Sunday mornings as an opportunity to get to know them, to encourage them, and then have the chance to build a mentor relationship with them that goes beyond just Sunday mornings.

This type of relational youth ministry works really well in our setting, and it’s a scalable ministry model. As our church grows, there will be more places to serve and more people to help fill these roles.

As these students get older, they’ll be given opportunities to lead alongside and train even younger kids.

The mentorships we’re building between our adults and students today will be the framework that those students will use as they start to mentor younger kids in the upcoming years.

2) We make the most Sunday mornings

Even with only seven teenagers in our church, it is incredibly difficult to plan anything around their family schedules. So rather than fighting for another night of the week, we’re focusing our youth group time on Sunday mornings before our worship service. We get together twice a month from 9 to 9:45 a.m.

to hangout, play some games, and have a youth-only discussion time before we head into our church worship service at 10 a.m. By meeting for 45 minutes twice a month, it doesn’t strain our volunteers and it’s easy for parents since they’re already planning on coming to church.

Also, if a student comes to church twice a month—which is average for us—they can have one Sunday to serve and one Sunday to be a part of our youth group time.

3) We take the youth group to our students during the week

The people in our church are doing lots of amazing things for the gospel in our community.

They serving as volunteers in local shelters, they lead community groups that offer safe places for the most vulnerable in our city, they are light and life in their schools, on their sports teams, and in their neighborhoods.

So our church has been experimenting with our priorities, programs, and events to make sure they offer the support and encouragement our congregants need to continue to engage in the work God has called them to.

Adding another weekly church event that pulled them away from the good work they were doing—even for something youth group—seemed to be more of a burden for our families and not necessarily the best kind of support for them. As we were thinking through possible solutions, we had the idea to create a culture that celebrates all the gifts and talents our students express outside of

As we were thinking through possible solutions, we had the idea to create a culture that celebrates all the gifts and talents our students express outside of church. They are crazy talented, athletic, musical, artistic, and have so many other gifts that we just don’t have the time to celebrate on Sunday mornings.

So our mid-week youth group activities are focused on the ballgames, the musicals, and recitals that each of our students participate in. We work with the parents to sync up a schedule that includes all of these activities for our students and we make one of them a youth group activity for each week.

It’s pretty awesome to know our students are looking out into the stands or into the audience and seeing a group of people from our church cheering them on.

Creating a relational youth ministry, experimenting to fully utilize Sunday mornings, and celebrating all the amazing things our students do outside of church, are three of the ways that we’re experimenting with youth ministry in our church plant. It’s certainly not perfect, but our people own it, students are stepping up as leaders, families are supported, and there’s plenty of room for everyone to grow.

Источник: //churchtechtoday.com/2016/07/27/3-things-church-plants-youth-ministry-well/

5 Prayers to Open Meetings and Events

Prayer For Youth Groups In Our Churches

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6:18 NLT

Instead of back-building worry and anxiety as we attempt to forecast an unknown future, Paul begs us to “Pray about everything in every way you know how!” (Ephesians 6:18 VOICE).

Stop to consider what the situations of our daily lives might look if we paused to pray into them and about them more feverishly.

Whether you are starting a business meeting, church service, or family event you can use these prayers to join together to ask God for guidance and blessing.

Prayer can change our situation. It can move the heart of God. And I believe sometimes prayer allows us to understand our situations, rather than affect the outcome. Our hearts change as we seek God’s wisdom and Truth.

King David, living in OT times, did not experience prayer the way we do today. Yet, even He knew that true peace came only from God.

In Psalm 3, as he faces yet another terrifying and humiliating season of his life, he chooses to focus on God’s character and faithfulness.

“O Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’ But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” Psalm 3:1-3 NIV

Here are five powerful opening prayers to help focus our efforts on striving for the peace that transcends all understanding. Use them to begin asking God to bless and guide your time together! 

1. An Opening Prayer for a Meeting

Father,
Thank You for every seat that has been filled here, today. For each mind and heart that fills the presence of this room, we thank You. Only You truly know what we are setting out to accomplish today.

We have an idea, a vision, hints, and daily instructions. We have talents, abilities, and time to work. However, only You can see in perfect detail the end of every beginning. Every project, every season, every life.

Nothing is ever in vain, for even mistakes and missteps are used for good.

Your righteousness transcends all our efforts and understanding. Forgive us for our pride. The pride that puffs us up and the pride that threatens to unqualify us. Strengthen our confidence in who You have made us to be. Set us free from comparison in order to work together efficiently.

Bless this meeting today, all those present, as well as the lives of those we will encounter afterward. Ready us to make every moment count.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

2. A Prayer to Open an Event

Father,
Praise You for this event, and Your purpose for it. We know that when we gather together, You always have a divine agenda. We love You for that, Father. That even when we have done what You have asked, the results are so much greater than we ever could have imagined. Even in failed attempts, You blow us away with Your faithfulness to provide what we need.

Our prayer today is that Your will be done through this event. Take what we have prepared and multiply our efforts as only You can. Steer our intentions to align with Your righteous will. Remind us of Your faithful provision when our efforts fail us or fall short.

May all glory go up to You when we reach the finish line and climb over benchmarks. Blanket us with Your peace today, Father. Keep us physically safe and guard our hearts and minds from pride and selfishness.

Keep love at the forefront of our minds today, and the guiding light for all we set out to accomplish and celebrate.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

3. An Opening Prayer for Group Humility and Peace

Father,
As we gather together, we praise You for this day and Your purpose for it. Reset our agendas, as we sit in Your presence. For You assure us that where two or more gather in Your name You are here.

Recalibrate our intentions and refocus our hearts. Your will for our lives does not always reflect our plans. Change them to reflect Your will.

Help us to understand that we don’t need full clarity to walk into the unique purpose You’ve inlaid in our lives.

Lift our eyes to seek You first today, and always, surrendering our need to achieve, understand, and be known. Shift our perspective to seek Your peace above all else.

In every situation we ponder in our daily lives, let the Holy Spirit translate Your commands. Give us renewed strength and godly courage to obey You without questioning.

Forgive us for striving beyond our means, worrying, and forcing results.

Only You know what lies ahead. You are our good Father, just and righteous. Though our circumstances will be unfair from time to time in this life, You are always our unwavering protector and shield (Psalm 3:3).

Keep the words of King David fresh in our minds, and renew our hearts to the tune of Your truth.“I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

” Psalm 3:5 NIV Let Your peace rain down on us today, as we seek You more than anything else.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

4. A Prayer for Group Peace and Understanding

Father,
As the events of the day continue to unfold, we seek Your clarity and Your peace. We know You are with us and for us as we gather together to seek Your counsel. Scripture reminds us the more we seek You the more we will find You. Lead our surrendered hearts to the path of Your peace today.

Come fully into our situation, both as a group and individually. And sort out the muddled feelings and distorted thoughts that plague us. Cover us with a blanket of honesty and patience that is not of this world.

Holy Spirit, translate our desires and pleadings, and may we understand the faithful response of our great Father. Jesus walked the earth to explain so much to us, and to save us from eternal suffering. Yet, on this earth He promised us that we would encounter much pain.

Struggling for solutions amidst differing personalities can seem impossible. Thankfully, we are not expected to be perfect. Thankfully, we’re told in the Bible that we will all fall short.

So, as we sit here today, let us release the bind of blame in exchange for accord. Help us to endure disagreement and strife with godly courage and love.

Grant us peace in knowing we are pursuing Your purpose for our lives.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

5. A Prayer to Glorify God after Group Success

Father,
We are here today to celebrate great success! In a world full of chaos and calamity, we are embracing a moment of triumph in Your name and for Your glory. Once again, we have experienced the miracle of Your sustenance, as King David so appropriately penned in Psalm 4:7: “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.”

Father, our hearts, the very center of our humanity and our souls, are filled by You. In extreme emotion, this indescribable feeling is even more pronounced.

We are aware that we could not see this great success come to fruition without the individual purpose You have put in each person here today.

Thank You for bringing us together to accomplish this great feat for Your glory, though the odds were stacked against us as they often are.   

Guard our hearts from pride and selfish gain as we celebrate today. Let it fuel our faith in You as our provider and our sustainer. Filler of our hearts. May all glory for our achievements go up to You today and always.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

Meg writes about everyday life within the love of Christ on her blog, //sunnyand80.org. She is a stay-at-home mom, freelance writer, blogger, and preparing to release her first book, “Friends with Everyone.” She resides in Northern Ohio with her husband of eleven years, two daughters, and their Golden-doodle.

This article is part of our larger Prayers resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times.

Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray.

Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and God knows your heart even if you can't find the words to pray.

Prayer for Employment
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Photo Credit: Unsplash/Samuel Martins

Источник: //www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/5-prayers-to-open-meetings-and-events.html

International Day of Prayer for Peace

Prayer For Youth Groups In Our Churches

The United Nations first recognized an annual Day of Peace in 1981. It was fixed on September 21 in 2001. In 2004, the World Council of Churches began recognizing September 21 as an International Day of Prayer for Peace. Across the world, 280 million people were aware of September 21 as a day of peace in 2012.

This year we are inviting each congregation to develop a Peace Day prayer event designed around what is going on in our world and in your own communities.

Pinwheels for Peace

“Pinwheels for Peace” has evolved into a children’s movement. This year, the United Methodist Publishing House produced a peace curriculum for children – 5 lessons in Grow, Proclaim, Serve.

The first lesson has been made available to you. Use it to teach your children the Biblical understanding of Peace, lead them in making pinwheels, and help them observe International Peace Day 2014.

Their pinwheels are a visible witness to the children’s call for world peace.

– Download the lesson.
– Learn more about the “pinwheels for peace” movement.

Join the United Church of Christ’s media justice ministry and the movement against violence by pledging to use only violence-free media on Sept. 15-21.

Help honor the International Prayers for Peace Day foster peace in our communities by supporting media that doesn't run on violent images and messages. Great activity for Just Peace churches.

Resources include bulletin flyers, information about violence in media, activities for teens and youth.

Take up the Peace Day Challenge with the U.S. Institute of Peace!

The U.S. Institute of Peace, our nation’s independent federal institution dedicated to peacebuilding (which was established in 1984 in part thanks to UCC efforts), has created the Peace Day Challenge to raise awareness of International Peace Day.

USIP aims to raise the visibility of this day, to frame peace as an attainable alternative to the violence we see daily in the news, and to encourage individuals and communities across the U.S. and beyond to take an action for peace, to share it at #PeaceDayChallenge, and then to sustain it beyond the day.

Learn more, and get involved at www.peacedaychallenge.org! Because Peace is Action, and it starts with You!

Prayers for the International Day of Prayer for Peace

Building a Culture of Peace
Offered by Rev. Ken Sehested, Circle of Mercy Congregation in Asheville, NC.

Let us arise and reaffirm this abiding conviction:

That the God of Scripture manifests special concern for the cries of the poor, of the marginalized, the outcast, indeed all who have no access to the table of bounty.

We also believe that if the people of God are to be faithful to our calling, we will locate ourselves in compassionate proximity to those whose lives are battered, bruised and broken.

We do so not as an ethical demand or a work of righteousness but as a spiritual discipline.

For we believe that God’s presence and voice are most easily recognized and understood in situations where life has been abandoned.

Where hope is in retreat, where death is on the prowl and despair rules.

We testify to the Spirit’s plea to the church and to the world:

Disarm your hearts!

Repent of your habits of violence and injustice; return to the One who bore you in mercy.

Disarm your hearts!

Rebuild ruined neighborhoods; restore marginalized peoples; resume the politics of forgiveness and an economy of manna*.

Disarm your hearts!

Revive an ecological relationship with the created order, reject the escalating culture of violence, and renew your commitment to building a culture of peace.

We lift our hearts to you, O Christ. Make us instruments of your peace.

(*sufficiency)

Prayers of the People
Submitted by: Rev. Alice Harper-Jones, The United Church of Christ, USA

Merciful, loving and all powerful God we come into your presence with hearts of thanksgiving and praise as we unite for world justice and peace.

We pray for peace among people of various cultural traditions that are different from our own.

LORD HEAR OUR PRAYERS

We pray for peace and justice within our communities, our individual nations and throughout the world.

LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYERS

We pray for the youth around the world. That they will come together to positively enrich their lives, their communities and their countries as was exhibited in the Jamaican Community Center project.

LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYERS

We pray for global economic and political solutions to situations that will bring peace and justice to all of God’s people, created in God’s image.

LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYERS

We offer these prayers in the name of Jesus and for His sake.

Amen.

Prayer of Confession
Submitted by Craig M. Watts, Co-Moderator of the Disciples Peace Fellowship

Our God and Creator, who made us to be your family throughout the earth, we give you thanks for the expansiveness of your love. We rejoice that you have included us all in your compassionate embrace. We praise you that you have spread wide the unseen arms of your eternal, welcoming kindness.

Forgive us our failure to reflect your way in our own lives. Often we do not spread our arms wide. Often we keep our compassion in much too small a circle. Often our love has been constrained and restrictive.Open the eyes of our hearts that we may see brothers and sisters where we previously had not seen any.

Help us to breach walls build by ignorance, suspicion and hate so we will draw near to one another, as you have drawn near to us in Christ. Lead us that we might reject animosity and instead promote harmony.

Help us, O God, that what we say and do will further the grace you have extended to us as we reject the ways of harm and advance those things that add to the health and hope of all creation. Amen.

Your Shalom. Deep peace. Just Peace.

Submitted by Michael Neuroth, Policy Advocate for International Issues, United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

Our God who was, is, and is to be…We pray for peace.We pray for a peace that is beyond our understanding…beyond our limited vision, hopes, and dreams. We pray for an end of the reign of violence in our communities and in our world.We pray for an end to war.  War that kill our people, desecrates our Earth, depletes our resources and our joy.

We pray for an end to poverty that keeps millions from living lives of dignity, lives without basic needs. On this International Day of Prayers for Peace, let us join with all of God’s creation to pray for Shalom.  Your Shalom.  Deep peace.  Just Peace.For the peace that can only come from You.

O God, may your kingdom come, your peace reign, your justice roll, your Spirit move, your love inspire…

Amen

Источник: //www.ucc.org/justice_just-peace_international-day-of-prayer

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