For the Youth of America

Youth of America
2009 National Day of Prayer
Cedar Rapids, IA

Our youth live in a world of fear where hope often seems out of reach.  The fears of today’s youth are the same yet very different from those we had growing up. 

When I was growing up computers were just appearing in homes.  Now they are everywhere.  We had to leave the house to socialize, but online sites like facebook are how kids socialize today.  Bullying existed when I was a kid.  It still exists, but thanks in part to the Internet and cell phones cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking are on the rise.  A 2006 survey by Harris Interactive reported that 43% of U.S. teens had experienced some form of cyber-bullying in the past year.¹  

Twenty-five years ago my friends and I worried that a nuclear war could happen at any time.  Since 9/11 we can add the fear of a terrorist attack in our own backyard.

So what can do?  Proverbs 22:6 teaches us to “Direct our children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”²  The church body needs to mentor our nation’s youth.  As an advocate of mentoring, Governor Chet Culver stated, “Time spent with a child is not only an investment in that child but an investment in every Iowan.”³  We need to make that investment and serve as trusted counselors and teachers to them.  We cannot afford to let our youth slip between the cracks.

PRAYER

God we look to you to bring about a day when children can live without fear, walk in hope and lead future generations to Christ!  I pray for a spiritual awakening of the youth in America.  I pray that we, your Church, commit to coming alongside youth teaching them how to become authentic disciples of Christ.  They need to know “how much God loved not only the world, but also each one of them: He loves us so much that He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.”⁴  By directing them to the right path we will have helped them to find their eternal destination in heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

AMEN!!

Living Outrageously for Christ ~ Terry