Praying for Our Young People
By Dr . Bryan Smith
I
’ m a firm believer in Christian education . It ’ s made a huge difference in my life , and I ’ ve seen it do great things for my children . But it would be foolish for me to think that Christian education is enough , by itself , to transform our young people into godly adults . Ask the most experienced , skilled Christian teachers , and they will tell you that unless God chooses to work in the hearts of our young people , student transformation will not take place .
It ’ s like the story of the Israelites fighting the Amalekites ( Exod . 17:8-16 ). Joshua led God ’ s people into battle and fought bravely . But the Israelites prevailed only as Moses lifted up his hands toward heaven . We need Christian education . We need a biblical worldview . But without prayer , the transformation we seek will not happen .
But what are we supposed to pray ? That our young people will be respectful of authority ? That they will make wise choices ? That they will not waste their lives ? All of these are good requests . But are they the best things to pray for ?
Thankfully , God ’ s Word teaches us how to pray . Repeatedly , in the New Testament , Paul records his prayers for believers . These prayers are meant to serve as models for our own praying . Would you like to be able to intercede for your children ( or students ) with the wisdom and insight of the Apostle Paul ? You can . We all can if we will follow his models .
With the remainder of this article , I want to walk us through one of Paul ’ s prayers , his prayer for believers in Ephesians 3:14-21 . If we will pray through this prayer regularly for our young people , I am sure that God will do significant work in their hearts and lives .
THE ALMIGHTY FATHER
Paul begins by reminding himself who he ’ s praying to : “ The Father . . . of whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named ” ( vv . 14-15 KJV ). Naming in the Bible demonstrates authority . Here , Paul states that God is the Father who has named the whole creation and is therefore in control of all that happens .
This is an excellent way to begin a prayer for our young people . We know that we are powerless to bring about change in their lives . But we are speaking to the One who has all power . There is nothing He cannot do . The resources at His disposal are infinite . We often find ourselves frustrated by our inability to persuade or give wise counsel . But we must remember that God can do more in five seconds than we can do in fifty years of our own effort .
STRENGTHENED WITH MIGHT
Paul goes on to ask that believers would be “ strengthened with might by [ God ’ s ] Spirit in the inner man ” ( v . 16 ). He prays that God would take from His vast storehouse of power and pour it out — through the work of His Holy Spirit — into the hearts of these Christians . Paul wants this power to serve a specific purpose : “ that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ” ( v . 17 ). The word dwell refers to a specific kind of dwelling . It means “ to make oneself at home ” somewhere . So Paul is praying that Christ would come to make Himself at home in these believers ’ lives . And he wants them to do this “ by faith .” Not out of fear , not out of guilt , but out of confident trust in the character and promises of God . And if that happens , those believers will be “ rooted and grounded in love ” ( v . 17 ). They will realize that when they surrender their hearts to Christ , He doesn ’ t ruin their lives . He stabilizes their lives with His own love and compassion .
It is a difficult thing to let Christ be at home in your heart . This is true especially for a young person whose heart is full of its own desires . How can such people hand their hearts over to Christ ? It will take strength from Almighty God . But if He chooses to give the strength , it will happen . And if it happens , our young people will not regret it . Instead of being insecure and emotionally unstable , they will be rooted and grounded in Christ ’ s love for them .
38 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW