“And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve; …But as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
...One day while visiting another church, I was asked to pray for the church’s up-coming event by the prayer ministry leader. So, I asked everyone seated in the sanctuary to join our group, in prayer, for the church. After we prayed together, we planned to conduct a prayer walk; ... however, seated in the back of the church were four young men quietly talking. They were about 14-16 years old; and, they had already planned not to participate in the prayer walk.
I spoke to them about praying for their families, friends, and loved ones. And, I explained the importance of prayer, especially for young men living in an urban environment where madness and mayhem are the norm. I told them that they had to really start practicing the art of praying for each other, since somehow, all their male teenage friends seemed to have a bull’s-eye painted on their backs. By the time my soliloquy ended, they had decided to join the others in praying for their church.
Young men, one half of our most valuable assets, are growing up without truly understanding the importance of prayer. Ordinarily, we pray for them. They are the key subject keeping many mothers on their knees in prayer. However, we rarely teach them how to pray for themselves or their friends. -Although we should be certain to teach both young men and women to pray, young men are uniquely different teenagers than their female counterparts. They are much more daring; sometimes taking risks with all types of precarious behavior that places them directly in harm’s way and into the arms of the Enemy. We cannot simply pray for them; we have to teach them how to pray for themselves, and, with and for their friends. Since ultimately, there is a very good chance that their friends are the ones they will be with when trouble ensues. -And, keep this in mind, no child is exempt; trouble follows all our children.
Whether there are social gatherings, family issues, personal problems, friendship woes, dating flubs, or peer pressure; take the time to teach your teenagers to pray for themselves and for all their pressing issues, so they can get accustom to praying as a response to all types of problems. This way, when you need prayer they can pray for you; and, on that day when you are no longer there, they will know how to call on the name of the Lord in their time of trouble. L.
Study Reference: Joshua 24:14-18
Excerpt from: "As For Me And My House." In The Master's Hands: 365 Daily Devotions For Everyday Living.
Copyright © 2014 by Lavona E. Campbell
photo: Family, istock
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