Elegance in Prayer

That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:16-17a ESV).

My favorite place to serve in our church is with Mosaic: our youth group for middle and high school students. I first volunteered because I enjoyed high school and wanted to help some of our students do the same while seeking Jesus. To my wonderful surprise, I met a community of teenagers and leaders with tremendous passion for their faith. Again and again, I am overjoyed by their desire to learn and welcome Jesus into their lives.

Their enthusiasm for being there every Sunday evening makes it so easy to come alongside them on their journey. While the lessons may be challenging to teach or they might ask tough questions, watching them take these steps to foster their faith is nothing short of amazing and inspires me to do my best to be there for them.

One way that I and the other leaders want to help our youth is to pray for them! We do our part in person during youth group meetings, we like to stay in touch during the week, but we also want to talk to our God about them in prayer. Why not ask our mighty God to help them where they need it? At the end of our small groups, we ask if there’s anything we could be praying for each other as a group. Not only are we working to encourage the students to pray for each other, but it lets me know how I can pray for them as the week goes on as well.

I imagine Paul felt something similar for the church in Ephesus. They were people he cared deeply for and wanted to help build up their faith. The whole letter to the Ephesians is both encouraging and instructive, providing words of hope and of sound doctrine. In chapter 3, he shares a prayer for them that asks the Lord to strengthen their inner being such that through faith, Jesus Christ may dwell in their hearts.

If I could only be so elegant when praying with and for our youth! Whatever Paul saw in the faith of the Ephesian church, it moved him deeply enough to send up that extra request to God and say, “Hey God, you see all these wonderful people trying to learn more about you? Please come prepare their hearts and bolster their faith so Jesus can live in them, too.”

While I know some specific prayer requests from our youth to pray for, my prayer for them all is the same: that God will see them as they seek him out, strengthen them in their faith, and open their hearts to Christ. Will you join me in echoing Paul’s prayer for our youth today?

If you have a middle- or high-schooler who hasn’t checked out the youth group, come give it a try! We’d love for you to join us. If you have any questions or anything our leaders could be praying about, feel free to come say hi to me at church or email our youth director Ernie Lane: ernie@chathamchurch.org.

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