If your church doesn’t currently have a youth ministry prayer team – make that your primary goal for the remainder of the year! Other youth ministry goals are great to have – i.e. increase in numbers, increase in volunteers, monthly service projects, an annual mission’s trip, etc. But prayer is paramount! A youth ministry’s success is directly proportional to the prayer lifted up for it. Every youth ministry needs a committed group of adults that will daily lift the youth ministry up in prayer. And the great thing is that right now there are many people in your church that would love to pray for the youth ministry. However, a lot of times they just don’t know what to pray for. But if we provide them with some guidance they will pray with fervor and passion for the youth ministry at your church!
This is also a great way to get more adults involved in your ministry that may not want to do hands-on type ministry. I guarantee that there are plenty of people in your church that will never voluntarily enter a room full of Junior High students, but would love the opportunity to pray for them. A prayer team is also a great way to reach out to homebound congregation members in your church. How special would it be for you to stop by someone’s home and express your desire for them to pray for the youth ministry at the church? A youth ministry prayer team has the potential to go beyond the walls of the youth room – it will also bless those who pray for it!
This prayer guide template is exactly that – a template – so feel free to change it around in the way that best meets the needs of your youth ministry and youth ministry prayer team. Each day the prayer team will be given guidance on how to pray for the various youth programs, the youth, their peers, the adult volunteers, and general ministry needs. The prayer team will also be guided on how to pray for any upcoming special needs. You may want to send out updated prayer guides every month or quarter so you can provide your prayer team with updated special needs. Or if you’re very organized you can include special needs for the entire year and just make one available. Also, on the back of the prayer guide template is a personal prayer guide based off of Dick Eastman’s The Hour that Changes the World. This is intended to enhance the prayer life of your prayer team members.
This prayer guide is intended to be double-sided on one sheet of paper that can fold and easily fit in a Bible or be stuck to a refrigerator. Included is a PDF document for you to view, it also includes a sample prayer guide. Also included is a WORD document that is completely editable. You are more than welcome to change this around as much as you need to. If you want to keep it simple and produce it as is – simply replace the highlighted parts with the appropriate entries and you’re ready to print.
There are people in your church that will labor in prayer for the youth ministry – they just need some help knowing what to pray for. Recruit them, give them the guidance through a prayer guide, and watch what God will do through the prayers of His saints!
By Matt Baxter
Contact Matt
Visit Matt’s Scribd page where he has posted many more free resources
Matt is a youth minister at New Town United Methodist Church in Williamsburg, VA. He’s been involved in youth ministry for 7 years. He’s married for 4 years and is obsessed with The Office and the Chicago Bears.
Here are the files
Prayer Guide – Microsoft Word
Prayer Guide – Adobe Acrobat
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Dennis Beckner
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