There are 36 more days of Lent and every year that Lent rolls around I struggle with what to do with it. People tend to give up things for Lent, but why? The why is supposed to be a spiritual reason. Jesus went for 40 days without food, but did so in preparation for his ministry. He replaced the absence of food with the fullness of his relationship with his Heavenly Father. The point being that we shouldn't give something up unless we fill it with something spiritual in its place.
I've come to the realization that I don't pray for the youth of our church enough. So I've decided to pray for one of our youth every day during the Lenten season. I'm not really giving anything up except time, which I need to be giving anyway. Hopefully this will create a habit I need to keep more faithfully anyway.
I have a list of 17 youth who I consider at least somewhat active in our church. There are a few besides the 17 that we haven't seen for a long while. So my plan is to pray for one youth daily through the season of Lent. This will mean that during the lenten season I will pray for each youth twice. That leaves 2 extra days which will be dedicated to those youth we haven't seen for awhile. I've also planned it so that the youth going on the Mission Trip are prayed for on the days right before we leave or on the actual days of the trip.
I'm inviting the youth along with the rest of the congregation to join me. Note that Sundays are not included in the days of Lent. On those days I encourage you to say a general prayer for all of the youth.
Richey Stephens - Feb 18, Mar 9
Katie Bolte -Feb 19, Mar 11
Clara Partida - Feb 20, Mar 12
*Jacob Biddle - Feb 21, Mar 13
*Lucy Cash - Feb 22, Mar 14
*Matt Hamon - Feb 23, Mar 15
*Elisa Watkins - Feb 25, Mar 17
*Reilly Jones - Feb 26, Mar 18
*Sarah Patrick - Feb 27, Mar 19
*Emily Nelson - Feb 28, Mar 20
Bethany Fulkerson - Mar 1, Mar 21
Zach Bolte - Mar 2, Mar 22
Alex Kelley - Mar 4, Mar 23
Katie Emmert - Mar 5, Mar 25
Sabrina Fear - Mar 6, Mar 26
Jacob Bolte - Mar 7, Mar 27
Drew Hamon - Mar 8, Mar 28
Mar 29 - 30 - Praying for youth who've kept at a distance
*Youth going on the New Jersey Mission Trip Mar 15-21.
Thanks for praying with me,
Pastor Dave
