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Endurance Youth Week of Prayer

Endurance Youth Week of Prayer

Anthony Fuller, Dejan and Deana Stojkovic

I remember very clearly that day in class when Professor Danial Duda said, "Please remember that ministry it not a 100m sprint but a marathon." Well for somebody that never ran a marathon and only had to run 100m in school, what I got from that lesson is that endurance will be key on this journey.

Indeed, I need to say that my professor was right. Nobody expected that the way we do life and church would change so dramatically and our endurance would be tested every hour, even every minute of each day because of Covid-19.  As the virus physically separated families, friends and church communities it was, and still is, easy to forget that with God we can still endure. This is why all Youth directors from the British Union Conference came together to plan a Week of Prayer where we could be an encouragement to our youth through song, prayer, and spoken word including real-life testimonies that reminded us that despite these uncertain times there is still hope in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Week of Prayer traditionally has been driven primarily by the spoken word with prayer at times being an afterthought. Hence, we wanted this year to ensure prayer had a special role. If we are honest and listen carefully, most of our young people still struggle to pray. This is despite how accessible and easy we portray prayer to be. So, we aimed to be intentional about highlighting the relevancy and power of prayer. We used all our social media platforms to allow our youth to share their requests and ensure that each request was prayed for. We had an encouraging response from youth and young adults who asked for; 'peace and to do the will of God', 'to cure depression among our young people', 'for family, health and studies', 'healing from Covid-19', prayer that 'we read and study the Word of God more'.  We had more personal requests from those that needed 'serious help and forgiveness for past criminal activities', 'support for post-traumatic stress disorder' and those who thought they knew God but as a result of the Week of Prayer asked to know God personally. 

We knew everyone would not feel comfortable to share, but we ensured everyone was prayed for including those that would watch the programme later.  We believe when Paul says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Each Youth director across the Union had the privilege to lead the prayer sessions and were blessed by the opportunity to serve.  We aimed to get the message across that youth shouldn't just 'try prayer', but instead encourage them to endure and devote themselves to prayer as a way of life, to pray big to a God who is bigger than all their problems.