Thankful Thursday: YIPPS

Today’s Verse: "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:18

Today, I’m thankful for my Sunday night YIPPS group. YIPPS is an acronym for “Youth Intercessory Prayer Partners”. We are a group of parents/grandparents who are passionate about God’s work in the lives of our church and our children, and believe in the power of prayer. We gather together each Sunday evening, at the same time that our Jr. High and Sr. High youth groups are meeting, and we cover our youth, our youth leaders, and our youth activities in prayer.

As we meet together, I have great hope that God is very attentive to what is happening in this small back room on our church campus each Sunday night, and I look forward to seeing the ways He is going to be active in answering our prayers. I believe that God wants every heart of our youth to belong to Him, and that He wants to bless the hands of our youth leaders. How can our sweet time in prayer ever be a useless waste of time? I believe that it is one of the most important things I do each week.

So, here are some reasons I am thankful for YIPPS…

• There is nothing sweeter than hearing a parent pray for their child.
• It’s a huge blessing to hear someone else pray for my child.
• By asking our youth leaders how we can pray for them each week, I sense that they are encouraged in their role, and reminded of the importance of their ministry to our youth.
• We are an encouragement to the youth as we give them the opportunity to ask for prayer, and they know their concern is being lifted up in prayer.
• Seeing answers to some of the things we have prayed for is so awesome!
• Just knowing that God is pleased with what we are doing, and has a great plan for our youth, is the biggest blessing of all.

Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful people who join me each Sunday night in praying for the youth of our church. Thank you for the blessing it is to come together and spend time in your presence, coming to you on behalf of so many young lives that are sitting at a crossroads where they are choosing on a daily basis to follow you, or follow the world. Above all, I thank you for being the kind of God that hears our prayers, and cares about each thing we bring to you, big or small. Lord, continue to turn our youth closer to you, and bring them into a relationship with you that is vibrant, growing, and life changing. Bless our youth workers in their efforts to build relationships, plan fun times, and above all teach your Word in powerful ways. Stretch the hours in their week, protect their marriages and families, and provide all that they need to accomplish the task that you’ve given them. Lord, may my kids draw closer to you, and find what a joy it is to live their lives for you, by watching and listening to their youth leaders in action, and participating in such wonderful youth events. To this end I (and YIPPS) will keep on praying!