Home Youth Leaders Articles for Youth Leaders A Prayer for Youth Leaders as You Passionately Serve

A Prayer for Youth Leaders as You Passionately Serve

prayer for youth leaders

Dear fellow youth worker, I want you to know I said a prayer for youth leaders this morning. My own need for encouragement sparked that prayer, but I hope these words (and my words to God) boost your spirits as well.

This morning I was staring at the wall, even though I needed to tackle a bunch of emails and tasks before 5 a.m. I was a little hungry and a lot tired from recent toddler-induced all-nighters, so my mind kept wandering. I gazed at our wedding pictures and thought to myself, “So that’s what we looked like before we had children!”

In that state, I was really tempted to just have a game night with our middle schoolers that evening. It seemed much easier than talking about the Holy Spirit. But then I realized this is just a moment of distraction.

Life is like this. It ebbs and flows. It fires fast and quietly slows. We wonder how we got ourselves into a few messes we didn’t really have time for. Meanwhile, we daydream about a few other things we’d rather be swimming in. And the awesome beautiful reality of our everyday walking-around life is waiting for us to wake up and dive in.

So I needed a little prayer. And I’m guessing an all-around prayer for youth leaders is always a good idea. If you pray for me, I promise I’ll pray for you. (Sorry about the Michael W. Smith reference. I totally didn’t mean to do that…unless you really like that song. Then I totally meant to do that.)

My prayer for youth leaders includes these petitions:

  • For your friendships to grow deeper and your ministries to thrive in healthy ways.
  • For your homes to be messy and for that to be okay.
  • That your conversations are full of grace.
  • That you’re able to say “no” a few times today so you can say “yes” to what matters most.
  • For the strengthening of your influence and leadership abilities.
  • For your awesome families. May your spouse or significant other overflow with blessings and full cups.
  • That God will bless your amazing kids (both biological and ministry-logical).
  • For you to adopt someone into your family who’s a bit invisible.
  • That you will know someone and love someone more than you love yourself.

And there’s even more…

The Instagram creeper in me prays that your photos are seasoned with good food and funny moments. That your posts reveal life, laughter and little obsessions, from dirt bikes to glowing city lights.

In my prayer for youth leaders, I’m asking God to give you what you need today. And for you to have fun doing whatever you find yourself doing. To serve in ways that give you life. And to always know you are deeply loved.

I’m praying you will know that God loves you not for what you do or for how many kids walk through the door but simply because you’re you. I’m praying that you know you are worth Jesus to God. That’s something youth ministers don’t hear very often because we’re usually the ones saying it.

May God bless you with purity of heart and mind today. With clarity and strength. With a catalytic converter that turns your doldrums into passionate service.

So we’re up and at ’em. We’ve got dragons to slay. But in the meantime, it’s comforting to know that we took time to say a prayer for youth leaders.

(Oh, and cheers to Michael W. Smith and the rhyming, whimsical Dr. Seuss. I appreciate the ways you’ve subtly influenced this post!)