“I’m praying for you” is perhaps one of the most powerful statements out there, and being able to say this to our youth is just as potent.
What can I pray for youth? Some key ways that we can be praying for youth are for encouragement, salvation, healthy relationships, God’s calling, and mentorship. As you grow more confident, you can begin to pray in your own way and tailor your prayers to specific people or needs. God’s word can be a powerful tool in this as well, guiding us in how to pray for ourselves and those around us, including our youth.
Although our world is changing daily, the same basic challenges have been plaguing the human race since day one. We hope that this can give you a place to start as you begin to pray over the youth in your life.
1. Prayer of Encouragement
Lord, I lift ______ up to you today as they go about their day. Please reveal yourself to them in a new way and remind them of your presence in their life. Help them to rely on your Holy Spirit for guidance and direction as they face the challenges of this new day.
Encourage them with joy in trying situations and comfort them when they are discouraged. Grow and stretch them in a new way Lord, and pour out your grace and mercy over them when they fall short.
Develop in them an identity founded in Christ so that they would become grounded in who you say they are. Confirm in their heart that you are their Father, and lavish your unending love on them today. Amen.
2. Prayer of Salvation
Lord, I lift _______ up to you today. Help me to act in such a way that my actions would point directly to you, and that they would see you in me.
Holy Spirit convict __________. Help them to recognize their sin and realize their need for a Savior. Lord, prepare the soil of their heart so that the seeds planted there would grow and flourish.
And until that day, Lord put a hedge of protection around them. Continue to put people in their life that would speak life, and point to the hope that comes from you alone. Amen.
3. Prayer for Healthy Relationships
Lord, l lift _________ up to you today and ask that you would bless them. As they go about their day help them to be a light in this dark world. Help them to draw strength from you to fight back against the schemes of the evil one.
Lord, surround them with people who will encourage them and build them up. Grow the relationships in their life that will support them, encourage them, and keep them accountable. Give them wisdom and discernment to move on from the relationships that keep them from becoming who you called them to be.
Help them also to be a positive influence in the lives of their peers as well. Help them to set a good example and to reflect you in every way. Amen
4. Prayer for Mentorship
Lord, I lift up ____________ to you today and pray that you would bring a strong mentor into their life.
Lord help them to find someone that will challenge them to grow in their faith and who can help guide them to you. Provide someone to disciple them so that they can become stronger in their faith.
Lord, soften their heart to receive all that their mentor pours into them as they teach and encourage them in how to become more like Christ. Help them to humbly accept their mentor’s correction in areas that they need to grow, and celebrate in areas of success.
And, when they have grown Lord, help them to learn how to be a mentor to others. Help them to guide and encourage the next generation of believers so that they will also become strong members of the body of Christ, grounded in their own faith. Amen.
5. Prayer for God’s Calling
Lord, I lift ______ up to you and ask that you would move in their life. Reveal your calling for their life and give them the courage to obey it. Help them pursue the desires of your heart and your will for their life with fervor and tenacity. Help them to press on with endurance regardless of the obstacles.
Help them to pursue a close relationship with you so that they don’t wander off of your path. Help them to grow and be stretched in new ways so that they are better equipped for the next challenge to come their way.
Raise up youth all over the world that are willing to step out in faith and pursue your calling for their life. Help them to become close together as the body of Christ, to support and love each other, and encourage each other through every circumstance. Amen.
Prayers of Scripture
One of the most powerful things I learned to do in my prayer life is to pray Scripture. The Bible is full of promises that God has made to us and praying those promises helps us to claim them in our own lives. For example, If I were to pray Romans 12:2 I might say:
Lord, today I pray that you would give __________ the strength to stand out. Don’t let them fall into the same pattern of sin as the rest of the world but instead help them fix their gaze on you. As they focus on you, Lord, help them to begin to see the world the way that you do. Help them to pursue your heart and will in every situation so that your good and perfect plans would be achieved. Amen.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 ESV
Praying Scripture is powerful because it already lies in accordance with God’s will.
You don’t have to question whether God wants you to be separate from the world and pursue his will, he already told you that’s what he wants.
There is a ton of ways to pray Scripture into your life, like strength to obey his commands, and stand against persecution or you can pray his promises to help you remember who he is and who you are through him.
4 Bible Verses You Can Pray
Here are some Scriptures that have helped me over the years and would be powerful to pray over youth today:
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12 ESV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 ESV
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 ESV
Pray is powerful. Take some time today to pray for the youth in your life. Trust God to answer your prayers.