Great Prayers for the Next Generation
Psalm 139:13-14, 1 Peter 5:5-7, Eph 1:3-7, Phil 2:5, James 1:5
*We are here tonight to do one of the most important things we can ever do for Vacation Bible School: We are here to pray for VBS.
1. First: Pray for the children to know that they are God’s creation.
*In Psalm 139, David praised the Lord with these words:
13. You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother’s womb.
14. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
*In vs. 13, “Lord, YOU formed me.” James Merritt explains: “David knew that we are a physical miracle created by the power of God. . . That is, David said, "I am not here because of mother nature, fate, or chance.” David knew that your life was not an accident. Your life is a wonderful gift from God!
*In vs. 14, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” We are “fearfully made.” That word means we should stand in awe at the complexity of our creation. We are “wonderfully made.” That word means we are a marvelous creation of God.
*Your body is such an incredibly precise machine that if it is working normally, you can: Feel on your fingertips or face a pressure that depresses your skin only .00004 inch, see 300,000 different colors, and taste a tiny spoon of salt dissolved in 500 quarts of water. Your body is a physical miracle that can only be explained by the unlimited power of God. (1)
*Pray for the children to know that they are God’s creation.
2. And pray for them to know that God cares for them.
*1 Peter 5:5-7 tells believers:
5. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’’
6. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7. casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
*Cast all your care upon God, because HE CARES FOR YOU. The idea here is to do it quickly. Don’t wait around. Throw your cares on the Lord.
*John Piper tells us that this word “casting” occurs only one other time in the New Testament: in Luke 19:35. It’s Palm Sunday and the disciples have been sent to get the donkey for Jesus to ride on. Then verse 35 says, "They brought it to Jesus, and casting their garments on the colt, they set Jesus on it."
*So the meaning is simple and straight forward: if you have a garment on and you want an animal to carry it for you. You "cast" the garment on the animal. In this way you don’t carry it anymore. It’s on the animal, not on you. The donkey works for you by lifting your load. And God is willing to carry your anxieties the same way a donkey carries your baggage.
*John Piper says, “One of the greatest things about the God of the Bible is that he commands us to let him work for us before commanding us to work for him.”
-So in Matt 11:28 Jesus said: "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"
-Psalm 55:22 says: "Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you"
-And in Isaiah 46:4 the Lord tells us, “Even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (2)
*When your world is crashing in, you may be tempted to think that the Lord doesn’t care for you. But just look back at the cross! The cross of Christ forever proves God’s care for you!
*Pray for the children to know God cares for them.
3. And pray for them to trust in the cross of Christ.
*God has a plan for your life! In Jeremiah 29:11 in the NKJ, God says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future & a hope.”
*The root word picture for “thoughts” is weaving, weaving something together according to your plan. So in the New Living Translation of Jeremiah 29:11, God says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
*Our Becky is 33 now, but I remember her singing this song in Pre-K:
-“I am a promise. -- I am a possibility.
-I am a promise with a capital ‘P.’ -- I am a great big bundle of potentiality.
-And I am learnin’ to hear God’s voice. -- And I am tryin’ to make the right choice
-I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be.
-I can go anywhere that He wants me to go.
-I can be anything He wants me to be.
-I can climb the high mountains.
-I can cross the wide sea. -- I’m a great big promise you see!” (3)
*God has a great plan for your life. And the greatest part of God’s plan is the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul put it this way in Ephesians 1:3-7:
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4. just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5. having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6. to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
7. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
*God’s plan for all believers is to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. That’s what Jesus offers to all who will trust in His crucifixion and resurrection.
-So pray for the children to trust in the cross of Christ.
4. And pray for them to follow Christ.
*In Phil 2:5, Paul tells believers to “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Paul is talking about us following Christ in humble, sacrificial, unselfish service.
*When David Moore’s boys were much younger, they were arguing over a toy train. David thought the older boy was capable of showing Christ-like character.
*So he turned to his 5-year-old and asked, “What do you think Jesus would do?” -- The little guy looked at his dad and emphatically said: “Jesus would make another train!” (4)
*Well, He certainly could. But that little boy missed the point completely. We have to learn how to follow the Lord.
*Pray for the children to learn how to follow Christ.
5. And pray for them to find the correct way to live.
*God will show us the right way to live. That’s why James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
*Talking about VBS in their church, David Gable said, “In vacation Bible school, kids prayed at dismissal time: ‘I will do the best I can with what I have where I am for Jesus’ sake today.’” (5)
*This is the correct way to live.
*Tonight we are going to take a Prayer Walk for VBS, but let’s start with silent prayer right here. Would you please bow for prayer.
*Pray for the VBS children:
-To know that they are God’s creation.
-To know that God cares for them.
-To trust God’s plan of salvation through the cross.
-To follow Christ.
-To find the correct way to live.
1. Adapted from ChristianGlobe.com sermon “Our God Is an Awesome God” by James Merritt - Psalm 139:1-24 (His source was Reader’s Digest)
2. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “Anxieties: To Be Cast Not Carried” by John Piper - 1 Pet 5:1-11 - June 13, 1993
3. http://www.biblestudycharts.com/CH_I_Am_A_Promise.html
4. “The Last Men’s Book You’ll Ever Need” by David Moore, 2008, p.15 - (Found in “In Other Words” March 2010 #2 produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry, - 6130 Barrington, Beaumont, Texas 77706 (800) 553-4697 www.iows.net)
5. C. David Gable in “Leadership” - Vol. 9, #2 (Found on Bible Illustrator for windows -Topic: Service / Subtopic: Humble / Index: 3897 - Date: 12/1997.2105 / Title: The Best I Can Do)
