Kingdom-Focused Prayers for the Next Generation
By Stacey Pardoe
Every Tuesday night, a group of sixth-grade girls meets in our family’s home for an evening of crafting, laughter, and pursuing God together. I’ve been mentoring young women for more than two decades, but this group is unique. This group is different because my 12-year-old daughter is a part of the group.
Like many parents, grandparents, and concerned Christ-followers, I often look at the condition of our world and feel alarmed by the direction we’re heading. I consider the next generation and question my role in helping direct this generation toward the Lord.
At times, I feel helpless.
Meanwhile, God has not called us to helplessly stand by and idly watch as the moral climate rapidly declines. We aren’t all called to invite groups of teenagers into our homes for Bible study; however, we are all called to pray for God to intervene on behalf of the next generation.
As I prepare my daughter and her two younger brothers for adulthood, I’ve been praying for the next generation more earnestly than ever. Here are a few of the prayers I pray on a regular basis. Let’s join in praying for God’s Kingdom to reign over the next generation.
1.Pray for the next generation to grasp their unchanging identities as Christ’s beloved children.
We live in a climate in which people are tempted to find their value through what they can produce and achieve. I see this vividly in the lives of the young women I mentor. They put tremendous pressure on themselves and strive for perfection. At the root of this striving is a spirit of fear. They find their worth through success, which means failure is a crushing blow to their identities.
In his letter to the Roman church, the apostle Paul reminds us that nothing can take God’s love away from us (Rom. 8:38–39). God’s love for us is the truest thing about each of us. God’s love is also the only part of our identities that can never be taken away.
When the next generation learns to live from their unchanging identities as Christ’s beloved children, they will be set free from the need to prove their worth through performance and success. Grasping the truth about their identities will change everything about their lives.
2. Pray for repentance to lead to refreshment.
Most of us don’t readily equate the word repentance with refreshment. However, God’s Word offers the following connection between repentance and refreshment: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
Turn on the television for five minutes of primetime viewing from the nation’s largest networks, and something ungodly is certain to come across the screen. This can be disheartening, but we don’t need to lose hope. We can pray that the next generation will experience the refreshment that comes from repentance.
I’ve been praying that the young people in my life will experience the refreshment that comes with repenting of subtle sins. I pray they will then desire more of this refreshment in their lives. Breaking free from the grip of sin and returning to the Lord doesn’t have to be arduous or painstaking. It requires effort, but the reward always outweighs the effort.
Pray for a spirit of repentance to sweep across the next generation. Pray they will experience the refreshment that comes from turning away from sin and turning toward the Lord. This kind of renewal brings lasting transformation.
3.Pray for a spirit of humility to sweep across the next generation.
We are living in a world in which independence is highly esteemed. Young people take pride in their personal strength. The idea of being dependent upon someone else is generally met with ridicule. These young people are taught that with enough determination, they can achieve any goal they set for themselves. Self-effort is exalted and being strong and independent is the goal.
Sadly, these mindsets are pulling the next generation away from the truth: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). We all need a Savior. Without God’s intervention, none of us can live the abundant life we crave. The first step toward the abundant life is recognizing our need for Jesus.
I often pray for a spirit of humility to fall upon the next generation. Instead of praying for my children to be strong and independent, I pray for them to reach the end of themselves and recognize their need for Jesus. I pray they will feel weak so that they might experience the power of God, which is perfected in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
Let’s pray for the next generation to recognize their need for salvation through Christ. Let’s pray they will have humble hearts to see the ongoing need for Christ’s lordship in their lives.
4.Pray for a lack of contentment with the comforts of this world.
We are all bombarded with countless options to fill the emptiness within our souls. The next generation faces limitless choices for entertainment, enticing social media platforms, and culture’s subtle enticement to fill their schedules to overflowing.
At the end of a long day, most young people default to sitting in front of a screen as a way to decompress. Technology can be a blessing, but more than ever, the next generation is turning to technology as a source of comfort and escape. Sadly, the images on the screens in front of them often point them away from Jesus instead of pointing them toward Him.
Meanwhile, our heavenly Father wants to be our source of comfort and escape. He wants to be our strong tower—the place where we run for safety (Prov. 18:10).
I frequently pray that my children—and the young women I mentor—will not be content to find reprieve in the comforts of this world. I pray that worldly comforts like social media, TV, food, and video games will not satisfy them. I pray for a sense of restlessness that only God can fill.
My own experience has taught me that no worldly comfort will ever satisfy the part of my soul that longs for intimacy with God. I can eat every cookie in the house, binge watch Netflix for hours, or spend an entire afternoon scrolling through my social media feeds. These worldly comforts always leave me feeling worse than I felt when I started. Let’s pray for this same discomfort for the next generation.
5.Pray for godly influences to point them to the truth.
After praying for a lack of contentment with worldly comforts, I always pray for godly influences to point my children to the truth. My husband and I take our responsibility as their primary role-models seriously, and we aim to point them to the truth daily. We also pray for godly mentors to enter their lives. We pray for Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, coaches, teachers, family members, and friends to speak truth into their lives and guide them on their journeys.
Praying for the voice of truth to impact the next generation includes praying for people who will point them to the power of God’s Word and voices to help them turn their lives toward Jesus. Let’s pray for God to send voices of truth into the lives of young people. Taking it a step further, let’s also pray for the Lord to show us the faces of young people who are hungry for an encounter with His love.
6.Pray for boldness to stand for truth in love.
Mainstream culture is moving further away from biblical values on a slippery slope that is gaining momentum. Let’s pray for the next generation to recognize this moral decline and stand for biblical truth.
Taking a stand for biblical truth isn’t about personal agendas. It’s an indictment to call an entire nation back to the Lord out of a spirit of love. Pray for God to raise up a generation of heartbroken Truth-bearers—Christ-followers who will lovingly and humbly plead for a return to biblical morals and values. Pray for soft hearts to receive their words and pray that the light and love of Christ will shine brightly through these ambassadors of hope.
Encourage Receptive Hearts
In addition to praying, the Christ-following believers among the next generation are facing strong opposition. Let’s continue to pray, but let’s also encourage these young people to stand firm in their faith. God has not given up on the next generation, and He has plans to make Himself known to His beloved children.
Let’s keep praying for God to prepare the hearts of these young people so that they are ready to receive His radical love.
STACEY PARDOE is a writer, mentor, and teacher. She and her 12-year-old daughter Bekah recently published the devotional Girl to Girl: 60 Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith. They live in western Pennsylvania.
