Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray and hear from God. This month we join with many around the world as we pray for the Coronavirus.

This month, please join the YWAM family as we pray for people caught up in the coronavirus pandemic. Please pray with us on our prayer day, April 9, or feel free to pray at a time that works best for you.

Listen to the letter here

For this month’s prayer time, the majority of us will be joining from our homes since, in most locations, governments have restricted movement in order to contain the coronavirus pandemic. This means we will be praying alone, with our families, or perhaps connecting with others online. May you be encouraged and filled with hope as we pray!

If you only have a few moments to pray, please pray for YWAM’s leaders to be led by God in how to respond, and for people in the nations most affected by the virus right now. Thank you for being part of The Invitation. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how you prayed. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org. Please also share any coronavirus stories you have that might guide our prayer time in May which will be Coronavirus Part Two.

Additionally, Ramadan begins this month on April 24 and we have an opportunity to pray for 30 days for the Muslim world (see below in Take Action).

Prepare to Pray:

Let’s prepare our hearts by reading Psalm 91. Even if you are alone, it can be helpful to read out loud.

1. Read the psalm aloud three times, noticing each time the words and phrases that connect with your mind and heart.
2. Repeat aloud or write in your journal those phrases that especially catch your attention. For example, this might be, “He is my refuge and my fortress,” or “He will save you.”
3. If you are praying alongside your kids, they might want to draw a picture or find a magazine cutting that conveys one of these images: a refuge, a fortress, a shield, a safe dwelling.
4. Spend a few moments in silence, using your imagination to feel what it is like to run away from fear, perhaps through a dark wood, and into a strong tower. How do you feel when, legs screaming from exertion, you arrive at the tower, fling open the door and lock it firmly behind you? How might God want to be your strong tower, your place of refuge, in your present circumstances?
5. Consider singing along with this song (or perhaps another that comes to mind). As the song closes, offer your hope and trust to the Lord.

How To Pray – Coronavirus:

Like many of our training locations, the YWAM community in Kona, Hawaii, recently met to discuss their response to the coronavirus pandemic. At that meeting, YWAM’s cofounder Darlene Cunningham communicated some thoughts that can guide our prayers.

• Pray the promises of Psalm 91 over those who are suffering with illness, the loss of loved ones, or the fear of what could happen. Pray that God would bring rescue, healing and comfort.
• As you pray, name the nations most affected by the virus right now. Pray for the sick in China, Iran, Italy, Spain and other countries.
• Psalm 91 contains this promise from God: “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (v.14-16). Pray that in the face of current circumstances those in government would call on the name of Jesus; and that in this time of trouble, those in positions of responsibility would turn to Him. May they and those they serve experience the deliverance of God.
• Pray for healthcare workers and healthcare systems that are under great strain. May the Lord grant strength and wisdom that will both contain the threat of the pandemic and lead to creative partnerships that will protect and sustain populations.
• Please pray for companies to produce enough masks and other protective equipment, test kits, ventilators, and other necessary supplies wherever they are needed.
• Pray for scientists working to create a vaccine.
• In Darlene’s talk to the YWAM community in Kona, she said the global pandemic imposes on us uncomfortable and distressing circumstances that are beyond our control. And yet, at the same time, God is inviting us to trust Him. Pray that around the world rather than feeling swept along by the tide of uncertainty we would turn with hearts of faith to participate in the activity of God at this time. May God’s people offer leadership, wisdom and courage to their communities.
• Darlene and Kona leader Andy Byrd explained to the community the decision to commission trainees and staff to return to their families and home locations with the intention of seeking the blessing of the people there. That is, rather than mission trips to international locations they would now be on mission in the places they had first come from. Many YWAM teams around the world find themselves facing the same challenge and opportunity. Join us in praying that we would see a fresh wave of missional living being expressed all around the world, as those with hearts to see God’s kingdom come would live from that place of purposeful desire in their home locations.
• Pray especially for those who would ordinarily still be taking part in YWAM’s Discipleship Training Schools that began in January. May they receive the support they need from their DTS staff and leaders (pray that God grows us in our capacity and wisdom to extend discipling help from a distance) and may they daily experience the empowering of the Holy Spirit to live with integrity alongside their families and local communities.
• At this same meeting, Darlene mentioned the word “sabbatical” and the invitation from God to go deeper into Him during this time. Many of us may feel busier than ever, with emails and Zoom meetings galore as we navigate postponed conferences and training times. Still, this time offers us an invitation to create rhythms of resting in God that would usually be interrupted by travel or face-to-face meetings. Pray that, along with the global YWAM family, you would resist the temptation to fill your days with alternative activity, and instead respond to the opportunity to cultivate an awareness of the presence of God with you. Consider how this might be for you a time of reflection, realignment, and readiness for what God has next.
• These unexpected events are unfolding during the traditional period of Lent. Lent is the time leading up to Easter when we find ways to get in touch with our very real need for salvation. In this letter to the Roman church, Paul described the “groaning of creation” as though with labor pains (Romans 8, 22). As you consider the global crisis created by Covid-19, in what ways do you find yourself more aware of this groaning of the world for redemption? Pray that all of creation would be “set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (v.21). (You might find that this song aids your prayers.)

• Finally, in her message to the YWAM Kona community Darlene declared, “We know that God is always greater and we will prove Him great in new ways.”Pray that we would be those who are attentive to God’s loving and redemptive activity in the world. Pray that as we seek to participate with His Spirit at this unique time in history, we would indeed prove Him great in new ways!

Take Action

• Join the Facebook group “YWAM Coronavirus Prayer Group” and continue praying for YWAM’s response to Covid-19.
• Even though we trust in Jesus, we also need to be wise. Read about YWAM’s response to the coronavirus: https://ywam.org/blog/2020/03/18/ywam-responds-to-covid-19/.
• Pray about ways to serve others within the prescribed safety precautions.
• Make a plan for Easter. It will be different this year. Who can you reach within the current restraints?
• Share Psalm 91 and what you experienced as you prepared to pray this month with someone who is struggling with the coronavirus.
• Commit to pray for the frontline workers in all industries: healthcare, research, food and farming, transportation, childcare and others until this pandemic is over.
• Let God direct you to one or two people each day and reach out to them during this time to tell them how much they mean to you, and the love of the father to them.
• Develop a plan that daily keeps you focused on God and the basic needs of your family and loved ones, instead of being distracted by the chaos.
• Let God speak to you daily. How is he directing your steps now and in the future? What is He teaching you? Share this with others from your location, ministry partners, family members and others. What similarities are others hearing?
• Pray for Muslims during Ramadan. In 1993, YWAM leaders received the word of the Lord to pray for Muslims. The “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World” prayer event has been growing ever since, with prayer guides now available in over 30 languages. Learn about Muslim cultures and identities all over the world, and be inspired to pray for their real needs and concerns, and for a revelation of Jesus. Join hundreds of thousands of believers to pray for Muslims during Ramadan beginning April 24. Children’s editions are also available. Get more information and find where to order prayer guides in your country and language from pray30days.org.
• Continue to prepare yourself and your location now to participate in globaloutreachday.org. Prepare each person, regardless of their role in YWAM, to share Jesus with five people during the month of May.

• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

March 2020 – Lordship of Christ

• Our post for The Invitation was liked/loved 194 times and shared 33 times.

Future Topics:

• May 14: Coronavirus – Part Two
• June 11: Series: Spiritual Principles from YWAM’s Early Days
  Fear of God (Ramona Musch)  – 4 of 4 in the series
• July 9: Ending Bible Poverty (Loren Cunningham)

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

 

Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

In Philippians we read that at the end of time every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (2:10-11). But how are we doing with making Jesus Lord right now? Do we trust Him? Do we hesitate in obeying Him? This teaching of making Jesus Lord was one of the foundational principles emphasized in YWAM’s early days. In this month’s YWAM prayer focus, called The Invitation, YWAM’s cofounder Darlene Cunningham shares a dramatic personal story of how she saw this principle at work in her own life, and she gives YWAMers guidance about how to pray for a renewed commitment to making Jesus Lord each day.

Listen to the Letter

Please take a moment to watch the short video with Darlene as she is interviewed by Miranda Heathcote, who works with YWAM in Spain.

For a summary of the video, see the very bottom of this post.

Please join us this month during The Invitation prayer day on Thursday, March 12, as we pray and discern. If you only have a few moments to pray please pray for yourself and the YWAM family to grow in our ability to trust God enough that we will obey Jesus without reservation. Thank you for being part of The Invitation. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how you prayed. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Additionally, please note the prayer request regarding the call for all YWAMers to share Jesus with five people during the month of May.

Prepare to Pray:

Read aloud together from Romans 12:1-2:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (from The Message translation).

As you watch the video, pay attention to the way Darlene describes the lordship of Jesus. She says His lordship “means that there is no aspect of my life that He is not Lord of. When we have the lordship of Jesus it shows up in everything we do.”

After watching the video, everyone in your group will need paper or a journal, and a pen. Guide your group through the following steps:

1. Have them draw a large circle on the page.
   
2. Mark out 6 segments (much like pieces of pie).
   
3. Label these segments: relationships, finances, decision-making, body care, time management, vocation.
   
4. Imagine that the value at the center of the circle is zero and at the circumference of the circle is 10.
   

You are invited to consider each area of your life (you may add others if you feel prompted). To what extent are you satisfied with the Lordship of Jesus in this area of your life? Zero represents complete dissatisfaction, that is, you realize that Christ is not at all Lord of this part of your life, and perhaps you have never even considered that He might be. On the other hand, ten represents complete satisfaction, that is, you know that you live in complete submission to the Lordship of Jesus in this area of your life.

Make this a reflective process and time of dialogue with the Lord: listen to Him, be open to the affirmations and convictions of the Holy Spirit as you make a mark along the lines representing each aspect of your ordinary, everyday life.

How To Pray – Lordship of Christ:

• Pray for awareness of distractions. After Darlene shared the story about her young daughter needing medical attention, Miranda commented that in the story it wasn’t just obeying God but being aware of God’s direction moment by moment.
  • What are the things in your life, and the life of your team or community, that prevent you from paying attention to the movements of the Holy Spirit?
  • How do you encounter distractions in your day-to-day life?
  • In what ways are your affections or attachments directed towards other things?
  • As you become aware of these “other loves” express this awareness to God. How might God be directing you to arrange your life in such a way that you consistently pay attention to His leading?
  • What would this look like in the context of your team or community?
• Pray for a distinctness from the surrounding culture. In the Romans passage we read: “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.“
  • Are there ways in which you or your community has taken on particular values from your cultural context that run counter to living with Christ as lord?
  • Take time to name any ways in which this might be true of you.
  • Along with this confession, repent of these areas of cultural adjustment and ask the Lord to once again align you with the life and teaching of Jesus.
• Pray for a responsive heart. Darlene said delayed obedience is not Lordship. Consider any area of your life, or your life as a community, where you sense an invitation from God to take a step of obedience.
  • What is stirred in you as you pay attention to that invitation? It could be excitement, anticipation, fear, reluctance or some other emotion.
  • Rather than brushing those feelings aside, how would it be for you to be with the Lord in the reality of those feelings?
  • Allow time for you to become aware of His presence. Perhaps He has something to say, or perhaps He simply wants to be with you in a way that reassures you in this step of obedience.
• Pray for increasing levels of trust in God. Darlene says “Jesus can’t be Lord if you don’t trust Him, and you are convinced completely that He is always kind, and just, and has all wisdom and all the things we know about His character. If we line ourselves up with that, then lordship is really quite easy.”
  • Take time to bring to mind those areas where you are finding it hard to trust God.
  • Pray that in your life and the life of your community, there will be a deeper revelation of God’s kindness, justice and wisdom.
• Special note: Please pray for everyone in the YWAM family to share their faith with at least five people during the month of May. YWAM leaders are calling for YWAMers to participate in the Global Outreach Day (globaloutreachday.com) by witnessing in this way. Said Lynn Green, one of YWAM’s leaders, “Please start praying that the Lord will open the door for every YWAMer, regardless of their role, to speak personally about Jesus with five people during the month of May.”

Take Action

• Make it a spiritual goal to increase in the area of lordship of Christ in one or more areas of your life. Conduct the circle exercise from above in six months and then in one year to assess your progress.
• How do you describe lordship of Christ to someone you are mentoring? Search Scripture and listen to God and develop your personalized way of explaining it. Share with an accountability partner and then with the person you are mentoring.
• Prepare your location now to participate in globaloutreachday.org. Prepare each person, regardless of their role in YWAM, to share Jesus with five people during the month of May.
• In 1993, YWAM leaders received the word of the Lord to pray for Muslims. The “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World” prayer event has been growing ever since, with prayer guides now available in over 30 languages. Learn about Muslim cultures and identities all over the world, and be inspired to pray for their real needs and concerns, and for a revelation of Jesus. Join hundreds of thousands of believers to pray for Muslims during Ramadan beginning April 24.  Children’s editions are also available. Get more information and find where to order prayer guides in your country and language from pray30days.org.
• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

February 2020 – Holy Living

• We received a request for prayers for peace at the eastern edge of the Democratic Republic of Congo where there is fighting in South Kivu and North Kivu provinces.

January & February 2019

• An update on The Send: We prayed for The Send in January and February of last year. YWAM is one of the partnering organizations for these mission-focused stadium events. We can praise God for all He has done through these gatherings. In February 23 of last year 58,000 people filled a stadium in Orlando, USA and many committed themselves to serve Jesus in the nations and their neighborhoods. Then in Brazil on February 8 of this year more than 150,000 people filled three stadiums in Sao Paulo and Brazilia and again many committed themselves to go to the nations, to reach their universities, to read the Bible daily, and to take care of orphans. Please pray for The Send’s upcoming events in Argentina on April 25, 2020 and in Kansas City, USA in October, that God would draw people and move among them again. For more information, see thesend.org.

Future Topics:

Series: Spiritual Principles from YWAM’s Early Days

• April 9: Fear of God  – 4 of 4 in the series
• May 14: Ending Bible Poverty (Loren Cunningham)
• June 11: Venezuela

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

Summary of Darlene Cunningham’s Video:

In this video, Miranda Heathcote, who works with YWAM in Spain and who is part of the team for The Invitation, talked with Darlene Cunningham, one of YWAM’s cofounders. Miranda began by asking Darlene how she has seen the spiritual principle of the lordship of Christ at work in YWAM since the early days.

Darlene said the principle of the lordship of Jesus has been so foundational that it’s hard to pick one story. “It’s absolutely everything. It means that there is no aspect of my life that He is not Lord of. When we have the lordship of Jesus it shows up in everything we do.”

She tells about a day when they were driving from Switzerland to the Middle East on a field trip and they had their daughter Karen, who was less than a year old, with them. Darlene noticed that Karen felt quite hot. As Darlene looked closer, she saw that Karen had symptoms of smallpox. Darlene guessed Karen was having an allergic reaction to a smallpox vaccine they were required to get for this trip.

Darlene asked God, “What are you going to do? You’re the one who told me to bring her.”

She told Loren Karen’s condition was serious and they would have to do something right away. Just then Loren saw a sign for a military base. They turned in. They had a team member with them who was a widow of a soldier killed in Vietnam, and this gave her access to the base. When the guard saw Karen’s condition he told them to go straight to the clinic. When they got there, the doctor said, “You are some lucky people. We had this happen a few weeks ago. We had to fly medicine in from the UK. We have one dose left.”

Darlene said, “It comes back to the lordship of Jesus, that He is in charge. That gave me the confidence that everything was going to be alright.”

Miranda commented that in the story it wasn’t just obeying God but being aware of God’s direction moment by moment. She asked Darlene how she would like YWAMers to pray that we would be renewed in this principle of the lordship of Jesus in our lives.

Darlene said “If He’s truly Lord, then when God is asking me to do something, there is no negotiation. The answer is ‘Yes.’ I just need to know what it is.” Delayed obedience is not lordship. It’s not about consulting a calendar first or a bank account first. “That’s not the right answer. The right answer is, ‘Lord, do you want me to go?’ You’ll have to provide the finances, but I’m not going to tell you why I can’t go.”

She said at Kona now they have a lot of students. They are out of space everywhere. But they have a conviction they should say yes to the students God is sending. They have now had to put up their sixth tent. Darlene said it’s inconvenient and it would be easier to cut off the students at a number they know they can handle.

“We can’t do that if He’s Lord of it all. He sends them. We answer ‘Yes.’ And then He’s got to help us figure out how to do it.”

She said she doesn’t know how people live in any other way. “We have such security in making Him Lord.”

She added, sometimes God brings loving conviction of places where we haven’t made Him Lord. We’ve pushed aside the gentle word of God and we don’t want to go back to God about it because He might ask us to do it. “Then He’s not Lord.”

Miranda concluded that this is a convicting word. “How often do we negotiate and consider our own wisdom to be primary?” We can live out of our own limitations rather than the Lordship of Christ.

Darlene said we get hung up on making Jesus Lord if we don’t trust Him. “He can’t be Lord if you don’t trust Him, and you are convinced completely that He is always kind, and just, and has all wisdom and all the things we know about His character. If we line ourselves up with that, then lordship is really quite easy.”

Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!

We read in Scripture, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev 19:2). From our early days, YWAM has placed a value and a high priority on holy living. The purpose of our current prayer series “Spiritual Principles from YWAM’s Early Days” is aimed at reflecting on key principles that God showed our founders and leaders early in our ministry. The prayer is that YWAM, on a united front, would reflect on these principles and that God would lead us in an ever-deeper way going forward.

Listen to the letter

Please reflect on the 13-minute video associated with our second topic, Holy Living. In this video, Miranda Heathcote, who works with YWAM in Spain, interviews Lynn Green, a YWAM leader who attended YWAM’s very first school 50 years ago:

In this video Lynn identifies teachers from our past who modeled holy living and shares an ongoing story of holy living being modeled by a group of young people. See his challenge to live holy lives in 2020. A more detailed summary of the video can be found at the very end of this prayer material. Remaining topics in this series are the Fear of God and the Lordship of Christ.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Proverbs 9:10 (ESV)

Please join us this month during The Invitation prayer day on Thursday, February 13, as we pray and discern. If you only have a few moments to pray please pray that we would increasingly reflect the character of Jesus as we seek God and we ask God to convict us. Thank you for being part of The Invitation. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how you prayed. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Prepare to Pray:

Whether you pray through these materials alone, or gather together with others to pray, ask the Holy Spirit to soften your heart to receive this message.

Read aloud from Proverbs 4, 20-27:

My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

Consider the image of a spring flowing from the core of your being – what the writer of Proverbs calls the heart. How clear is this spring water in your life currently?

How To Pray:

• Recognize that holy living begins not with rules but with heart attitude. Take time individually to respond to God in whatever way he directs you.
• Pray that we would be sensitive to those attitudes or behaviors that do not reflect the character of God. Allow time for identifying these patterns through confession and repentance.
• Lynn spoke about God’s desire to display His power through people who display His character. Pray for your YWAM team or community, and for YWAM in your nation or region. May we be those who exhibit the character of Jesus in ways that point others to him.
• Pray that YWAM would experience a return to holy living in any way that is necessary, that our actions would match our values and this integrity would impact our fruitful ministry in the world.

After you have prayed: some thoughts about a response

It could be that after praying, you and your group are wondering what practical things you might do to respond to what the Lord stirs in you on the subject of living holy lives. Be sensitive to anything that you feel especially prompted to do by the Holy Spirit. In addition, you may consider the following ways of learning to live with a keen sensitivity to this call to holiness.

Principles of Intercession (see above image)

To what extent does your YWAM community practice the Principles of Intercession? (You can find them here: https://www.ywam.org/custom-content/uploads/2019/11/PrinciplesForEffectiveIntercession-JoyDawson.pdf ) If you don’t already, consider incorporating these principles into your regular times of intercession. How would it be for you to practice this way of paying attention to the ways you are living, individually, relationally and with God?

Love Feasts

You may want to revisit this article (https://www.ywam.org/blog/2014/03/12/ywam-love-feasts/) about the YWAM tradition of holding “Love Feasts.” Pay special attention to what Tom Bloomer remarks about heart preparation prior to sharing this special meal: “There was a sense of expectancy and holiness that whole day. Students and staff both prayed for hours during the afternoon for the love feast. People would go and knock on each other’s doors, to confess things to one another and ask forgiveness. Nobody wanted to be an obstacle to the Lord’s meeting with us that evening.”

What would it look like for your community to share Love Feasts in this way? Consider trying it out just once, before making it a regular fixture of your community rhythm.

The Examen Prayer

(see https://www.prayerandpossibilities.com/examen-your-daily-debrief-with-jesus/)

This is a simple and ancient pattern of prayer. It can be used daily as a way of cultivating a sensitive and responsive conscience. Here is one way to do the Examen prayer:

1. Recognize your blessings.
2. Request the Holy Spirit to reveal what you need to see.
3. Replay your day.
4. Repent for where you fell short.
5. Resolve. Discuss with Jesus how you can do better tomorrow.

Challenge yourself to try it every day for a month and take note of any effects on how you think and behave.

Further Reflection Questions

These questions could be used for personal journaling, or as part of a group reflective discussion:

1. To what extent do your regular practices—reading scripture, interacting with those in your community, self-reflection—help you to stay aware of ways in which you are not fully living in submission to the person and the ways of Jesus?
2. Lynn talked about his own tendency toward judging others. What are your repeated patterns of behavior that don’t reflect the heart of God? How might you cultivate a sharpness of conscience in this area in particular?

Living Holy – 2 Corinthians 7:1

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Photo credit: www.1stcharles.org

Take Action

• Incorporate Joy Dawson’s Principles of Intercession regularly as a team or as an individual as noted above.
• Conduct a love feast as noted above.
• Incorporate the Examen prayer attitude as noted above on a regular basis.
• Seek the Lord to show you how to live holy in an unholy world.
• Meditate on the following verses and the context around them. What do you discern about holy living?
  • Leviticus 11:44-45
  • Leviticus 20:26
  • 1 Peter 1:13-16
• As a group or individually, read the promises that precede 2 Corinthians 7:1 (2 Corinthians 6:16-18). Discuss how they inspire you to holy living.
• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

January 2020 – Seeking God

• Almost 900 people liked or loved our Facebook post for The Invitation in January. 36 people responded and it was shared 94 times.
• We received a request to pray for southern Cameroon where villagers have suffered due to violence.
• A man wrote to say the video of Loren reminded him of when he first saw a photo of the Cunningham family hanging on a wall in Italy. He said “it was the family that most made me believe God exists.” Now he prayed: “May the Lord go beyond all human expectations in consoling you and providing for your every material and spiritual need.”

Future Topics:

Series: Spiritual Principles from YWAM’s Early Days

• March 12: Lordship of Christ (Darlene Cunningham)– 3 of 4 in the series
• April 9: Fear of God  – 4 of 4 in the series
• May 14: Ending Bible Poverty (Loren Cunningham)

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

Summary of Lynn Green’s Video:

Miranda Heathcote, who works in Spain as part of the team for The Invitation, spoke to Lynn Green about the early days in YWAM. She asked Lynn how he and other young YWAMers sensed God calling them to holy living.

Lynn said holy living was one of the major themes through their entire first school. In 2019 YWAM celebrated the 50th anniversary of this first school, the School of Evangelism that took place in Lausanne, Switzerland. Two of the teachers Lynn remembers who talked about holy living were Joy Dawson and Duncan Campbell. “It made holy living really desirable,” Lynn recalled.

Duncan would say, “God doesn’t want to display his power through people who don’t display his character.”

Lynn said he thinks we struggle in the body of Christ to sustain what holy living is because we have a Pharisaical tendency. “We’ll work out what we can do and what we can’t do, and then we’ll make rules.” These rules go out of date and people live by the ethical and cultural standards of two decades ago, and that’s called holiness.

He grew up with a set of rules that meant they didn’t dance, they didn’t drink, and they didn’t smoke. They didn’t even go bowling, “maybe because they served beer at the bowling alley.”

Lynn said, “We struggle because holiness is a matter of the heart, and there are parts of our hearts that are not yet under the lordship of Christ.” He said he regularly sees bits of his heart that aren’t right. For example, he feels convicted about judging people.

He said it takes a closeness to the Holy Spirit to live out the commands to be holy as God is holy. We regularly face situations that aren’t specifically addressed in the Bible, like how to respond to a person on social media.

“Our conscience alone doesn’t do it,” Lynn said. “We have to allow the Holy Spirit to sharpen our conscience by being in the Scriptures, being in His presence, listening to Him every day.”

Miranda asked Lynn for an example of how he has seen holiness playing a part in YWAM.

Lynn told the story of a church he encountered in 2003 in Washington State in the USA. It was a conservative Baptist church where they pressed in to God and “holiness was at heart of what they were doing.” He and his wife visited the church and saw young people converted and discipled into holy living. This church sent seven teams to YWAM Harpenden. This summer a team came and they saw the “radical power of God” in people being humbled and delivered.

Lynn said “I believe that anointing is still there for us.” It’s what he saw so much in that first school with Joy Dawson and Dr. Campbell. It was an anointing for “deep works of God, the power of God at work transforming people.”

Lynn added,  “Holy living is one of the prerequisites God puts to us before we can move in that kind of power, because if we don’t have His character, we have the power and we misrepresent it.”

Miranda asked Lynn how he would like us to pray for holy living in YWAM.

He suggested we use the Principles of Intercession from Joy Dawson until they are second nature. [See https://www.ywam.org/custom-content/uploads/2019/11/PrinciplesForEffectiveIntercession-JoyDawson.pdf]. “You know, you are waiting on God, you are dying to self, you are asking if there is any reason the Holy Spirit would not speak to us, any unconfessed sin.” Lynn said this kind of prayer brings into our communities’ confession to one another.

He said at their staff meeting the day before in Harpenden, England there was a spontaneous, deep, humble confession by one of their staff people. “That’s a good sign,” Lynn reflected. “If we are in a community where there has been no real openness and humility and confession with one another for a long time, we’re probably not moving in a holy group.”

He said, “The Principles of Intercession, where you wait on God and you ask Him to convict you, where you need to humble yourself and repent of what he shows you, that is fundamental to our identity.”

Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you! 

For the next four months, The Invitation will focus on spiritual principles from YWAM’s early days. The four topics in this series came out of a conversation with YWAM leader Lynn Green, who reflected on spiritual themes he encountered in YWAM’s first training programs. He saw these principles lived out in the young men and women who formed YWAM’s first outreach teams. As we pray during these four months we hope to embrace these principles in a new way. For January our topic is Seeking God and we have included a video of YWAM co-founder Loren Cunningham speaking on this topic. Remaining topics are Holy Living, Fear of God and Lordship of Christ. For each of these months The Invitation will include a video specifically prepared for this purpose by one of YWAM’s leaders from the early days.

Listen to the letter

In our first video, Loren relates a wonderful story from 1972 where God put a vision on the hearts of a group of YWAMers who had prayed in unity. In the video, Loren is interviewed by Miranda Heathcote, who works with YWAM in Spain. Please watch and enjoy this 8:55 minute video.

For a written summary of this video, please see below.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Psalm 105:4 (ESV)

Please join us this month during The Invitation prayer day on Thursday January 9, as we pray for YWAMers to seek God in a new way. If you only have a few moments to pray please pray that YWAM will pray in unity and that we will hear from God–insight for now and visions for the future. Thank you for being part of The Invitation. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how you prayed. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Prepare to Pray:

In this short video, Loren Cunningham refers to the ten steps of effective intercession originally introduced to YWAM by Joy Dawson. Refresh your memory of these principles here: https://www.ywam.org/custom-content/uploads/2019/11/PrinciplesForEffectiveIntercession-JoyDawson.pdf). Try to use these principles as a format for your time of prayer.

Take time in silence to allow the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind any action or attitude of yours that was not motivated by love. Put this right with God and with anyone else affected by it. For a few minutes, speak out praises to God, read a psalm of praise, or sing a praise song together.

Pray for YWAM:

• Ask God that YWAM communities around the world would be living by the principles of effective intercession, and especially the call to unity and living in right relationship with one another. Consider your personal role in relationships, rather than praying only for others. As God brings issues to mind, pray specifically, rather than only in an abstract way.
• If God brings to your attention a personal issue or corporate issue, or a subject for intercession take time to wait on God for direction and then pray as God leads.
• Pray that we would be people growing in our awareness of the presence of God and in our hunger to seek Him. Prayerfully consider how we might, as individuals and as communities, arrange our lives in such a way that we prioritize and make room for His presence. Take some silent time to consider what this might mean for you personally and make a note so that you can remind yourself of it later.
• Pray that the word of God would be increasingly alive to us and powerful to bring about change in our lives, so that we live out the good news of Jesus in such a way that others are drawn to the light of who He is. As an inspiration, read through this list of scriptures about seeking God: https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-seeking-god/. Pick a verse and pray it out to God.
• Identify an area of your life individually or corporately in which you are especially aware of your need for God’s wisdom and direction. Name this need before Him and confess your desire to listen.
• Close with a prayer that we would not shrink from the high calling to be distinct from the cultures we come from and those in which we live. May we be God-seekers who are truly like salt and light in the places we live and minister.

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV)

Take Action

• As a group, set up a quiet place to pray where there will be no distraction and pray Psalm 46:10. After a set amount of time discuss with the group what God showed you. Focus on areas of unity. What action does God want your group to take?
• Meditate on Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (ESV) Search scripture to identify and further understand these rewards.
• Talk to others about what can be done at your location to establish an environment where people are seeking God continually. Take action on these ideas.
• Take a one-day retreat with just you and your Bible and God. Disconnect from everything else.
• Talk to others at your location about how to be a generation of those who seek him. Talk to others at your location about how to pour into the next generation of children associated with your location so they will be God-seekers.

• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

December 2020 – Yemen

• YWAM University of Nations in Jeju, South Korea – Forty students and staff came together to pray in the morning of YWAM’s global day of prayer. Later that evening the entire YWAM community joined together during their worship service to pray for Yemen. God brought several scriptures to their attention including Revelation 6:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:17-18. (Enjoy pictures above and below.)
• YWAM locations and individuals reported on Facebook that they were praying for Yemen. They prayed from Chiang Rai, Thailand; Orlando, USA; Canada; Washington, USA; Zambia; Madagascar; Cape Town, South Africa; Senegal; Sydney, Australia; Puerto Rico and Spain.
• We heard from a woman who suggested that we pray for the nation of Haiti as the people there are going through a very difficult time. (We have added this to our list of potential prayer topics.)

Future Topics:

• Series: Spiritual Principles from YWAM’s Early Days
• February 13: Holy Living (Lynn Green) – 2 of 4 in the series
• March 12: Fear of God – 3 of 4 in the series
• April 9: Lordship of Christ (Darlene Cunningham) – 4 of 4 in the series

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

Summary of Loren Cunningham’s Video:

Miranda: “When you think about seeking God, what are some stories that come to mind from YWAM’s early days or maybe more recently?”

Loren: At his father’s funeral in 2003 a chaplain came up to him and they spoke afterward. The chaplain told what happened after a YWAM prayer meeting in 1972. In 1972 at YWAM Lausanne in Switzerland they would start all their days with a time of intercession. They would break up into groups of five or six, and would use the principles of intercession from Joy Dawson. They would make sure they had a clean heart, they would declare their faith, they would do spiritual warfare, and then they would wait on God. Loren said, “That’s another way of saying seeking God. We seek God in detail to find out what is on His heart.”

One of the people in the meeting spoke up and said they were to give Bibles to the USA military in the camps in Germany. Someone else said, “Yes, and it’s 100,000 Bibles.” Loren got an impression from God privately, “Call Dr Kenneth Taylor.” Loren didn’t know Dr Taylor or where he was, so he called his friend Brother Andrew in Holland. He told Loren he was planning to have Dr Taylor visit him that very week, but Dr Taylor needed to go home the next day. He was flying from Athens to Chicago. Loren called him and found out Dr Taylor would spend two hours at the airport in Frankfurt.

So the next day Loren met Dr Taylor at the Frankfurt airport and shared what God had shown the YWAMers the day before. They needed 100,000 Bibles for the military in Germany. Dr Taylor asked, “Where did you get that number?” Loren explained that one person in the prayer meeting got that number and the others prayed about it and felt that it was right. Dr Taylor said they just happened to have 100,000 Bibles left over from a Billy Graham crusade. He said they cost $6 a piece, but they would give them all to the YWAMers if they could pay to have them shipped. Loren agreed.

Right away, Loren called his friend who was the top chaplain over all the USA’s military chaplains in Germany. He had taught on leadership at YWAM’s school in Lausanne. Loren told him he had a vision to share. This chaplain, who lived in Frankfurt, invited Loren over for dinner that night. As Loren shared, his friend said “Your timing is amazing.” Loren thought, “My timing? I just heard this the day before in prayer.” His friend said, “Tomorrow all the generals are going to meet here in Frankfurt. They have asked me to give a devotion. Instead, you share the gospel and tell them your vision. They will decide.” At the meeting, the generals agreed with Loren’s proposal. In fact, the US Navy and Air Force brought together the huge load of 100,000 Bibles. They distributed them to the troops in the camps and then allowed the YWAMers to go in and share the message of Jesus. This chaplain said it was the greatest move of God he had ever seen up until that time in the military. “So many came to Christ!”

At Loren’s father’s funeral this chaplain said that many of the believers in the military said they came to faith in 1972 in the camps in Germany when these Bibles were given out.

Loren concluded, “That’s the reason why in unity, with clean hearts, as you seek God He knows what to pray about better than we do. We think we know a lot in YWAM, and we do, but we only know a little compared to what He knows. Seeking God. How important it is!”

Miranda: “And it sounds like we can really seek Him for details. The timing of that story is amazing.”

Loren: “Yeah, it was amazing because it was God’s timing, not mine. I expected to be in Lausanne that week, but that all changed.

“Seeking God comes from knowing His presence. This is what I try to live by every day of my life. Practicing the presence of Jesus, so that whether you pray or whether you work or witness, or whatever you do, you practice the presence of Jesus.”

Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!   

The people of Yemen suffer in the midst of a terrible civil war. Over a million have cholera, and 15 million are on the brink of starvation. Many have fled to other nations, some with conditions as bad or worse than Yemen. Please join us this month to pray for the people of Yemen as YWAM’s monthly prayer day, called The Invitation, focuses on this war-torn nation.

Listen to the Letter

Located on the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen is the second largest Arab state. Historically, there have been political clashes in this nation leading to corruption, unemployment, scarcity of food, lack of safe drinking water, and cholera outbreaks. Most recently, the capital city of Sanaa has been under rebel control since 2015. There are ongoing conflicts between the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, and the Sunnis, backed by a coalition made up of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. This conflict impacts the entire country.

In 2019 the United Nations reported that Yemen is the country with the most people in need of humanitarian aid, with 24.1 million people in need.

Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba [ancient Yemen] will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

Isaiah 60:6 (NIV)

Despite the pressures of their lives in the middle of war and as refugees, the Yemeni people are still open to the Gospel and God is moving. Please join us this month during The Invitation prayer day on Thursday, December 12 as we pray for the people of Yemen. If you only have a few moments to pray please pray that the wickedness of the wicked would come to an end so that conditions will get better in Yemen and pray that God will save those in Yemen who are upright in heart.

Thank you for being part of The Invitation. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how you prayed. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Prepare to Pray:

Conduct the following activities with a group or on your own:

• Study this map that includes Yemen and the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan).

• Watch the 2:14 minute video at the bottom of this page: https://borgenproject.org/yemen-refugees/

• Read these tragic facts about Yemen:
  • According to the UNHCR (https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/yemen/) 3 million people have been forced to flee, 75% of the population requires humanitarian assistance, more than 15 million (53%) of the population are on the brink of starvation, and 1.1 million are struggling with cholera.
  • According to Human Rights Watch (https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/yemen) 6,872 civilians have been killed and 10,768 wounded as of November 2018.
  • The UNHCR (https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/protection/operations/4c907a4a9/yemen-fact-sheet.html) has 267,675 Yemeni refugees and 2,430,178 Yemenis are internally displaced (IDPs). UNHCR registered refugees and asylum seekers are displaced in Somalia (253,547), Ethiopia (5,707), Iraq (3,043), and other, such as Djibouti (1,972).  These are only the official numbers but the actual numbers are probably much higher.
• Discuss the statement from the end of the video: “It’s an exodus that seems unlikely to end anytime soon, from one troubled country to another.” Put yourself in the shoes of those who have fled and those who remain in Yemen.
• Ask the Lord to reveal how you should pray for these people.

Pray for Yemen:

• Pray for hope in the midst of a very desperate situation.
• Pray for an end to the violence. Currently, no one seems to have any solutions to end the fighting.
• Pray for justice.

Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. My defense is of God, who saves the upright in heart.

Psalm 7:9-10 (NKJV)

• Pray against hunger since 15 million Yemenis are on the brink of starvation. Pray for access to food and clean water.
• Pray against cholera and other health concerns. The organization Open Doors reports that 80 percent of Yemenis are dependent on humanitarian aid. Pray for access to medicines, doctors, and healthcare.
• Pray for the scattering of Yemeni believers throughout the world. Believers in Yemen face great persecution and abuse from family, society, and religious leaders. If they don’t face more extreme forms of persecution, they often find it difficult to get jobs, get married, or have access to basic needs. Believers outside of Yemen may find themselves ostracized or isolated from their families or their social groups. Pray for encouragement, discipleship, community, and relationships which will help them grow in their faith.

The LORD watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

Psalm 146:9 (NIV)

Take Action

• Research and learn more about Yemen and its people from the Joshua Project (https://joshuaproject.net/countries/YM#languages).
• Commit to pray for Yemen:
  • Learn more ways to pray at https://www.pray-ap.info/yemen.html
  • Download and pray through the prayer guide at https://www.pray-ap.info/downloads/yemenprayerguide-usletter.pdf
  • Download and pray through the prayer guide for Yemen at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b048fb6a2772c053c594968/t/5b6c8823b8a045439891778e/1533839398174/30+Day+Prayer+Guide.pdf
  • More detail regarding Yemen and how to pray can be found in the book Operation World (https://www.ywampublishing.com/p-382-operation-worldbrthe-definitive-prayer-guide-to-every-nation.aspx).

• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

November 2019 – Tokyo

• YWAM Ethiopia sent greetings to YWAM Tokyo through The Invitation. “Dear YWAM Tokyo, Beautiful Tokyo people will be okay. We will pray, because God is able to bring solutions for prayers. Don’t be afraid, God is present with you (Hebrews 6:10).”
• Another individual claimed the promises in Deuteronomy 33:26-27 for Tokyo.
• A young man received this impression from God: “The presence of God is resting on the city and as His presence rests the people will begin to see God’s glory and the glory of God will draw the people to God.”
• There was significant dialog on YWAM’s Facebook page about praying for Tokyo with 80 comments and 167 shares.
  • YWAM, Tokyo thanked people for praying with them.
  • Another person suggested that we pray for Tokyo every day.
  • “Japan, Jesus loves you” was a statement from another on Facebook.
  • Singer Hannah Ford posted her song Mercy dedicated to Japan:

Future Topics:

Series: Spiritual Principles from YWAM’s Early Days

• January 9: Seeking God (Loren Cunningham)
• February 13: Holy Living (Lynn Green)
• March 12: Fear of God (Maureen Menard)
• April 9: Lordship of Christ (Darlene Cunningham)

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.