Teen suicide is an ongoing issue worldwide and one that has continued to get worse in some countries in the last few years. A recent survey done by a school in the USA gives a glimpse of how prevalent this issue is at the moment. They found that 32 percent of the students said they knew someone who has attempted or died from suicide in the past twelve months, 28 percent said they had seriously considered suicide in the past twelve months, 21 percent said they had made a suicide plan in the past twelve months and 11 percent said they had attempted suicide in the past twelve months. According to a recent study done by the Office for National Statistics, suicide rates among young people aged 15-19 in England rose by 35% from 2020 to 2021. In 2020, Russia had the highest suicide rate in the world, according to the World Health Organization’s suicide rate estimates. Please take a moment right now to pray against teen suicide and please also pray with us on February 9, our prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation.
Topic suggested by a participant in The Invitation’s survey, 2021. Written by Larry Ballard in the USA and Paul Marsh in Switzerland. Photo by Elyas Pasban from Unsplash.
Pray against the rise of bullying, both in person and online. Please pray that those in positions to stop bullying would have open eyes and an increased sensitivity to know when bullying is taking place. Also pray for miraculous protection online, that comments sent by those seeking to bully others would fail to send or not load when they do.
Pray for discernment for teachers, school counselors, youth group leaders, and parents. Part of the issue with suicide is simply a lack of awareness or the knowledge of how to deal with it. Please pray for more adults in positions of leadership to learn how to recognize vulnerable teens and to be able to respond with wisdom and compassion.
Pray for resources and programs to be created that will assist families in addressing the issues of identity and self worth for vulnerable teens. Suicide is societal, a mental health problem, compounded by chemical and spiritual components. Please pray that although this is a huge issue to tackle, people wouldn’t turn a blind eye to this.
Take Action
In many languages, searching Google or Facebook for “suicide” or Instagram for “#suicide” brings up helpful resources.
One person in Spain was very encouraged by this topic and is thinking about becoming a pastor.
A ministry in Nigeria is meeting regularly and praying for a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His church.
Another person is praying for more harvesters for God’s kingdom.
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Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted much of our world but one area impacted in particular has been the attendance of in-person churchgoers. According to a 2022 Pew Research study, 33% of people in the USA who used to attend church regularly before the pandemic have not returned to in-person services after the pandemic. We are seeing similar effects in other countries as well. Whether it is fear of returning to in-person meetings or that people got used to either not attending church or only attending virtually, a lot of churches are seeing a big drop in numbers. As a result, some may have to close their doors permanently. Please take a moment right now to pray for a fresh revival in the church and please also pray with us on January 12, our prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation.
Topic suggested by a participant in The Invitation’s survey, 2021. Written by Indy Korff in Scotland with input from Tim Svoboda in the USA. Photo by John Price from Unsplash.
Pray for God to raise up more church leaders. According to surveys done by several denominations, many churches are experiencing a shortage of pastors. As an example, here in Scotland, many churches all over the country are needing to combine and sell their buildings because there aren’t enough ministers to lead the congregations. Please pray for provision for churches to keep their buildings and that God would stir the hearts of more young people to train as ministers and pastors so that these next generations would have well trained, godly leaders.
Pray for continued growth in community outreach. One of the good things to come out of the pandemic has been that the church in general increased their involvement in their communities. And particularly for YWAM, it shifted our perspective on missions and gave us the opportunity to partner more with the local church because international travel was so limited. Please pray that just because travel restrictions have been lifted now, that won’t stop the local outreaches from taking place.
Pray for those who have not returned to church. Fellowship with other Christians is so important but we don’t just want to see a change in attendance, we want to see the church passionate about God and pursuing Him wholeheartedly. Please pray for those who are no longer attending church and have not returned since the lockdowns have lifted, whether that’s due to fear or other reasons. And please pray that churches worldwide would experience a fresh revival in this new year.
Take Action
If you know of anyone who hasn’t returned to your church after the pandemic and you haven’t talked to them already, why not try and reach out to them today? It’s very easy to think someone else has probably done it but often that means no one has.
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Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.
In Genesis God created mankind to “Abad” and “Shamar” all of creation. These terms in Hebrew can be interpreted in many ways but when used together mean to serve and take great care over. It is also the role that the priests are given in the Old Testament for the nation of Israel, to represent God to those they are looking after but also represent those they are looking after to God. How are we representing God to all of creation and how are we representing all of creation to God? Please take a moment to pray for creation right now as it is part of our God-given responsibility and please also pray with us on December 8, our prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation.
Topic suggested by Lynn Green in England and written by Christy Summerton, Phil Summerton and Ben Richards from Scotland and Richard Leakey from Switzerland. Photo of a Farming God’s Way demonstration farm in Kenya; supplied by Richard Leakey.
Pray for restoration of biodiversity in areas where there has been great loss. Rich biodiversity is vital for the natural God-created systems on earth to function well. Without this variety of life, areas that would otherwise have been very productive become barren deserts. This in turn leads to the suffering of the people who rely on these areas for their livelihood and food. Please pray for the communities that have been negatively impacted by the loss of biodiversity.
Pray for the countries being impacted by plastic waste. While plastic has been an amazing innovation, it also takes hundreds to thousands of years to degrade and can end up in our food and water. According to a report from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) in Feb 2022,plastic consumption has quadrupled over the last 30 years. All around the world plastic is being burned, releasing harmful gasses, blocking drains and causing floods or being washed into the oceans via riverways, causing harm to fish and other aquatic life that people rely on for food. Pray for continued innovative ways for us to step away from plastic, especially single-use plastic. Please also pray for the funding to scale up these pioneering biodegradable methods.
Pray for those in the world that are experiencing unusual weather extremes. We can see this in Nigeria’s extreme flooding, Europe’s low rainfall, fires and floods, East Africa’s two-year drought and India and Pakistan’s very long heat wave this year – plus many other regions. These people need relief and rebuilding. Please pray for YWAM’s ongoing pioneering efforts to provide aid. Please also pray for ways to reduce the levels of climate pollution that continue to make these things worse. In addition, please pray for more God-centered solutions to provide nutritious food for all people.
Take Action
Create a pollinator-friendly area in your location to benefit the local pollinating insect populations. This can be planting pots of native wildflowers or allowing an area of grass to grow long and not mow it through your growing season to give the insects a rich feeding area.
Look at changing your light bulbs to LED bulbs if you have not already. They consume much less power, both saving money and reducing the amount of excess gasses contributing to climate pollution.
Part of our challenge when we think of creation care is to find God-centered solutions. Farming God’s way is a great example developed by an African farmer. Read more about this example at https://www.farming-gods-way.org/overview.htm
Join the Invitation
Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.
The Discipleship Training School (DTS) is a core initiative within YWAM. It is a six-month long program, the purpose of which is to equip and prepare students to understand their own identity in Christ, as well as what God’s purpose is for their lives. Available in almost every part of the world, the DTS combines classroom-based lectures with practical outreach and enables personal reflection, community living and small group activities to create a holistic combination of theory and practice. Please take a moment to pray for YWAM’s DTSes right now and please also pray with us on November 10, our prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation.
Topic suggested by R. G. in Indonesia and written by Joshua Jayraj in England. Photo supplied by YWAM Rogaland, Norway.
Please pray regarding the lingering effects of COVID-19 – Many have lost loved ones in the pandemic, please pray that they would be comforted and feel God’s peace in this difficult time. Please also pray for wisdom for those in DTS leadership to be able to navigate the various and ongoing COVID developments, so that we may act wisely and with care and diligence (Psalm 119:76).
Please pray for the DTS in Ternopil Ukraine – Please pray for YWAM staff and DTS students in Ternopil, Ukraine. On October 9th and 11th it was reported that there were explosions in Ternopil which resulted in casualties and death. Please pray for God’s protection and for hope to abound not just at our DTS location in Ternopil, but in the entire city and indeed the entire nation.
Please pray for the God’s Story DTS – In 2018, in order to make the DTS more accessible for many unreached communities around the world (an estimate of 80 percent of those communities are oral learners and communicators), an oral version of the DTS was introduced. The God’s Story DTS (GSDTS) has a focus on discussions of biblical narratives as well as discursive Bible studies. The first GSDTS took place in Salatiga Indonesia in August of 2019, and by 2021 there were GSDTS locations in Malawi, Mexico, and three more in Indonesia. Today, five more schools are planned in Indonesia, as well as in Ivory Coast, Panama, Florida and Michigan. Please pray a prayer of thanks for the growth of this school as well as a prayer of guidance for the extended plans for the God’s Story DTS (Proverbs 19:21).
Please pray for our DTS students around the world – We are living through interesting times and discipleship is just as important as it has ever been, perhaps even more so. As such, please pray that our current DTS students will continually encounter God on their respective DTS programs, and will learn the true meaning of discipleship in order to be apprentices of Jesus. Please also pray for a greater awareness of Discipleship Training Schools among young people who could benefit from them.
Join The Invitation.
Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.
Throughout YWAM’s history Bible distribution has been an important part of our mission’s work. In the last few decades, more organizations have begun to collaborate with YWAM who have the same heart to translate and distribute the Bible. In late 2014 several YWAM leaders, including YWAM’s co-founders Loren and Darlene Cunningham, visited Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Evangelical leaders around the world, urging them to do all they could to help end Bible poverty. There was great unity of purpose around this theme among these influential leaders. As a result, “The Covenant to End Bible Poverty” (ywam.org/a-covenant-to-end-bible-poverty) was written, calling on Christians everywhere to pray, translate, publish, distribute, educate and motivate people for Bible engagement. It is our hope that intercessors will be raised up so that there is 24/7 prayer for those without Bibles to get them. Please take a moment to pray right now and please also pray with us on October 13, our prayer day for YWAM’s prayer initiative called The Invitation.
Topic suggested by Loren Cunningham and written by Seth Aumock from YWAM’s End Bible Poverty Now ministry. Photo taken from Unsplash – photographer Aaron Burden.
Pray for translation and publication. Please pray for innovation to continue so that translation and publication can happen quickly and accurately.
Pray for distribution. Please pray for donors to continue to partner and give financially so that Bibles can be distributed to the nations. Pray that the body of Christ would continue to be informed and choose to do outreaches and mission trips with Bible distribution as a main focus.
Pray for education. After people have received a Bible, we believe providing biblically sound teaching is at the epicenter of the discipleship process for people around the world to have a grounded understanding of God’s Word. Please pray that believers in other nations would have access to Biblical teachings and revelation from the Holy Spirit as they read Scripture.
Pray for the Habakkuk Initiative. God has given us vision as a mission to not only end bible poverty around the world but to disciple all nations as Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:19. The goal of the Habakkuk initiative is to holistically disciple 80 nations in 10 years. To do this we need partnership and motivation from local churches who will carry the bulk of this task to reach their cities and nation. Please pray that local churches in these countries will be moved by the Holy Spirit to commit to see their nation reached with the Bible and that more YWAM staff would join this initiative to see it through.
Take Action
Please join us in contending for the Bibleless on Zoom every Thursday at 9:00 a.m. Hawaii Standard time at this link (with passcode: 6913): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82712830927#success
Join The Invitation.
Sign up for prayer emails and find translations in many languages at ywam.org/theinvitation. Please contact us at prayer@ywam.org to let us know how you prayed, to recommend a prayer topic, or to request an advance copy of the prayer guide.
