Since my youth, O God, You have taught me, and to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come. (Psalm 71:17-18)

Today’s edition of the prayer blog is devoted to prayer for our high school students. They are an important part of the body of believers at Calvary! I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting with them recently to discuss how their church family can be praying for them. Let’s lift them up in prayer and thereby declare the Lord’s power to work in their lives.

Here are specific prayer requests the students shared with me:
Pray that each student will have at least one person with whom to be totally honest and accountable.
Ask the Lord to keep the students from hypocrisy. May they not be “model Christians” on the outside but unbelievers on the inside. May they also not be “secret Christians,” hiding a faith in their hearts that is undetectable from the outside.
Pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit, students will step out of their comfort zones to engage with new people and invite friends to church, even at the risk of rejection.
Many students have friends who are hurting because of homes broken by divorce and who desperately need Jesus. Pray that the Holy Spirit will help our students know when and how to share the gospel with their hurting peers.
Every student is part of an imperfect family. Pray for family dynamics and relationships.
Pray that students will have the courage to refuse to be conformed to the world, to be different from their unbelieving peers.
Pray that students will not drift from God’s path by neglecting the Bible and prayer and that they will not deliberately depart from His path in rebellion.
Pray that students will overcome the bad habit of procrastination. Ask the Holy Spirit to give each student a specific, concrete step to take in that battle this week, and pray that he or she will obey.
On the students’ behalf, ask for wisdom in managing busy schedules – schedules that are so full they squeeze out adequate sleep, church on Wednesday night, personal devotions, and time with friends.
Pray that, as students look ahead to life after high school, they will seek God’s direction first and above all. Pray that they will submit every decision – whether to attend college or not, what college to attend, what to study, what type of work to pursue – to the Lord.
Ask the Lord to help students stand firm against temptation. They are tempted by the “big” evils we think of first – things like alcohol, drugs, and premarital sex. But they are also tempted in “smaller” things that are normal in the unbelieving world but certainly not Christ-like. For example, when a person is having a bad day, he is tempted to vent his bad mood by being unkind to others. When a student is unprepared for a test, she contemplates cheating and looks for a way to rationalize it. Pray that our students will increasingly live up to high standards of integrity in all areas.
Ask for the Lord to deliver any students who are already addicted to pornography, drugs, alcohol, or anything else.
Pray for students who are doing poorly in one or more classes at school – for self-discipline and perseverance.
Pray for the students’ teachers at school because their attitudes and outlooks rub off on students.
Pray that students will stay righteous in their friendships and other relationships.
Lift up students with financial needs, who struggle to afford church and school events and who worry about paying for college.
In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea

P.S. Please be praying for Roger Marvel, who had quadruple bypass surgery last Thursday, and for his wife, Karen, who is in poor health herself. Also lift up Sam Dixon in prayer. She had surgery to remove a fibroid and a hysterectomy last Friday.