Last night we were at the Global Action Prayer & Praise Night at New Hope. Pastor A. from Indonesia was sharing with the group some things to pray for in his ministry. One of those prayer projects was to pray for a school to be established among a rural region where several families had moved to the rain forest and planted a palm oil plantation. It would be five years before the palms begin producing. In the meantime, these families must live off the land. The children have no school at all. Pastor A. challenged the teenagers at the meeting (about 40) to pray for a school for the children. He asked if there was a teen-ager who would pray for that school.

One particular teen-ager raised her hand and came up to the microphone to lead the prayer. She is a bus kid (new Christian) and I didn’t recognize her. As it turns out, she is a very shy girl who had never led a prayer with the youth before. She surprised everyone by volunteering. And she prayed a very good prayer. Not polished, but she touched the heart of God. I was so proud of her.

Could it be that we adults are holding back our teen-agers from their destiny by doing everything for them? Perhaps we would develop a passion for God within them if we acted like we believed in them and let them chase God on their own terms. Let’s all be praying about this.