Join the Youth Ministry & Faith Formation Intercessory Prayer Team

Last month, I mentioned that I’d be ready to roll out a vision this month for the Office of Youth Ministry & Faith Formation. After praying more and talking with several individuals, I think we need a little bit more time before we roll that out. So, this month I’d like to focus on a prayer initiative which I think will be transformative for our children, youth, and families and all our youth ministry and faith formation efforts across the diocese.

One of the first things I was able to do as a youth ministry coordinator right out of college was attend a training institute for new youth ministers. A piece of advice that has stayed with me all these years is how important intentional intercessory prayer is in opening the hearts of individuals so that they are ready to receive the Lord when there is an encounter with him. Some time later, I learned about how Reverend Billy Graham would send prayer missionaries into cities months if not years in advance of when he intended to hold a future revival. The role of those missionaries was simply to pray that the hearts and minds of people in those cities might become open to the Gospel message. Finally, very recently an order of cloistered nuns, the Norbertine Sisters in Tehachapi, CA, went viral for a visitor’s post on Instagram about how one of the sisters, through some spiritual direction, revealed to this visitor that she and her fellow sisters gather to pray “Matins” or Morning Prayer at 12 a.m. every day. In doing so they offer that hour of prayer in union with all the mothers of the world who are up with their newborn babies or attending to their children’s needs; the sisters call it their “motherhood hour, where we get up with you.” In her post the visitor wrote, “All those nights where I felt so alone, so tired and withered… these sisters had been there awake with me… They were with me and I never knew it, hidden away in their quiet heroic way interceding.” She continued, “I am not alone. You are not alone. There are sisters awake in the night praying for you in your tiredness. They are awake with you in it all. They are praying for you, even in their own exhaustion, because they know you need an intercessor” (Caroline Perkins. Dec. 13, 2023. Mothers, You Are Not Alone. Churchpop.com).

The message about intentional intercessory prayer at that institute for new youth ministers was simple and powerful; it is the most important and the first thing that youth ministers should do upon being hired in a parish. With that, I want to invite our diocese to follow the leads of Reverend Graham and the Norbertine Sisters of Tehachapi right here at home. I know there are many “hidden” intercessors across the diocese and there are many more who just need prompting or a little nudge.

By latest count we have 96 parishes in the diocese. If we had five people in every parish intentionally interceding daily that would equate to 480 prayers for all our children, youth, and families every day. How about we shoot for a round number of 500 daily intercessors? Picture all the hearts that could be softened and the minds that could be opened. Think about how many souls will realize, as the Instagram poster who shared her story realized, they are not alone. Imagine what the Lord can do with those souls who will realize that they matter enough for you to be praying for them, lifting up intentions for them, and even offering your own inconveniences and suffering for them. The Lord can use those intentions to do some great things in the hearts and minds of the souls in our diocese.

Become an official “Youth Ministry & Faith Formation Intercessory Prayer Team Member” with me by signing up at tinyurl.com/dowrprayerteam

When you sign-up, I’ll send you some specific intentions and stories of hope from time to time (which you can always opt out of if you wish). As the list grows, I’ll share a map of where all our intercessors are praying from so we can see which areas of our diocese might need more support and encouragement. Let’s get to 500 team members by the end of August!

Zach Rawson is the Director of Youth Ministry and Faith Formation