Youth and Revival: What's Going On? - Part 2
By Brian Thiessen
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
The second thing that we need to take note of is that Christ's work is done through us. We are the Lord's servants therefore we need to glorify Him and not ourselves.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If we really believe the word of God then we need to reflect this in the way that we approach the work that God has called us to do. If we are not immersed in prayer then our work will bear nominal fruit, if any fruit at all. God warned us about this in Psalm 81:8-14, and I will warn you – if you would listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If my people would listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
God is waiting to empower our ministries, telling us to open wide and He will fill it! This promise, however, does not come without a warning. That warning is that God will give us over to our own devices if that is what we wish, causing us to have sorrowful results.
God can do more in a moment than we could ever do in a lifetime of service to Him. This is a reality that we must keep at the centre of all we do. Everything that is done in the name of ministry must be birthed and sustained by prayer.
Satan also realized where the real power and potential of our ministries lies. One of the most effective ways that we are being opposed in youth ministry today is in the busyness of our schedules. If our enemy can keep us off our knees, then he has effectively limited what God is able to do, in our lives and in our ministries.
We need to spend substantial blocks of time praying for our students, high schools, their families, friends and churches, etc. then it will happen deliberately. It must be planned and protected, it won't just happen.
The mandate to do this first of all must come from the church. The church must lead the way to help the youth pastors clear their schedules enough to be able to pray as they should. This cannot be an add-on, there will have to some relief to accommodate this. I believe that we will be able to move forward in power when the church leadership tells the youth staff; "Drop what you need to drop, miss what you need to miss… but do not miss the time on your knees, interceding for your students and the ministry that God has called you to."
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