Middle School Youth and Prayer

Lord,
This week
again I am privileged
to travel with Middle School students
to a youth conference.
Many people might not use the word
privilege in the same sentence with Middle School,
but I certainly do!

For 4 days,
I get to walk alongside
6th - 8th grader students
thinking about faith,
wrestling with Bible stories,
experiencing the depth of God's love,
singing our hearts out,
and playing HARD.
I love it!

This has become an annual pilgrimage for me.
The Montreat Middle School Conference is my favorite by far.

Over the next few days
we will gather in the evenings
for devotion and prayers.
Lord,
I take this time seriously
as we wonder aloud
grow in faith
and pray to you!
Thank you for this privilege.

________

Wednesday night Devo

Review highlights of the day, creating a word-picture of what you have experienced. 

Ask:

 What made you smile today?

 What are you most excited about for this conference?

 What are you most nervous about for this conference?

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (The Message)

God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit.
God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s
Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself
is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is:
Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the
Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:
wise counsel; clear understanding; simple trust; healing the sick;
miraculous acts; proclamation; distinguishing between spirits;
tongues; interpretation of tongues.
All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one
Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

What might we bring to the conference this week to make the mosaic of your back-home group, their small groups, and the conference as whole really come to life?

Ask for God’s guidance and blessing on each of the individuals in your group, that you
might come together to be a living mosaic with others this week.

Close by saying
“God, each person in this group is uniquely and wonderfully made by you!"