Speaking to parents and youth leaders at our Reality Student Apologetics Conference, Jason Jimenez highlights one of the most powerful things Christians can do: pray. When believers share prayer requests and lift one another up, this strengthens the church and reminds believers of God’s ongoing work.
Transcript
So, are you being comforted? And are you using the comfort you receive from God to comfort others? Are you remaining hopeful in what God has called you to do? Do you believe in God’s deliverance in your life? Are you sharing that with your students? And, finally, in [2 Corinthians 1] verse 11, [Paul] says, “You also must help us by…” what? How can people help Paul? By prayer. By prayer. Why? “So that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”
My friends, what I want to share with you guys in this panic-mode world that we live in—to have a peace of mind in Christ—is that we’re comforted by the Lord. There’s no distress, there’s no ailment, there’s no affliction that’s far greater than the comfort of God. Whatever you’re suffering through, God is there to comfort you, and we have each other to lean on.
Number two, I know things could be distressed and distressful at times and disappointing at times, but remain hopeful in the work that God is doing in your life, okay? This matters. You guys are taking a weekend out of your time to invest in this generation. God will reward you. There are countless times where I’d be sitting here like you and be like, “I don’t want to be here, because I have a lot of things I got to get back to.” Right? And lost socks and that kind of stuff. You know what I mean? And one kid eating five Whataburgers and throwing up in the bathroom. It’s like, I told you not to do that. Right? And I film it and put it on TikTok. But the reality is, it’s like—If I had TikTok back then.
But in closing, though, as you guys are being delivered, pray. There’s one thing that we could do in our ministry is to pray more often. The key term here is this prayer is a blessing. So, you can read it like this: “You also must help us by being a blessing in how you pray for us.” I think, you guys, one thing that we can do in this new year, and as you guys head back to your lives and your churches, is to have these trusted voices in your life to say, “Hey, we’re going through some things right now. We’re really going to be honing in on prayer, and I need you guys to bless me. Send me some prayer things.” Like right now, when I’m here, you can look on your phone, and people are like, “Hey, we’re praying for you right now. God laid you on our heart. We’re praying for you guys.” That’s powerful. Amen?
So, I pray that’s a blessing for you guys. Comfort, hope, deliverance, and prayer. That’s how we go from panic mode to peace of mind.