Greggornation  

I took some time today to record prayer requests that were written down at a prayer station we made for middle schoolers a few weeks ago. They were breaking our hearts as we read them. Some of them made our jaws hurt from the smiles they triggered. All of them caused us to believe in the work we get to do even more.

I’m grateful for our church who made some extra room for us to grow on Wednesday nights.
If you don’t have a teenager in your life right now, find one and know that many of them are going through similar things. Love them like your own and be the church God has called you to be.

They are praying for siblings to stop smoking.
They are praying for their parents job situations.
They wish they could see their parents MORE.
They are praying for their friends who don’t have their hearts close to the Lords heart.
They are asking for help with their words (gossiping and judging).
They pray for friends and family BY NAME.
They cry out to God for their dads to love Jesus as much as they do.
They want their moms and dads to know that God loves them so much.

They ask for strength.

They give their worries about their grandparents dying to God.
They don’t understand heart attacks.
They pray for the drama to stop.
They pray for people to be nice.
They pray for their brothers and sisters to start coming to church too.
They lift of their moms and ask for God to be real in their lives.
They don’t want to be in trouble.

They love cats.
They ask Jesus to help them not to have a negative attitude.
They are coping with death.
They pray for their field trips.
They deal with the reality of cancer and ask God WHY?
They want to be a light in their friend groups.
They want to be able to find a home just as much as their parents do.

They pray for their friends grandmothers.
They pray to be liked, loved, noticed.
They realize that their imagination is getting out of hand.
They ask for healing.
They forgive people.
They ask for God to make them shine brighter.
They hope that their friends aren’t pregnant.

They lift up distant family. Aunts, uncles, cousins…
They miss their grandmas and grandpas.
They are praying to be home-schooled.
They don’t want to be treated like their ideas are a joke.
They feel the pain of their parents injuries.
They are scared about big family moves across oceans and away from security.
They pray for their parents who serve in the military.

They’d love some help with temptation.
They don’t want to believe lies or negative things.
They need help at school.
They pray for God to make tough things easier.
They want to stop worrying so much.
They love their Nana’s and don’t want them to be sick.
They pray for people that don’t have friends.
They like turtles.

They are obsessed with a boy.
They need help focusing.
They used to not like girls, now they do, and they’re not so sure what to feel about that.
They feel like middle school is unbearable.
They feel like middle school is awesome and don’t want to leave.
They are scared to go to high school.
They can’t wait to get to middle school.

They feel each others pain.
They hurt when their friends hurt.
They ask big questions.
They feel more comfortable telling their parents sorry over text than talking to them face to face.
They ask for forgiveness.
They hand over their fears.
They don’t want to be afraid of the guy at school that bothers them.
They want to be pure.
They want to know what their purpose is.

They want to have fun.
They ask God to help them have fun.
They worry about not having fun.

They are sorry for some choices they’ve made.
They love their families and wish they didn’t treat them poorly.
They pray for family members and friends to be free from addiction.
They don’t want to be tempted by porn.
They are bullied.
They are tired of being a bully.
They had sex.
They need answers.
They want to stop getting questioned. They want to be heard.

Praying for you friends. We love you and thank God for your amazing hearts–growing up in Jesus.