Read… Jeremiah 20: 7-13

O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed…

Today we think about the student phase in life. That first leaving home, the excitement, the apprehension and in some cases real fear and that’s only the parents!

We let our young people into the world of college life with all the new experiences, challenges and enticements of this environment, often a long way from home. Will they be lonely? Lured into the drink, drug and party culture? Or will they find support and lasting friendships in the Christian Union perhaps meeting Jesus for the first time in their lives?

We have some fine young students in our church whose influence, in the way they live, may never be known by them. Yet the way the Lord has enticed them to his way shines on their faces. What ever the future holds for our young students they will become their own person held in the love of Jesus by our prayers.

A Prayer
Here our prayer Lord, for all those in college or university. At this exciting yet daunting time – one for embracing the new and moving on from the old – grant the sure and certain knowledge of your presence, your guidance, and your love, that, come what may, will not fail. Grant the ability to to work but also to rest, to study but also to socialise, to embrace new insights but also to respect the lessons of the past, to welcome all that is good in student life but also to resist whatever is bad, knowing when to say yes and when to say no. Equip and enable them for all the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, so they may find true fulfilment, now and in the years ahead, Amen.

Ponder… How might Jeremiah still rely on God after all he had accused him of?

Pray… FOR OUR COMMUNITY Pray for students at university and college. We are so thankful for the students at our church, and the energy that they bring. Pray that we may encourage them in their studies and enable them to be a strong voice in the leadership of our church. FOR THE WORLD Pray for those young people who are the leaders of tomorrow. Pray that they may be guided by the wisdom of the past, but not constrained by tradition. Pray that we may be alert to listen to their voices, and willing to nurture them as future global leaders who will work for justice and peace.

Act… Phone someone you love but haven’t seen for a while.