Welcome to the Young Life Global Day of Prayer!
We invite you to take the morning to linger with Jesus using this Solitude Guide as a help.
Our Father is leaning forward to listen, ready to rise to show compassion to those who call upon him. Thank you for lifting your voice today on behalf of kids and the mission of Young Life.
Getting Settled
As you enter into this time of solitude and silence, we invite you to find a place where you can settle into the presence of Jesus and be free from interruptions and distractions.
We desire to give God our undivided attention, as best we can. The best gift you can offer kids who need Jesus is a life steeped in his presence and transformed by him.
Today is an invitation. A gentle whisper to come away and be “with.” An offer to surrender whatever yoke you’ve taken on and lay it back upon his mighty shoulders. An opportunity to ease in, surrender, and let go.
Once you have found your place, we invite you to start with a long, still moment. Breathe a little deeper, plant your feet on the ground, and notice your surroundings.
Now, close your eyes, settle into your body, and let your soul grow quiet. Do your best to become still and aware of God’s presence within you and all around you.
He is present here. He is waiting for you.
The invitation from Jesus is simple: Come as you are. Stay as long as you like. I am so glad you’re here.
He loved you before you were born
What changes for a person when they know they’re loved?
What quietly begins to shift within their heart? How does knowing this soften their fears, awaken their courage, or open them to new possibilities?
To say we’re created in love may seem like a simple truism. A statement we all might nod along with. And yet, if this simple truth were to permeate the whole of our being, our lives might be lived radically differently. Because for us to truly know we’re loved offers an unprecedented freedom. It brings safety, belonging, and confidence found nowhere else. It opens us up to be who we are created to be.
Do you know you were created in love? That God loved you first?
As God designed the universe, he had us in mind. In Genesis, his words give us a glimpse into his mind and heart as he crafts the depths of the earth and beasts of the land, air, and sea. We see his joy as he molds us in his image. We’re the one thing he deems “very good.”
Before you could speak, before you had anything to contribute, did anything purposeful, created anything of value, or offered anything productive on behalf of the Kingdom of God … you were loved.
Psalm 139 famously speaks of the love God had for you as he knit you together in your mother’s womb. That, under the care of a loving Father, you were fearfully and wonderfully made. It’s a beautiful picture that you are loved for no other reason than that you’re his child.
God’s love didn’t come to you as a result of your talents, your sacrifice, or your good behavior. You had done nothing to earn it, and nothing to deserve it. And yet, his love is unescapable. He loved you before you were born.
First John 4 tells us “Love comes from God,” and “Everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.” God is the initiator of love. He is the source of it, and it cannot exist without him.
As we begin this time of prayer, let's take some time to pause and reflect on the idea that God loved us before we were born.
PAUSE AND REFLECT:
Is it challenging for you to believe you’re loved without conditions? What might cause you not to believe this?
How have you seen God initiate his love toward you throughout your life? Take a moment to write some of these things down.
Is there something you’d like to say to the Lord before moving on? Is there something he’s offering to you in this moment?
He loves who you are right now
It can be difficult to imagine being loved without doing something to deserve it.
As Brennan Manning said in The Ragamuffin Gospel: “We project into the Lord our own measured standard of acceptance. Our whole understanding of him is based on a quid pro quo of bartered love. He will love us if we are good, moral, and diligent. But we have turned the tables; we try to live so that he will love us, rather than living because he has already loved us.”
As we examine this idea of “unbartered love,” let’s turn together to the book of John, chapter 8, and spend some time with the account of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery.
Begin by reading
John 8:2-11
“At dawn, he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.
They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
As Young Life leaders, this may have become a familiar passage. And yet, it characterizes for us some of the deepest truths about the love of God.
Take a moment to be still and ask God to help you put aside any preconceptions you might have about this passage. Then, when you’re ready, visit it one more time.
As the Scripture unfolds, God’s character is revealed. What do you discover about him?
How do you imagine his body language as he writes on the ground? How do you hear the tone of his voice as he speaks to the Pharisees? What might be in his eyes as he talks with the woman?
What truth does this Scripture reveal about who God is, the way he sees you, or how he responds to your failures? Does this line up with your image of God?
He knows your failures, and he meets you in them. He loved you before they happened, and in the midst of them, he loves you still. His love goes further than words.
As Romans tells us, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
His love is not conditional. He loved you before you loved him in return, and he demonstrated this love on the cross.
Pause and REFLECT
What surprises you about the way Jesus interacts with this woman? Knowing her whole story, in what way and in what order does Jesus offer his love to her?
Why might it be difficult for you to imagine God’s love as unconditional?
Can you recall a time when you felt the love of God apart from something you accomplished, maybe even in a time of personal failure? What was this like for you? How did you feel?
Is there something you’d like to say to the Lord before moving on? Is there something he’s offering to you?
He loves who you are becoming
God's promises for you include a vision for your future. He’s promised he has good things in mind for you. In the book of Jeremiah, he reminds us his plans are to “prosper us, to give us hope and a future.”
He’s loved you from your formation, and he’s continuing to form you. Which means he’s continuing to form you in love.
Take a moment to sit and consider that one of the intentions of God’s love is to form you for your good. What feelings or emotions does this bring up?
When you're ready, let’s visit the following account of God’s love and vision for Peter, found in Matthew 16:13-19. Notice the conversation begins with a question about how the disciples view Jesus.
Peter Declares Jesus Is the Messiah
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
In this passage, Jesus prophesies a prosperous and hopeful plan for Peter’s future. A new name and a vision for who Peter will become. He knows shortly after this interaction, Peter will deny being associated with him. But he has loved him from the start, and while there are bumpy times ahead, Jesus offers this hope as evidence of his love in the middle of an unfinished story.
In this moment, Jesus is inviting Peter toward a future crafted in love. As Timothy Keller puts it, "God sees us as we are, loves us as we are, and accepts us as we are. But by his grace, he does not leave us where we are."
God’s love is central to who you are. It’s embedded in your DNA. Your life began in love. And the love of God is also central to who you’re becoming. You’re loved as you grow. You’re loved in all of the stages of your formation. Love and goodness are his vision for your future.
As Paul shares in Ephesians 1:4-5, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.”
Pause and REFLECT
What is one hope you have for your future? What do you think God might say to you about this hope?
Can you think of a time in your life when your formation has felt painful, or you’ve struggled to believe God has good in store for you? How do you imagine God walking alongside you in those moments? What might he say to you?
What’s a vision God’s given you about who you’re becoming? Do you find yourself stepping toward this vision, or away from it? What might you want to tell God about this?
Is there something else you would like to say to the Lord before moving on? Is there something he’s offering to you in this moment?
He invites us to offer love in return
Once again, take some time to settle into your space. After a few moments in silence, we invite you to revisit the opening question through the lens of whatever encouragement God has offered to you today.
What changes for a person when they know they’re loved?
As you receive the invitation to love and begin to live and operate as a deeply loved child of God, the natural outpouring of your soul is to offer love in return. The love of God is a generous love, and it’s out of this generosity that his love will begin to spill out on those around you. As the scriptures note in 1 John 4, “We love because he first loved us.” Love begets love.
In his book, Life of the Beloved, Henri Nouwen puts it this way, “When we claim and constantly reclaim the truth of being the chosen ones, we soon discover within ourselves a deep desire to reveal to others their own chosenness. Instead of making us feel that we are better, more precious or valuable than others, our awareness of being chosen opens our eyes to the chosenness of others. That is the great joy of being chosen: the discovery that others are chosen as well. In the house of God, there are many mansions. There is a place for everyone — a unique, special place. Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God's eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God's heart.”
God is inviting you toward love. He first loved you, and he’s inviting you to live changed by this love in a way that impacts those around you. The security of God’s love spurs us on toward freedom and confidence, emboldening us to share this love with the world.
Pause and REFLECT
In what ways has being formed in God’s love invited you toward freedom? Can you think of any way he might be inviting you to share this freedom with those around you?
What might be a natural response to the love of God in your life right now? Into what practical action might God be inviting you?
What might change for you if you lived out of the simple theme of this time: "He first loved you?"
As you end your time in prayer, what do you want to say to God? What might he want to say to you?
moving forward
As you begin to gently transition out of solitude and silence, consider these questions for moving forward.
- Traveling through the next few days and weeks …
What would it look like to continue to be reminded of God’s love for you along the way?
When experiencing failure, what would it look like to see yourself through the eyes of love?
If you experience moments of difficulty, in what ways might you acknowledge the love of God as a way of leaning into the process of formation?
How might you share the love of God with others? - Is there anything you want to write down or remember from your time today? If so, take a few minutes to do so before entering back into your everyday rhythm.
Thank you for joining thousands of leaders and friends around the globe as we gather before the throne of grace. Our special thanks to Matt Walker, director of Spiritual Formation, for creating this guide. Thanks also to the MarCom department and Donna Hatasaki for their contributions in helping to craft the Global Day of Prayer offerings.