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Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray for and about the first three of the YWAM Foundational Values:
- Know God
- Make God Known
- Hear God’s Voice
On the second Thursday of every month YWAM locations, staff, students, and supporters join together in prayer for the mission and for what God is doing in the nations. Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!
The identification of YWAM foundational values began in 1985 with YWAM cofounder Darlene Cunningham asking, “What are the basic things that God has called YWAM to live and model to others?” The first official YWAM foundational values document was released in 1992 and was revised in 2004. YWAM foundational values now play such an integral part of YWAM that they are taught in every Discipleship Training School (DTS) and they are regularly shared at YWAM conferences all over the world.
Said one DTS student in Wollongong, Australia, “As I listened to our leader list YWAM’s 18 foundational values, I felt inspired. It was a picture of common purpose, people gathering to hear from God and being unified in mission. I want to be part of this, I thought.”
Over the next 18 months The Invitation will focus on these Foundational Values, asking YWAMers everywhere to pray for three values each quarter, or one value each month. Therefore, in January we invite you to pray about the first three foundational values:
- Know God. YWAM is committed to know God, His nature, His character and His ways. We seek to reflect who He is in every aspect of our lives and ministry. The automatic overflow of knowing and enjoying fellowship with God is a desire to share Him with others.
- Make God known. YWAM is called to make God known throughout the whole world, and into every arena of society through evangelism, training and mercy ministries. We believe that salvation of souls should result in transformation of societies, thus obeying Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.
- Hear God’s voice. YWAM is committed to creating with God through listening to Him, praying His prayers and obeying His commands in matters great and small. We are dependent upon hearing His voice as individuals, together in team contexts and in larger corporate gatherings as an integral part of our process for decision making.
Please join with YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, during the month of January to pray with us. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, January 11.
If you only have a few moments to pray we would ask you to reflect on these three values and pray for yourself and others in the YWAM family to uphold and practice these values in all that we do.
Prepare to Pray:
Before praying, consider doing the following exercise. It could help you and your group reflect on the significance of the values we are praying about this month.
READ: Read from Acts 15:1-30.
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and eldersabout this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoeniciaand Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me.14 Simon[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’[b]—
18 things known from long ago.[c]19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas,men who were leaders among the believers.23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.
THINK: Read the passage through again silently.
- Consider the disciples’ growing understanding of God’s character and His ways. Identify the places in this passage centered on who God is. How does this value shape the disciples’ choices and actions?
- Reflect on verse 19. Meditate on what it might look like in your context “not to make it difficult for those who are turning to God.” If you are in a group, discuss this together.
- Read verse 28 again. The disciples’ letter reads, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Consider the process of prayerful listening and discerning dialogue that led them to address the issues in this way. What issues are you facing that require this sort of participation with the Holy Spirit?
PRAY: Thank God for His desire to be known, and for the goodness of His ways and His character to be made known both to you and throughout the world. Take a moment in quiet to hold before Him those people and places you long to receive revelation of who God is.
LIVE: What would it look like for you to take an internal posture of listening? Return to this image throughout the day as you listen for the ways God is inviting you to know Him, and to make Him known to those around you.
Pray for YWAM Foundational Values 1 – 3:
- Pray for YWAMers to embrace YWAM’s foundational values #1 – 3 so that YWAM can better display His presence to others.
- Pray for greater integration of YWAM values in our ministries.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts for any uncleanness. Pray for us to be fully committed to walk in openness and transparency before God and others.
- Pray for YWAMers to be willing to obey. Pray for YWAMers to be able to leave comfort zones behind and to step out in faith.
- Pray for YWAMers to hear his voice in the midst of sufferings of non-believers near to us and far from us and for Him to give us the faith to respond as He calls.
- Pray for courage and faith of YWAMers to make Him known to others with whom we encounter.
- Pray for wisdom of YWAM leaders in communicating and incorporating YWAM foundation values throughout YWAM.
- Pray for complete trust in who God is and His plans for our lives.
- Pray for a greater understanding of who each of us is in Christ so that our response to challenges and setbacks shows us to be faithful servants of God.
- Pray for DTS students to embrace these first three foundational values and for their lives to be changed. Pray for forgiveness, healing, and redemption as a result.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
Take Action:
- Get to really know the 18 foundational YWAM values. For a detailed version of the foundational values:
- As a location, choose one of the YWAM foundational values and focus on it for at least one month. Share the value with others outside of YWAM and analyze their response. Create digital media associated with this value and share with The Invitation and/or with Darlene Cunningham in YWAM, Kona.
Read this book for the first time or read it again with a fresh perspective: Is That Really You God? by Loren Cunningham.- Plan an event (staff meeting, retreat, etc.) where each participant is assigned one of the YWAM foundational values. Have each participant seek wisdom from the Holy Spirit regarding their assigned value and report to the group in a way that will help others apply that value in their life.
- Watch this short video about Hearing the Voice of God from YWAM Mazatlan: https://www.facebook.com/ywammazatlan/videos/10160059969220001/?fref=mentions
- Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
- Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
- Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.
How We Prayed
December 2017 – Pyongyang, North Korea
- YWAM Diriamba, Nicaragua (Near Managua) reported that they would be praying during the entire month of December for Pyongyang.
- The Invitation was shared on Facebook over 150 times, received over 500 likes and had more than 150 comments. People noted they were praying all over the world including, but not limited to Canada, Haiti, Brazil, India, Philippines, Netherlands, Indonesia, Argentina, Nigeria, Ghana, England, Kenya, Germany, Barbados, Egypt, Mozambique, Australia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Costa Rica, Madagascar, Japan, Mexico, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, as well a many states within the United States.
- YWAM Perth, Australia prayed for hope and boldness for believers and that they would have influence on government leaders and that the leaders would respond with deep repentance and that nation of North Korea would be transformed.
- YWAM Seamill, Scotland focused on the Christians in North Korea, inspired by the video testimony included in The Invitation.
- YWAM Champagne, France is believing the Lord will transform the country of North Korea and they were inspired by Jeremiah 39, Isaiah 61 and 62, Acts 16 and John 7.
Future Topics:
- February 8, 2018 Community Development
- March 8, 2018 Entertainment Industry/Celebration Sphere
- April 12, 2018 YWAM Foundational Values 4 – 6 (Practice Worship and Intercessory Prayer, Be Visionary, Champion Young People)
Don’t Miss The Invitation:
- Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
- Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
- Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
- You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
- If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.