Prayer for a Blessing
Bestow, dear Lord, upon our youth, The gift of saving grace; And let the seed of sacred truth Fall in a fruitful place.
Grace is a plant, where’er it grows, Of pure and heavenly root; But fairest in the youngest shows, And yields the sweetest fruit.
Ye careless ones, O hear betimes The voice of sovereign love! Your youth is stain’d with many crimes, But mercy reigns above.
True, you are young, but there’s a stone Within the youngest breast; Or half the crimes which you have done Would rob you of your rest.
For you the public prayer is made: Oh! join the public prayer! For you the secret tear is shed: Oh shed yourselves a tear!
We pray that you may early prove The Spirit’s power to teach; You cannot be too young to love That Jesus whom we preach.
Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York
Pleading For and With Youth
Sin has undone our wretched race; But Jesus has restored, And brought the sinner face to face With his forgiving Lord.
This we repeat from year to year, And press upon our youth; Lord, give them an attentive ear, Lord, save them by Thy truth!
Blessings upon the rising race! Make this a happy hour, According to Thy richest grace, And Thine Almighty power.
We feel for your unhappy state, (May you regard it too,) And would a while ourselves forget To pour out prayer for you.
We see though you perceive it not, The approaching awful doom; Oh tremble at the solemn thought, And flee the wrath to come!
Dear Saviour, let this new-born year Spread an alarm abroad; And cry in every careless ear, “Prepare to meet they God!”
Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York
Survey
Survey results from youth attending Southern Baptist summer activities: 22% witnessed violence in their homes. 27% had been involved in a physical attack. 19% had considered suicide. 20% had engaged in sexual intercourse. Nearly 60% had experimented with alcohol by age 13. 27% had tried drugs by that same age. 9% had experienced some kind of sexual violence.
Scocaster, publication of Scofield Memorial Church, July 11, 1993
Lying, Cheating, and Stealing
Lying, cheating, and stealing are becoming an “acceptable norm” among high-school and college students, says Ralph Wexler, speaking for the Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics. In a recent survey, the Institute reported that 61 percent of the high-school and 32 percent of the college students polled admitted to having cheated on an exam during the past year; 33 percent of the high-school and 16 percent of college students said they’d stolen something in the last year; and 16 percent of the high-school and 32 percent of the college students said they’d lied on a resume or job application.
National and International Religion Report, quoted in Signs of the Times, June, 1993, p. 6
Survey
1986
• 70% of high school grads leave the church, never to return
• 65% of evangelical teens never read their Bibles
• 33% believe religion is out of date and out of touch
• 40% of all teens believe in astrology
• 30% read astrology column daily
• 93% know their sign
• 58% of Protestant teens believe students should have access to contraceptives.
• 25% of high school students contract some form of V.D.
• 42% of Protestant teens say there are many ways to God.
• 60% question that miracles are possible
• 28% feel the content of the Bible are not accurate.
1990
• 65% of all H.S. Christian students are sexually active
• 75% of all H.S. students cheat regularly
• 30% of all H.S. students have shoplifted in the past 30 days
• 45–50% of all teen pregnancies are aborted
• 3.3 million teens are alcoholics
• 1000 teens try to commit suicide daily
• 10% of H.S. students have experimented with or are involved in a homosexual lifestyle.
Bruce Wilkinson, 7 Laws of the Learner