Spiritual Reflections
It’s good to pray together, share together, encourage one another and learn together.
At various points in the year, the YBA produces resources and reflections to encourage churches to think about Lent, Advent and other key times in our Christian calendar, so do keep an eye on this page.
YBA Prayer Diary 2026
w/c Sunday 6th September
South Craven Baptist Church
Please remember the folk of South Craven Baptist Church in your prayers this coming week.
For thanksgiving:
Great time over the summer taking 15 young people to camp - for all the fun they had, new things they tried, what they heard about Jesus and for deepening friendships.
The people of the church - for the wonderful people God has made them to be and for the many different ways in which so many people use their gifts and time to worship God, create a welcoming community and share Jesus' love.
For the baptisms we've had this year and for the people exploring faith for the first time.
For prayer:
From the beginning of October we are trialing a move to two Sunday morning services to create more space for others to join us in worship. Please pray for unity within the church, a willingness and openness to step into this new season, for all the practicalities and for the whole church to continue with a heart of welcome.
For all our children's and youth work starting again this September - Foundations, 'God Club' in the local Secondary School, Messy Church, Feed, Weigh, Stay and the ecumenical Youth Drop-in each Thursday.
For a continued deepening of prayer within the church, and that in all the activity there would be a sense of listening to God.
To guide your prayers further, you can find out more about the ministry of the church through their website here.
South Ossett Baptist Church
Please remember the folk of South Ossett Baptist Church in your prayers this coming week.
For thanksgiving:
To God for speaking so clearly to us during our recent prayer days - a clear message to not limit Him and to think big.
Return to work and ongoing recovery of minister Tracy, this goes hand in hand with the hard work of the leaders during Tracy's illness.
A deepening sense of unity amidst diversity amongst our fellowship.
For prayer:
For there to be a clear desire for others to step forward as 2 of our 4 leaders step down in April or for a new way to be made clear.
A proposal for changes to our worship pattern is being presented at a church meeting on 6th September.
Clarity to be found over ways to serve our community, develop relationships and see the kingdom of God increase one disciple at a time.
To guide your prayers further, you can find out more about the ministry of the church through their Facebook page here.
The “why and how” of our YBA Prayer Diary
Prayer undergirds the work of the YBA. Prayer demonstrates our utter reliance on God and our care for one another. One of the ways we do this as a staff team and wider Baptist family, is by regularly praying for all our churches through the year using the YBA prayer diary. Thank you to all who have been doing this faithfully or maybe even sporadically. For those who may not know, each week, a couple of our churches are featured in the prayer diary and become the focus of prayers from other churches and people across our Association. We may not always know the specific needs of these churches, but we hold them in our hearts in prayer before the Lord, seeking His blessing over them and their ministry.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were additionally to be able to pray for the specific, expressed needs of our featured churches each week? That is exactly what we want to do – to raise up the specific needs of our churches before God’s throne of grace in obedience to His word: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil 4.6).
Ahead of their scheduled week, we invite our featured churches to send in their prayer requests and thanksgiving points. This is uploaded to this section of our YBA website. Any church who, for any reason, is unable to respond to our invitation will still be prayed for.
So be on the lookout for your church’s invitation to send in your prayer points and also do check out this area of the ‘Prayer & Spiritual Reflection’ section of the website, each week, so you can pray with knowledge for the needs of our churches across Yorkshire. We look forward to celebrating specific answers to prayer as we join together in praying for our churches.
If you have any questions about the administration of the prayer diary, please click here to contact the Admin Team.
Nike Adebajo
YBA Regional Minister