Ways To Help Teens Pray (cont.)
3. Prayer is about conversation.
That may sound over-simplified. But teens need to know that even the memorized prayers we say are part of a conversation with God. Prayer isn’t a formula or about figuring out the perfect methodology. It’s about a back and forth with the Lord. We must help teens pray in a way that involves talking and listening. Our hearts change when we’re willing to listen to God.
When the plane engine thundered in takeoff, I was struck by the thought of just how powerful God is and that he loves me so totally. Yet not much later, I was babbling on and on, forgetting that worship of him.
My conversations with God were about being thankful, honest, desperate, and confessing when I messed up. Because I wanted to spend time with him, it was natural. I understood that God wanted to hear me and respond. I needed peace and to know everything would be alright. So I had to stop long enough to hear.
As we help teens pray, let’s teach how to have conversations with God. Let’s help kids understand how to talk and listen. So many books address how to pray and how to help teens pray. I think too often we over-complicate the issue.
Young people just need to know these simple words from Jeremiah 29:13. “Seek the Lord with your whole heart and you will find Him.” God is waiting for us, with our stutters, cries, and everything we have. He just wants us to know him better, because he has always known us. And prayer is one huge pathway to make that happen.
This article on how to help teens pray was originally published on YouthMinistry.com, © Group Publishing, Inc.
