One of the problems I have been seeing as I develop young leaders is the complete lack of or at least seriously deficient prayer life of young people. This is partly my fault, as a Youth Leader it’s obvious that I have been deficient in teaching and modeling this area of spiritual disciplines. But it runs a lot deeper than just my youth group, and I’m willing to bet that if you’re honest with yourself about you and your students, your prayer life and that of your group leaves something to be desired.
My friend Jerry Powell has been reminding me lately just how important a leaders prayer life is. I couldn’t agree more, but I think that often as leaders we struggle with our own prayer life so much that we also neglect to train our students in prayer and show them just how important prayer is to a leader.
So how important is prayer?
Well, Paul says to “pray without ceasing,” so it must be pretty important. On a practical level, prayer is so important that we can’t live without it. Praying shows a reliance on God for all things. It shows more than just a list of things we want; it signifies that we know where all things come from.
So much of the bible is devoted to prayer. We have plenty of biblical role models if we want to study prayer.
I think our first step is to get our prayer lives in order. Once our lives are in order, then we can begin to speak into the lives of our students about prayer.
So how do we teach our students the importance of a prayerful attitude and life?
1. Model it for them. There’s no better way to help them develop a prayerful attitude and life than by modeling it for them.
2. Show them the Bible. Show your students how important prayer is in the Bible. Show them biblical characters and how and when they prayed. Do studies on the prayers of Paul.
3. Assign accountability partners. Let your students remind each other about the need to pray.
4. Remind them. Use social media and texting to remind your students to pray. Keep a weekly prayer list for your group.
5. Give them Practice. Have your students pray every time you meet. They will get used to it. Remember, many times behavior changes attitudes.
In the Trenches,
Matt
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