How to Encourage the Youth to Pray

As a youth leader or a youth pastor, you may be seeing a problem when it comes to a youth’s prayer life, which is why you are here looking for how to encourage young people to pray. Setting up church programs like outings, camping, and gatherings with food will excite and interest energetic young people, but when you set up an invitation to a prayer meeting or prayer night, you’ll barely see any young people participating, and more adults and elders filling in. 

Why is this so? What is it about the concept of prayer that somehow repels most young people today instead of attracting them to the presence of Christ?

As you think about how to encourage young people in their prayer lives, here are some of the things you need to consider when asking God for wisdom:

1. Mindset: What do young people nowadays think prayer is all about?

Mindset is a powerful thing, and it is the first thing that Jesus addressed when He began His ministry. He said, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17). Until the Word of God comes to renew their thoughts, a child trained to hear words of criticism at home may grow up perceiving that being criticized and criticizing others is a normal thing. 

The same thing can be the case for most young people when it comes to their mindset on what prayer is all about. A majority of the world thinks of prayer as some religious act and, therefore, a rule to be enforced. When the clock strikes three or six, or eight, it’s time to pray and do the usual rituals. This is what religion does, and it bores the passionate energy of young people who are into real things and not dead things. 

And when young people think that praying is about boring meetings in the church, kneeling down, or crying rather than the idea of meeting Jesus Christ, the Father, the Holy Spirit – seeing Him face to face, hearing His encouraging voice, and having the opportunity to lay all their heart’s burdens, excitements, hopes, and dreams before God and be hugged by Him – then you may want to consider realigning their hearts back to Christ Jesus and establishing their relationship with Him more than advancing the act of praying. 

We can learn so much from the passionate prayer life of King David, a man after God’s heart as he said in Psalm 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”

2. Approach: Does the prayer meeting’s approach appeal to the age bracket of your young people?

Jesus dealt with the children, His disciples, and the Pharisees differently from each other. If we read and study the Gospel carefully, we can observe how gentle and approachable Jesus was to the children concerning having them come to Him (But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Luke 18:16). When Jesus taught his disciples about God’s Kingdom, He used some parables and illustrations – such as the treasure in the field (Matthew 13:44), the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46), the lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-14) and so on – that they may seek after Him to reveal the truth as an interesting way to teach them about the Kingdom of God. When approaching the Pharisees, Jesus displayed great discernment and authority whenever they tried to entrap him with difficult questions (see Matthew 12:25 and Matthew 22:15-46). He also exposed their hearts’ intentions and motives and rebuked them with “woes” (see Matthew 23:13-36). Whatever Jesus’ approach to teaching, we know it was powerful and effective because it spoke to the hearts of men every time. 

How we approach young people when it comes to prayer matters greatly. You cannot expect your youth to love prayer meetings when all they hear during Sunday preaching is the end times, the wrath of God, or the constant pointing out of their weaknesses and flaws.

It helps to ignite anyone’s prayer life by first establishing a deep relationship and intimacy with their First Love. You cannot love God if you don’t know how much He loves you (We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19). Let the young people encounter the Holy Spirit and His power. He is alive, so have them encounter the presence of God, get them to see Jesus’ face in the heavenly realm, and activate their spiritual gifts. 

The Apostle Paul was the best example of this. When he was still Saul and was persecuting the Christians, it was because he did not truly know God in Christ Jesus. But when the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ encountered him on his way to Damascus, he was forever changed, and he was never again separated from Christ, no matter the circumstances (see Acts 9).

3. Hunger: Are the young people in the church being fed with the right kind of spiritual food?

You don’t hunger for food that’s bland, too hard to chew, too spicy, or too sweet. Our spiritual hunger is like that as well. When you want to encourage the youth to pray, make a delicious recipe about prayer through the wisdom and help of the Holy Spirit while being mindful of your youth’s age bracket. The younger ones in their teens must be taught about prayer through a different approach compared to those young people who are past the minor age. The Apostle Paul used this method for the Church in Corinth when he said in 1 Corinthians 3:2, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”

As mentioned earlier, when you combine your approach plus the renewal of minds concerning what prayer truly is, you can expect great results as you put your hope in the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in the individual lives of the young. 

4. Evaluate: Are you and the leaders of the church living by an example that the young people can follow?

In parenting, a child learns from the parents’ actions more than from their words. As the saying goes, your child will follow your example, not your advice. In the same way, as spiritual parents and leaders in the Lord, young people will learn to love God more when you simply set the example of your lifestyle for them to follow, especially outside the church. When young people see that their pastor or leaders are more ministry driven than prayer driven, they will just follow. 

It helps when you invite the leaders of your young people to join you and the other leaders of the church to pray outside the church; maybe, for example, in someone’s house. Or instead of coming later to a Sunday youth service, you may come earlier than the rest and pray for the event and the young people so that, by the time the youth arrive, you have already set the atmosphere into that of a prayer room instead of them coming earlier and just roaming around. You can try to break the routine and incorporate praying to God more often to help the youth have an idea of what prayer is really all about. The Apostle Paul said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

5. Intercede: Have you been continuously asking God to help the youth with their relationship with the Holy Spirit and continuously interceding for their revival?

It’s been said that before a revival comes, there is an intercessor. This is true because every supernatural and heavenly encounter with God that has happened and unfolded here on earth began only because someone prayed for it. Nothing will take place in the spiritual realm if no one will utter, decree, and declare the word of God. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

So, if you want young people to be strong in their prayer life and relationship with God, pray without ceasing for them. Continue to decree and declare words of life: “In Jesus’ name, the young people are so on fire for God, and they love Your Word more than anything!”

As you ask for the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance in handling the youth, He will show you more specific ways that will cater to the young people’s spiritual needs for them to grow in their prayer life. Just know that God’s got you, and He’s also got the young people. Continue to pray and praise Him in advance so that your youths will rise up and walk according to who they are in Christ Jesus. 

You can check these articles that may also help you give insights into prayer life:

• How to Be Spiritually Strong in Prayer
• How to Be a Prayer Warrior

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me wisdom and guidance through the Holy Spirit to bring out the best in our young people. Thank You for empowering the youths’ prayer lives as they come to truly know You and how much You love and care for them in Jesus’ name. Amen.