Youth and Young Adults

BY ROBYN BAILEY
Regional Youth Ministry Coordinator

The first 5-10 minutes of the prestigious Oscars Awards Ceremony is usually composed of 1 or 2 people, the hosts, standing in front of hundreds of well-known celebrities to perform a monologue. In short, these people talk at the crowd to deliver cheesy one-liners and give awards for merit in the film industry. Their only response is frequent laughter and smiles from the crowd; if their jokes hit the mark. If the hosts were in a different room and performed their monologue live with no audience, I wonder how they would know if their jokes made the cut. 

People may consider prayer to be similar to this monologue. It is common for people to think that prayer is simply telling God how you feel, what’s going on around you, and what you want or need. While this is true, prayer is so much more expansive than any monologue. God will always listen to us and encourage us to grow in love. However, we need to give time and space for God to communicate. This dialogue between you and God is one of the crucial conversations you’ll engage in. 

I’ve heard people say, “I need to pray every day.” Is this even necessary?

In short, frequent prayer can be beneficial. Your thoughts and feelings can change in a heartbeat depending on what day it is, what time it is, or even what type of chocolate we’ve had. These can all have various effects on us. God wants to hear the good times, the bad times, even the boring times, and He doesn’t mind when. 

If your parent or a loved one came home and wanted to tell you something but because you were preoccupied with other things couldn’t find the time, it would take a lot longer for them to be able to share their news with you. Likewise, if we don’t give the opportunity for God to share and speak to us, how will we hear the Good News? 

Practically, How Do I Talk and Listen to God? 

I found that interacting with God can be done in many different ways. There is no wrong way to pray. It means that we can talk to God through any mediums that connect us closer to Him. We are going to break down a few forms of prayer that you can try.

Journalling

Journalling is safe and private to connect with God, it’s a recording of our journey cultivating a relationship with the Lord, His teachings, blessings and our prayer requests. There have been many times where I have written something and only then do I understand my own thoughts and ideas. If you date each entry, you can go back in a year to reflect on what was happening around you and what God was saying to you.

Scripture

As Catholics, we believe that the Bible and its contents are the words of God. So essentially, the Bible is God speaking to you through poems, stories, and letters. Some people can find it a little overwhelming when they see the size of the book. Luckily, we don’t have to read the book cover to cover to understand what God is saying. It may be good to start with reading a few lines or paragraphs instead of pages. Some suggestions for you to look up and start reading is Psalm 94- 100, The Gospel of John, and the Letter of James. These are shorter books and can be easier to understand. 

Music

Music is a way of life. We surround ourselves with the latest beats while reminiscing on the good old favs we have stored on our playlists. There is a rich history of different forms of music that Christians have used in order to pray. Some include praise & worship, gregorian chants, and Taize. Luckily for us, Christian music is always at the tips of our fingers on YouTube, Spotify, or your favourite streaming service. Simply search for a genre or a song and away you go. 

Prayer is different for everyone. My experience in how to pray will be different from yours. If you are stuck for ideas ask a friend, teacher, youth ministry leader, or Priest for some suggestions on how to liven up your prayer this week.