Let’s start with a statement.

Our practice of daily prayer should be informed by who God is in nature and by the practice of prayer we see in the life of Jesus.

Read that again.

Prayer begins with who God is

Now, let’s break the statement down by starting with two primary characteristics of God that have bearing on our prayer life.

God is ever-present

David captures this beautifully in Psalm 139: “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!”

There is nowhere we can go where God isn’t already there.

God is also active

Jesus says: “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17). And Paul reminds us that God “…is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:27–28).

Prayer isn’t about trying to get God to show up. Rather, prayer is learning to become aware of the God who is already present and already at work.

Prayer was woven into the life of Jesus

We see Jesus praying alone on a hillside before choosing his disciples (Luke 6:12–13).

We see him praying in front of a crowd before feeding the five thousand (Matthew 14:19).

We see him praying in Gethsemane in a moment of anguish and wrestling (Matthew 26:36–39).

We hear him praying from the cross for the people who are killing him: “Father, forgive them…” (Luke 23:34).

We see him praying with his disciples in the Upper Room (John 17).

We see him withdrawing into the wilderness to pray (Luke 5:16).

Prayer wasn’t something Jesus occasionally added to his ministry. Prayer was woven through his life. This helps us understand Jesus’ words in John 5:19: “The Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing.”

Jesus lived with an awareness of what his Father was doing. And this gives us a much bigger picture of daily prayer.

Praying without ceasing

I used to struggle with the words in 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.” How is that possible? I grew up thinking about prayer largely in terms of saying grace. You stopped what you were doing, bowed your head, said the prayer, and then got on with life. But perhaps praying without ceasing isn’t about nonstop words. Perhaps it is about nonstop connection.

To pray without ceasing is to live every part of life in conscious, ongoing communion with God.

You can pray while driving to youth group.

You can pray as you walk into a difficult meeting.

You can pray when a teenager sends you a message that you don’t know how to answer.

You can pray before you speak.

You can pray after you’ve spoken and wish you had said something differently.

You can pray when you see a young person thriving.

You can pray when you’re worried about one who isn’t.

Prayer becomes less about finding the right moment and more about learning to notice God in the moments we’re already in.

But that said, we also need to be intentional about our prayer life.

Make space to be with God

Youth ministry can be busy. There are programmes, people, crises, WhatsApp messages, meetings, sermons, planning, parents and endless things that need our attention. So, while prayer can happen anywhere, we also need to intentionally create space for prayer. We see this in the life and practice of Jesus too.

“Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer” (Luke 5:16). Mark tells us that Jesus got up before daybreak and went to an isolated place to pray (Mark 1:35). Jesus lived in ongoing communion with his Father, but he also deliberately withdrew.

Structure can create space for deepening our relationship and prayer life. We need structures because left to ourselves, we tend to pray about what is immediately in front of us. We ask for things. We tell God what we’re worried about. We pray for the next youth event. And there is nothing wrong with that. But prayer can become very narrow if we always rush straight to “God, please…”

Let structure deepen your prayer life

One simple structure I’ve used is A.C.T.S. Maybe you’ll find it helpful.

A — Adoration

Begin with God. Praise him for who he is. Start with God’s character rather than your circumstances.

C — Confession

Bring your failures honestly before God. Confession reminds us that we don’t have to pretend to God that we’ve got everything together. For those of us who lead others, that’s important. We can become very good at appearing spiritually capable while neglecting our own hearts.

T — Thanksgiving

Give thanks. Thanksgiving shifts our attention from what is going wrong to what God is doing. Thank God for the young people you lead. For your team. For the moments you see God at work, even when they seem small.

S — Supplication

And then bring your requests. Pray for yourself. Pray for others. Pray for the young people entrusted to you. Pray for wisdom, discernment, courage and compassion.

When you don’t have the words

Sometimes we simply don’t know what to pray. I’ve found the Psalms incredibly helpful in those moments. During the loss of my dad, I found myself praying the words of the Psalms because I didn’t have my own words. There is something powerful about borrowing the prayers of people who have gone before us.

We can also pray Scripture.

We can use written prayers.

We can use liturgy.

We don’t always have to invent our own words. Sometimes someone else has already given us the words we need.

What does your prayer life look like?

Perhaps the invitation isn’t simply to pray more. Perhaps it is to become more aware of the God who is already present. To discover the freedom to pray throughout your day.
Or maybe it’s to create intentional space to stop, withdraw, listen and be with God.

Remember that before we are youth leaders, we are learning to live with God. And perhaps the greatest gift we can give the young people we lead is not simply teaching them how to pray but showing them what it looks like to live in conversation with God.