{"id":20330,"date":"2025-02-25T15:06:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T04:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/victas.uca.org.au\/?p=20330"},"modified":"2025-02-25T15:06:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T04:06:04","slug":"quiet-prayer-for-teens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/synod.debug.victas.uca.org.au\/?p=20330","title":{"rendered":"Quiet prayer for teens"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sandy Brodine<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wonder \u2026 is contemplative prayer a good thing to do with teens?<\/p>\n

I wonder if everything we do with teenagers needs to be loud and razzle dazzle? Are there some young people who appreciate a quiet, contemplative space to enter into a relationship with God?<\/p>\n

Back when I taught religious education, I often taught Year 9 last period on Friday. What on earth does one do with a bunch of tired and ratty 15-year-olds at the end of the school week?<\/p>\n

Strangely enough, I discovered the answer was: meditation.<\/p>\n

One day in frustration at trying to get my class to achieve the tasks that had been set for them, I offered them the chance to try meditation. We were studying world religions, and meditation is a spiritual practice that exists across several religious traditions. Why not give this a try, I wondered?<\/p>\n

They pushed the tables back, lay on the floor and closed their eyes. I led them through a relaxation exercise.<\/p>\n

After some initial wriggles and giggles, they relaxed. When we finished and they sat up, they were transfixed. From the quietest introvert to the loudest footy player, the entire class was calm, relaxed and centred.<\/p>\n

We returned to work and finished the task at hand. From then on, our Friday afternoon class included 10 minutes of meditation. If I tried to leave it out, the kids got quite grumpy.<\/p>\n

When we reflected on the process together, the kids said how much they enjoyed the opportunity to just let go of all the stresses and worries of the week. One person said: \u201cIt feels like letting my hamster off the wheel.\u201d What a great way to talk about the practice of meditation.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to my life in ministry, where I have the joy of running confirmation classes with younger teens. Just recently we began a series thinking about who God is.<\/p>\n

After some strenuous thinking and discussing, I suggested that we end the session with \u201cbreath prayer\u201d.<\/p>\n

Amongst the group was one youth who is neurodivergent and has trouble focusing on tasks.<\/p>\n

She happily lay down on the couch and closed her eyes. Instead of one of the \u2018mantras\u2019 I suggested, she chose to say: \u201cGod, don\u2019t go.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 10 minutes of silence when we opened our eyes, it was raining softly outside. She looked out the window and said: \u201cGod has answered my prayers. It\u2019s like the rain is washing all of my troubles away.\u201d What a wonderful response to a new kind of prayer.<\/p>\n

In a world where many teens wear noise-cancelling headphones (including my own daughter), we shouldn\u2019t be surprised that teenagers crave silence as a way to engage with God.<\/p>\n

There are so many loud voices competing for their attention \u2026 is it any wonder that they appreciate some quiet time to \u201clet the hamster off the wheel\u201d?<\/p>\n

We are beginning to compile some prayer resources on the Younger Generations team page. Check out the \u201cbreath prayer\u201d resource.<\/p>\n

Why not try it with some of the teenagers that you work with?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of the ‘I wonder’ series, Sandy Brodine outlines the benefits that can accrue for young people through contemplative prayer or meditation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,33],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-20330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connect","category-youth","tag-contemplative-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\nQuiet prayer for teens - Synod Main Website<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/synod.debug.victas.uca.org.au\/?p=20330\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Quiet prayer for teens - 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