A Generation That Loves To Worship But Hates To Pray

By Doug Franklin February 26, 2014

I get to be around a ton of youth ministries, and it’s not uncommon for me to see students who love to worship through music and art, but when you ask them to pray the room goes silent. Can you be a true worshiper and never speak with him? Can you love from a distance and have his love change you? If we can’t talk to God will we ever be able to listen to God?

I believe that worship is easy. I get to sing some songs with wonderful words and the music connects with me and stirs my soul. I feel inspired and motivated to love God. This is great, but at some level, those are not my words and I’m going to like the music no matter what the words say. This is why if you want to have a “Christian Worship hit” just make it an anthem.

As youth workers, we love to see our students worshiping. We encourage them to worship and we build time into our programming for this. Would the prayer lives of our students look different if we programmed time for them to pray? Would our ministry look different if we sent time aside to pray?

I meet many young people who just don’t know what to do with their lives. Students coming out of college and having no real idea of where they are headed. 20-somethings seeking focus to their spiritual lives. I wonder if they have talked with God. Have they heard his voice and connected with him?

If you’re a prayer warrior it probably means you’re old. If you love to worship it usually means you’re young. Does that tell us anything?