5 Questions Teens Ask
What are the kind of things teenagers are concerned about? We recently asked teenagers about the things that concerned them the most. Here are a few of the questions that came to us.
#1
How do you motivate yourself to stay consistent in the Word on days when you don't feel it?
It comes down to discipline, and ultimately, faith formation.
The most important part of consistent devotional life is to set a time and place aside to do your Bible reading, prayer, fasting, and worship. If you fail to plan, you actually plan to fail.
Another way to increase your consistency with personal devotions is to get an accountability partner to do the same thing with you so you can help each other. There is greater outcome in accountability.
Having a plan is another success factor when it comes to consistent devotions. A Bible App will help you read through the Bible in a year, or read a bible study plan, or even do a word search. You can get more out of it if you have your Bible next to you taking notes while you listen to the reading of the verse for that day.
This will literally take you about 8 to 10 minutes a day.
#2
I don't know how to forgive myself for the things I did before I accepted Christ.
All of us struggle with this.
1 John 1.8-9 says, “…If you confess your sins He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”
Unfortunately, the confession of sin is largely lost on us today. We prefer to hide our wrongs. We need a restoration of confession.
Here are some practical things that you can do to work on applying forgiveness :
Write your past sins down on a dry erase board or a chalkboard. Then, while listening to a worship song on the cross, wipe the sins away.
Write your past sins down on a piece of paper. Then, while listening to a worship song on the cross, tear the sheet of paper up and burn the pieces.
Find a spiritual leader and share your past sins with that person. We cannot lose the confessional.
Maybe it will be a tactile exercise like this that can bring the dramatic change you need!
#3
I don't know how to share my faith.
How should I become comfortable sharing my faith?
In reality, you may never become comfortable sharing your faith. Evangelism is a difficult task in the Kingdom because of the practics and the spiritual warfare. We must bring an emphasis of apologetics back into Next Gen.
It's not easy. But you can learn practical principles that will increase your effectiveness and comfortability.
Here are a few practices to help you share the gospel.
Write your story in 300 words or one page
Write the BEFORE your life with Christ in 150 words
Write the AFTER your life with Christ in 150 words
Memorize your story so you can share it
#4
How can you know what the will of God is for your life?
This is actually really easy.
John said in Revelation 4.11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are, and were created.”
We really are created to be His praise. To bring glory to God whatever we do. That’s it. Bringing God pleasure is His will for us.
But, there are some things we can do to help us find God’s plan for His will for our lives.
God speaks through His Word and resting. Waiting after prayer is a more complete understanding of what prayer really is. His word will help us to know His will. And waiting to hear from Him is a two-way conversation and not just our requests.
God speaks through your prayers & waiting and not just your prayers. It is as important to wait as it is to pray.
God speaks through spiritual leaders. It may be pastors, podcasts, or parents. But throughout the scriptures God stresses the blessing of counselors.
God speaks through your gifts and talents. Our spirit, our person, our gifts and talents, and our background, can be a telling factor of His design for our life.
The final populate question teenagers ask is about their youth group.
#5
I'm not connecting in my youth group. What can I do to get more involved?
You can see how faith formation and involvement in the youth ministry are critical to these overall questions.
Here are 4 ways to get connected to your youth ministry.
Show up. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
Ask a friend to go with you. That will help you be comfortable.
Ask a leader to sit with you. It will help if that leader could introduce you to another student also.
Come early. Leave late. Give your self a chance to meet other leaders and students.
Finally
There is a difference between QUESTIONING God and DOUBTING God. When you question
God, you are looking for an answer.
When you doubt Him, you are not open to the answer.