Jesus Youth Prayer: How was it Formed? (BJRE016)
Jesus Youth Prayer: How was it Formed?
(By Dr. Edward Edezhath - Published in Kairos Magazine in 2019)
When Jesus Youth gather, how do they pray? Generally, they use two major styles. One is mainly a free flow of spontaneous prayers and songs. The second approach is to use an organized format that has come to be known as Jesus Youth Prayer. Spontaneous prayer is quite natural to the movement. But the latter organized prayer evolved slowly. People often ask about the need for such a formal pattern and how it came about. For me, the evolution of Jesus Youth Prayer has been a personal journey of reflection and discovery on how we can pray in a group.
My thoughts go back to one prayer meeting in a school a few decades ago. Fifteen or twenty school kids had gathered together. One of their teachers requested that I help them, and I went there. My plan was simple: a couple of simple songs leading to a time of prayer, a brief time of thanksgiving, a short Bible reflection, and a conclusion. A few minutes into the meeting, I realized they were not used to spontaneous prayer. They know only an organized pattern of prayer. A decade of the rosary would have been easier for them. For a fresh group of youth, I started asking myself what a comfortable pattern of prayer is.
A few months later, I had another disturbing group experience. I was in another city with a very good young professionals’ prayer group. These were quite active leaders in the movement. The prayer meeting started with a couple of songs, and then the person leading the group asked everyone to close their eyes, and his instructions or ‘monologue’ ensued: ‘The Lord is here, he loves you, let’s come into his presence like he visited the house of Zacchaeus.’ He was going on monotonously. This was supposed to be a group with a spontaneous way of prayer. But it ended up with an overdose of talking by the ‘leader’. I could see how boring the whole prayer session was.
An opportunity to try out a different prayer pattern came in 2000. A bunch of active Jesus Youth came to me with a request. Most of them were former Full-timers with much formation and mission experience. Their commitment days were over, and they wanted to form a group, and they were asking for guidance to get going. Their goal for the weekly gathering was to grow in prayer, reflection, and fellowship. Those who came to me with the request specially mentioned prayer – ‘we want to go beyond spontaneous prayer, but we are not thinking of merely traditional prayers.’
This request to animate a grown-up youth group posed a good challenge for me. Every week, I prepare a one-page prayer format. Each prayer started with the sign of the cross, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts, etc.’, and Glory be. This was followed by a responsorial psalm, a Bible reading, a time for spontaneous prayer, and a conclusion. And how did it go? They found this a good way to begin a time of deep reflection and fellowship. A prayer format with some structure and a lot of freedom helped them to move on to deeper levels of sharing.
A time for further fine-tuning came later when about 60 Jesus Youth leaders from the Ernakulam area decided to meet regularly for 6 months for a monthly gathering and training. It was called the “Resource Foundation Program”. We tried some new approaches to studying the Bible and the Church documents. When we came for the first planning session, everyone suggested that the prayer styles in this training had to be different. Here, again, is a modified group-prayer format we tried out. It was found to be a good input for spiritual deepening. Thus, different prayer formats were tried out step by step.
Why is there a need for some pattern for group prayer?
The renewal prayer is mostly a ‘spontaneous prayer’ led by a leader. Usually, this has been a welcome change for a lot of people, especially the youth. Traditional prayers are most likely read from some ‘book’, repeated, and recited. But in this new style, you pray from your heart. Though for a newcomer, sometimes this is a big task, when you get used to praying in your own words and others praying spontaneously along with you, it becomes an extremely deep spiritual experience. This is a good Jesus Youth prayer meeting combined with songs and other dynamics.
Then, is it not enough that we go on with this spontaneous pattern of prayer? Why is there a need to introduce any other pattern? Many of you may have seen occasions when such a “free prayer time” ran into problems. I pointed out a couple of my own experiences earlier. In a group, if the majority are reluctant to pray or are not creative in their approach, the prayer session becomes dry and boring. Nowadays, in many groups, the ‘leader’ follows instructions, tending to talk too much. He or she goes on with a ‘monologue,’ and it ceases to be prayer time. Then again, many people complain that repeating the same prayer week after week can make the whole meeting a very shallow exercise. In short, prayer meetings start enthusiastically, but people drop out slowly as it becomes boring.
Over the past centuries, the spiritual masters in the Church have tried out many beautiful modes of prayer, which ensured perseverance and growth in holiness. So, the new Jesus Youth attempt was to balance the new spontaneity and the rich traditions of the Church’s prayer life. And its result? A 7-step prayer pattern we call Jesus Youth Prayer that combines the Charismatic and traditional elements of prayer has evolved.
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