Building a good youth ministry requires intentionality and purpose. But there’s a secret behind that truth that a lot of leaders miss: A successful youth group starts not with the students, but with you as the leader being disciplined in your own life. Here are five helpful habits to deepen your effectiveness as a youth pastor and beyond.
1. Prayer
It all starts here.
Relying on God and consistently going to Him in prayer is much more important than being up to date on pop culture or the latest youth ministry strategies. Prayer should be the fuel for our youth ministries.
Jesus modeled constant prayer in His earthly ministry, often going away from the disciples to seek His Father’s will for decisions and strategies (Luke 5:16). And you know what? You pray to the same heavenly Father! Lead from your knees to bring clarity, direction, and power to your youth ministry.
When you focus on prayer, it teaches you to depend on the power of Holy Spirit rather than on your own efforts for results. If you’d like to read about why you should lead with prayer, you can learn more in The Power of a Strong Prayer Life on Youth Ministry.
2. Time in God’s Word
Growth happens through daily time with God. Spending time in Scripture reshapes your mindset, strengthens your faith, and gives you wisdom for every decision. In other words, it affects every aspect of your life, not just your ministry. Make sure you’re rooted in God’s Word before leading young people.
3. Healthy lifestyle
Good habits are comprehensive. They influence the physical, spiritual, relational, and mental aspects of your life. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature in every area of life (Luke 2:52), and we should too.
Embrace moderation. Eat healthy food, and incorporate regular exercise into your schedule so that you can build endurance for your ministry. Staying physically healthy also helps you build habits for a resilient, positive mindset that guards against discouragement.
4. Intentional ministry
Great youth leaders lead with purpose. Every moment you have with students becomes an opportunity to obey Christ’s command to share the Gospel (Matthew 28:19). This means that you have to schedule youth ministry activities and programs with intentionality.
And you should also regularly evaluate the results of your ministry efforts. Are you consistently incorporating programming that advances the Gospel and multiplies disciples? To make sure you’re answering this with a confident yes, click here to create an action plan for your group that helps you expertly weave Gospel Advancing content and activities into your ministry approach, making it part of your group’s DNA, without sacrificing deep time in the Word or fun and games.
5. Modeling evangelism
Evangelism is caught as much as it’s taught. When students have a consistent example in their lives showing them how to share the Gospel personally, they get inspired to share the Gospel as well. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul wrote:
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
When students see you boldly point others to Jesus and live for Christ in the real world, it gives them a real example to follow. For ideas of how to emphasize evangelism in your ministry, download the free Dare 2 Share e-book 5 Ways to Make Evangelism a Bigger Priority Right Away.
The most talented or popular youth leader isn’t always the best youth leader. The best youth leader is the one who consistently focuses on what matters. Your students just need you to be faithful in your obedience to Christ and present in their lives. They don’t expect you to be perfect, but you can be best prepared to be used by God in your ministry if you regularly work to build healthy habits in your life.
