How do we direct our youth towards prayer? ... The awakening stage

11:57:51

2025-01-12

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The adolescence stage is associated with the emergence of many features of maturity, each of which can be a ground and a source of integration and happiness, and if not guided, it may be a source of misery and loss. The most important of these features are summarized in the following:

First: The awakening of instinct:

Instinct may not be at any stage of life (except in the first three years) at this degree of awakening and attention; at the beginning of life, instinct is like a pure spring, awakened in the depths of the child and in his entire being, as if he is infallible like the infallibility of any prophet, and directly connected to the world of revelation, so you hear nothing from him except truth, and nothing emanates from him except justice and honesty, the sound divine instinct overwhelms him with its waves, and irrigates him with its abundance.

Second: Religious Awareness

Religious awareness begins at the age of twelve, and this awareness in the adolescent is a factor in moral and ethical maturity and a reason for preventive mobilization. One scholar depicted this situation as if the wise Creator had prepared the necessary requirements to curb the instincts in the form of a preventive measure before they become rampant and overwhelming.

Third: Awakening the Cosmic Vision

At this stage, the adolescent develops a special vision of the world. He may not have gone to school, or acquired knowledge or experience from books, but his situation indicates that he sees cosmic phenomena from a different perspective, or as if the phenomena surrounding him are telling him about the secret of their origin and destiny.

At this stage, his cosmic vision changes, and he finds in life a special splendor and beauty, and his view of things is completely different from what it was yesterday, so this awakening is also a reason for a deeper cosmic knowledge, and a direction towards science and culture, as well as a means to lead him towards the Creator of things, the absolute manager, and as a result he develops a feeling of the need to worship and commune with Him.

Fourth: Awakening of the conscience

Conscience is a kind of internal self-awareness, or the power of perceiving vices and virtues; it is what makes a person feel satisfied and comfortable when doing every good deed, and with a kind of negativity and self-reproach, in return for any ugly behavior, so he plays - then - a role similar to the role played by a judge in court.

The conscience awakens in the teenage years, and a court is formed in it, so he is the judge of himself, so if he commits a mistake or sin, he blames himself, and may even impose some punishments on himself; and it is clear that this awakening is one of the divine favors and a factor in tightening self-control.

Fifth: Awakening the ambition for elevation:

We may not find - at any stage of human maturity - a level of ambition and desire for progress and elevation like we find in the stage of adolescence. The adolescent wishes for the availability of the conditions and capabilities that allow him to reach the stage of sovereignty and elevation, and to remain on this path endlessly, even if he does not exert any effort or endure any hardship to achieve this goal. He hardly sees greatness or elevation without the ambition to reach it being born within him.