SmartTeen –
What a wonderful, refreshing post! No wonder chazal said, ” klal yisroel will only be redeemed in the merit of the tinokos shel bais rabbon.
As someone who was a teen not too long ago, I know what you mean. Its very tough to produce the firepower that adults have, and you may be too honest with yourself to go thru the motions (fist pumps, eyes screwed shut, like you’re being pinched, ect). True emotion during davening, is something adults are sometimes better at, because we simply have more at stake, so we put our heart and soul into it. ( I don’t want to talk about young people who have tzaros r”l, becuase they are in a category of their own, and I should not comment on that level of davening.)
But for the average teen, don’t think you are not accomplishing as much right now. Think of it as physical training. Not evey day, do you need to run a 25 mile marathon, or sprint like you’re being chased by lions and tigers. But its nice to know, if you NEEDED to, you could do it.
Building “davenening stamina” will come in handy when you need to start praying like your (your family’s) life depends on it. But like all training regimens, starting when you’re young makes it a whole lot easier.