Leader’s guide · 13 weeks

Leader’s guide: Pensées (For Teens)

Blaise Pascal

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This guide takes your group through “Pensées (For Teens)” in thirteen weeks, one chapter a week. It retells the best of Blaise Pascal’s “thoughts”, the notes a brilliant seventeenth-century mathematician and scientist left behind for a book he never finished, written to help people who doubted Christianity or did not care about it. Pascal writes about boredom and distraction, wanting to be liked, feeling tiny in a huge universe, doubt, and whether God is real, and his thoughts could have been written about teenagers today. It is written for teens aged about 13 to 18 and suits a youth group, a homeschool or a small group, including groups with seekers and doubters in them.

Each session takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Open by saying the memory verse together (3 minutes). Read the chapter, either aloud together or beforehand at home (8–10 minutes). Talk through the chapter’s three questions, which come with answers to help you (10 minutes). Do the activity (10 minutes). Then close by praying the chapter’s prayer, or one of your own (2 minutes).

To prepare, read the chapter yourself and look over the activity; most weeks need only paper and pens, and a few ask the group to put their phones away for a few minutes, so agree on that kindly at the start. Welcome questions and doubts: Pascal calls honest seekers reasonable, and so should you. Some chapters touch tender places. Chapter 2 notes that stillness can bring sadness or worry flooding in; chapters 6 and 11 deal with thinking the worst of yourself, harsh inner voices and put-downs from others; chapter 5 faces our smallness and death. Never ask anyone to share private struggles aloud, keep personal reflection on paper for themselves, and make sure everyone knows they can talk to you, a parent, a school counsellor or a doctor. If anyone tells you they are being put down or harmed, follow your church’s safeguarding procedures.

Week 1 — The Genius Who Met Fire

Blaise Pascal, born in 1623, was a genius who wrote on geometry at sixteen, built a calculating machine at nineteen and helped found the mathematics of probability, yet lived in daily pain. On the night of 23 November 1654 he met God and wrote it down on a paper he sewed into his coat: “FIRE. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and the learned.” He spent the rest of his short life writing notes for a book to help doubters, published after his death as the Pensées, or “thoughts”. The big idea: the cleverest man of his day met not an idea but the living God, and found certainty, joy and peace.

“I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” — Exodus 3:6 (KJV)

Memory verse

I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

Exodus 3:6

Talk together

  1. What did Pascal achieve as a young man?

    He wrote a treatise on geometry at sixteen, built a calculating machine at nineteen, showed that the air has weight, and helped found the mathematics of probability.

  2. What happened on the night of 23 November 1654?

    Alone in his room, Pascal met God. He wrote down the experience and sewed it into his coat, keeping it for the rest of his life.

  3. What is the difference between the God of the philosophers and the God of Abraham?

    A God “of the philosophers and the learned” is an idea people argue about; the God of Abraham is the living God who speaks to real people and is known personally through Jesus Christ.

Activity

Real Questions

You will need: Paper and pens

  1. Read Pascal’s Memorial aloud and talk about the difference between a God “of the philosophers” and the living God.
  2. Give everyone three minutes to write down, privately, three honest questions they have about God, life or themselves.
  3. Invite anyone who is willing to share one question, and write the shared ones on a group sheet.
  4. Keep the group sheet to look back at during the coming weeks, and tell the group they don’t need to answer the questions yet.

Read chapter 1

Week 2 — Why We Can’t Sit Still

Pascal concluded that “all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber,” because in stillness we face our weakness, death and lack of control. We fill every gap with “diversion”, like a hunter who wants the chase more than the hare or a king who needs to be amused all day. Pascal is not calling games wicked, but asking what we are running from, and the Bible’s answer is stillness before God, where the emptiness can begin to be filled. The big idea: distraction only hides the emptiness, but being still before God can begin to fill it.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10 (KJV)

Memory verse

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Psalm 46:10

Talk together

  1. According to Pascal, where does all the unhappiness of men come from?

    From the fact that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.

  2. What does Pascal mean by “diversion”?

    All the activities we use to stop ourselves thinking about our real condition, our weakness, our death and our need.

  3. Why does the hunter prefer the chase to the hare?

    Because it is the busyness of the chase, not the hare itself, that keeps him from thinking about his life.

Activity

Five Minutes of Quiet

You will need: A basket for phones, and a Bible

  1. Invite everyone to put their phones in the basket for the activity.
  2. Sit in complete silence for three minutes, with no talking or reading.
  3. Talk about how it felt: what did people want to reach for, and what came into their minds?
  4. Read Psalm 46:10 aloud and sit for one more minute, this time quietly speaking to God in your head.
  5. Discuss Pascal’s question honestly: why do we need distraction so much?

Read chapter 2

Week 3 — Always Getting Ready to Live

Pascal noticed that we hardly ever live in the present: “we never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so.” Each time one thing fails to satisfy, we hope the next will, and experience keeps fooling us. Jesus’ command not to be anxious about tomorrow is not a ban on planning but an invitation to live today with God, because God is not in the “when” but in the now. The big idea: our hopes and plans can’t carry the weight of our happiness, but God is here today.

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” — Matthew 6:34 (KJV)

Memory verse

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:34

Talk together

  1. What does Pascal mean by “we never live, but we hope to live”?

    We are always focused on the future, getting ready to be happy, so we never actually live and enjoy the present.

  2. Why does happiness that is always “when” never arrive?

    Because as soon as we reach one goal, we set the next one, and the present is never enough for us.

  3. What does Jesus say about tomorrow in Matthew 6:34?

    Not to be anxious about it, because tomorrow will take care of itself; each day has enough of its own trouble.

Activity

I’ll Be Happy When…

You will need: Paper and pens

  1. Ask everyone to finish the sentence “I’ll be happy when…” in as many ways as they can in two minutes.
  2. As a group, talk about which of these would really last, and what usually happens once you get there.
  3. Then have everyone write down three good things from today, not yesterday or tomorrow.
  4. Practise the prayer from the chapter together: “Lord, you are here now.”

Read chapter 3

Week 4 — Wanting Fans

Pascal saw that vanity is anchored in every heart, from soldiers and cooks to philosophers, and even admits that he and his readers share it. We want the whole world to know us, yet the praise of five or six neighbours delights us, and admiration spoils us from childhood. Living for approval is exhausting, and Jesus asked how we can believe while seeking glory from each other instead of from God. The big idea: when our worth is settled in God’s love, other people’s approval becomes a nice extra rather than the air we breathe.

“How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” — John 5:44 (KJV)

Memory verse

How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

John 5:44

Talk together

  1. Who does Pascal say wants admirers?

    Everyone, from soldiers, cooks and porters to philosophers, writers and readers, including Pascal himself.

  2. What two opposite things does Pascal notice about our wish to be admired?

    We want to be known by the whole world, even after we die, and yet the good opinion of five or six neighbours is enough to delight us.

  3. How does Jesus say seeking honour from people affects faith?

    It makes it hard to believe, because we are looking for honour from each other rather than from God.

Activity

The Approval Meter

You will need: Paper and pens

  1. Draw a meter from “Don’t care at all” to “Can’t live without it” and label it “approval”.
  2. As a group, list everyday ways teens look for approval, such as likes, followers, clothes, jokes and grades.
  3. Talk about Pascal’s point that both halves are true: we dream of fame, yet a few comments can make or break our day.
  4. Ask everyone to mark privately where they would put themselves on the meter, and to plan one kind thing this week that nobody will know about.

Read chapter 4

Week 5 — The Thinking Reed

Looking at the night sky, Pascal wrote, “The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me,” and saw that we sit between the infinitely large and the infinitely small. Yet a person is “a thinking reed”: so fragile that a drop of water can kill him, but nobler than the universe, because he knows he dies and the universe knows nothing. Pascal concludes that our dignity lies in thought, “Let us endeavour, then, to think well,” and the Bible goes further, saying the God who made the stars made us to know him. The big idea: you are small, but you are not unimportant.

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” — Psalm 139:14 (KJV)

Memory verse

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:14

Talk together

  1. Why does Pascal call man a “reed”?

    Because we are fragile, the feeblest thing in nature, easily killed by a vapour or a drop of water.

  2. Why is a thinking reed greater than the whole universe?

    Because a person knows that they die and knows the universe’s power over them, while the universe knows nothing at all.

  3. What does Pascal tell us to do with our ability to think?

    “Let us endeavour, then, to think well.”

Activity

The Thinking Reed

You will need: Bibles, and an outdoor space after dark if possible

  1. If you can, go outside after dark and look at the stars together; otherwise, look at a photograph of the night sky.
  2. Read Pascal’s words about the thinking reed aloud.
  3. Talk about what you can do that the stars cannot: wonder, love, pray, ask questions.
  4. Read Psalm 8:3–4 and Psalm 139:14 together.
  5. Have each person thank God silently that he made them able to think about him.

Read chapter 5

Week 6 — Great and Messed Up

Pascal calls humanity a chimera, a mix that does not make sense: “Judge of all things, imbecile worm of the earth.” Even our misery shows our greatness, like a deposed king who is sad only because he remembers being king, and only the Bible explains both halves: we were made good in God’s image and then fell. Pascal warns against both pride and despair, and says a person should love the nature in them capable of good but not the evil, while the chapter adds that honesty about sin is not self-hatred. The big idea: we are both great and fallen, made for God and in need of his healing.

“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” — Ecclesiastes 7:29 (KJV)

Memory verse

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Ecclesiastes 7:29

Talk together

  1. What is a chimera, and why does Pascal compare people to one?

    A creature made of different animals put together; people are a puzzling mix of greatness and wretchedness.

  2. How does our misery prove our greatness?

    Only a great being can know it is miserable; like a deposed king, we feel the loss because we were made for something better.

  3. What two mistakes does Pascal warn against?

    Thinking we are only great, which leads to pride, and thinking we are only wretched, which leads to despair.

Activity

Great and Fallen

You will need: Paper and pens

  1. As a group, list examples of human greatness, such as science, music and acts of kindness.
  2. Then list examples of human brokenness in the world, keeping to general examples.
  3. Read Pascal’s question: “If man is not made for God, why is he only happy in God? If man is made for God, why is he so opposed to God?” and talk about how the Bible answers it.
  4. Ask everyone to write privately three ways they see God’s image in themselves and three ways they need his help, and to pray over both lists.

Read chapter 6

Week 7 — The Hole Only God Can Fill

Pascal begins with the fact that “All men seek happiness,” yet nobody seems to reach it, and he reads that restlessness as a clue: there was once true happiness in us, and only its empty trace remains. We try to fill that space with everything around us, but “the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.” He lists the odd things people have put in God’s place, from stars to cabbages, and the chapter adds money, grades, looks and followers. The big idea: our deepest thirst is a signpost calling us home to God.

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.” — Psalm 42:1–2 (KJV)

Memory verse

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 42:1–2

Talk together

  1. What does Pascal say every person is seeking?

    Happiness, without exception; every action is aimed at it.

  2. Why can’t anything in the world fill the “infinite abyss” in us?

    Because only something infinite and unchanging, God himself, can fill it.

  3. What things does Pascal say people put in God’s place?

    Almost anything: the stars, the heavens, the earth, plants, cabbages, leeks, animals, insects.

Activity

Filling the Hole

You will need: Slips of paper, pens and a cup or bowl

  1. Place an empty cup or bowl in the middle and call it the “empty space” Pascal describes.
  2. Have everyone write on slips the things people try to fill it with, such as money, grades, sport, relationships, looks and followers.
  3. Drop the slips in one by one and talk about what each can and cannot give.
  4. Read Psalm 42:1–2 and talk about why Pascal says only God can fill it.
  5. Ask everyone to think privately about what they most often reach for when they feel empty.

Read chapter 7

Week 8 — The Heart Has Its Reasons

Pascal, a scientist who loved proof, wrote, “The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know,” but by “heart” he meant the deepest part of us that knows things directly, like knowing we are awake. He says faith is God felt by the heart, a gift from God, yet he warns against two mistakes, “to exclude reason, to admit reason only,” and says reason’s last step is to recognise there are things beyond it. The chapter encourages teens to think doubts through and also to listen to the heart’s longing for God. The big idea: God speaks to the whole of us, mind and heart together.

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” — Matthew 22:37 (KJV)

Memory verse

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Matthew 22:37

Talk together

  1. What did Pascal mean by “the heart”?

    Not just emotions, but the deepest part of us that knows things directly, like the fact that we are awake, without proving them by argument.

  2. What two extremes does Pascal warn against?

    Excluding reason, and admitting only reason.

  3. What does Pascal say is “the last proceeding of reason”?

    To recognise that there are infinitely many things beyond it.

Activity

Mind and Heart

You will need: Paper and pens

  1. Draw two overlapping circles labelled “Reason” and “Heart”.
  2. As a group, sort questions into the circles, such as “How old is the universe?”, “Does my life have meaning?”, “Is my friend trustworthy?” and “Does God love me?”
  3. Talk about Pascal’s two mistakes: excluding reason, and admitting only reason.
  4. Ask everyone to write down one question about faith that bugs them, and one person or book they could ask about it.

Read chapter 8

Week 9 — The Wager

Pascal’s wager imagines someone who refuses to decide whether God exists, and replies, “you must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked,” since not deciding is itself living as if God does not matter. If you wager that God is, “if you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing,” and Pascal advises those who cannot yet believe to begin by praying, reading the Bible and spending time with Christians. He says that what you lose is only poisonous pleasures, while you become faithful, honest, humble, grateful, generous and truthful. The big idea: the question of God matters enormously, so start seeking him seriously.

“Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” — Joshua 24:15 (KJV)

Memory verse

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15

Talk together

  1. What does Pascal mean by “You are embarked”?

    We are already in the boat of life; not choosing is itself a choice, so everyone has to wager.

  2. What does Pascal say you gain and lose if you wager that God exists?

    If you win, you gain everything; if you lose, you lose nothing.

  3. What practical advice does Pascal give to someone who wants to believe but can’t?

    To follow the way others began, by acting as if they believed and taking part in the practices of faith.

Activity

You Are Embarked

You will need: Paper and pens

  1. Draw a simple grid with two rows, “Live as if God is real” and “Live as if God isn’t”, and two columns, “God is real” and “God isn’t”.
  2. As a group, fill in each box with what you gain or lose, using the chapter.
  3. Talk about Pascal’s point that not deciding is also a decision, and about the chapter’s answer to those who call the wager selfish.
  4. Read out Pascal’s list of what living for God makes you: faithful, honest, humble, grateful, generous, a sincere friend, truthful.
  5. Ask everyone to consider privately one step they could take to seek God seriously this month.

Read chapter 9

Week 10 — Seekers

Pascal divides people into three kinds: those who serve God having found him, those who seek him without having found him, and those who neither seek nor find, and he calls seekers reasonable. God gives “enough light for those who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition,” so the question is also whether we want God to be there. The chapter assures seekers that having questions does not make them failures, and reminds believers to be patient with seekers. The big idea: God is not hiding to tease us; he wants to be found by those who seek with all their heart.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” — Jeremiah 29:13 (KJV)

Memory verse

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

Talk together

  1. What are Pascal’s three kinds of people?

    Those who serve God having found him; those who seek him but haven’t found him; and those who neither seek nor find.

  2. Why does Pascal call seekers “reasonable”?

    Because they are taking the most important question seriously and looking for God, even though they haven’t found him yet.

  3. Why, according to Pascal, doesn’t God make himself completely obvious?

    He gives enough light for those who want to see, and enough obscurity for those who don’t, so that people are not forced against their will.

Activity

Three Kinds of People

You will need: Paper and pens

  1. Read out Pascal’s three kinds of people.
  2. As a group, talk about what each kind might say, think or do in a typical week.
  3. Discuss why Pascal is so kind to seekers, and why he calls not seeking at all foolish.
  4. Ask everyone to write down privately which group they think they are in, then pray Jeremiah 29:13 together.

Read chapter 10

Week 11 — What We Say to Ourselves

Pascal noticed that a person told continually that he is a fool comes to believe it, and that we all hold an inward talk with ourselves “which it behoves him to regulate well.” His advice is to talk to ourselves of God and what is true, which is not just positive thinking: we have sinned, and Jesus forgives; we may feel worthless, yet we are made in God’s image and loved. He valued friends who point out our faults, but the chapter draws a clear line between loving correction and constant put-downs, which should be told to a trusted adult, as should a harsh inner voice that won’t stop. The big idea: tell yourself what is true, the way God speaks about you.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” — Philippians 4:8 (KJV)

Memory verse

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

Talk together

  1. What does Pascal say happens when we keep telling ourselves something?

    We end up believing it; our inner talk shapes what we think is true.

  2. What does Pascal advise us to talk to ourselves about?

    About God, whom we know to be true, so that we convince ourselves of the truth.

  3. How is honest correction different from constant put-downs?

    Loving correction helps us grow and is a gift; constant put-downs meant to make us small are harmful and should be told to a trusted adult.

Activity

Rewriting the Script

You will need: Paper and pens

  1. As a group, list common harsh things people say to themselves, such as “I’m so stupid” or “Nobody likes me”.
  2. For each, write a sentence that is true according to the Bible, not just a nice-sounding one.
  3. Run the true sentences through the filter of Philippians 4:8.
  4. Ask everyone to write privately one thing they often say to themselves and a true sentence to replace it, to say each morning this week.

Read chapter 11

Week 12 — Knowing God Through Jesus

Pascal arrives at the centre: “we know God by Jesus Christ alone,” and we know ourselves only through him too. Knowing God without our misery causes pride, knowing our misery without God causes despair, and in Jesus we find both, so he is “a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair.” Pascal also argued that the apostles “were either deceived or deceivers,” and that the best explanation of their willingness to suffer is that they told the truth about the risen Jesus. The big idea: all Pascal’s thoughts point to one person, Jesus, in whom God can be known.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” — John 14:6 (KJV)

Memory verse

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

Talk together

  1. Why does knowing God without knowing our misery lead to pride?

    Because we think we are fine and don’t see our need for him.

  2. How does Jesus show us both God and our misery?

    At the cross we see how serious our sin is and how great God’s love is, so we can come to him without pride and without despair.

  3. What is Pascal’s argument about the apostles?

    They were either deceived or deceivers; it is hard to be mistaken about a man risen from the dead, and liars would not have suffered and died for a lie.

Activity

Deceived, Deceivers or Truthful?

You will need: Bibles, paper and pens

  1. Read Luke 24:36–48 aloud together.
  2. Draw three columns: “Deceived”, “Deceivers” and “Telling the truth”.
  3. In small groups, write in each column any evidence or arguments for that explanation, using the chapter and the passage.
  4. Come back together and talk about which explanation Pascal thought fit best, and why.
  5. Ask everyone to tell Jesus privately what they think.

Read chapter 12

Week 13 — I Thought of You

In “The Mystery of Jesus”, a prayer about Gethsemane, Pascal contrasts the garden of delight where Adam was lost with the garden of agony where Jesus saved the human race, and writes, “Jesus will be in agony even to the end of the world. We must not sleep during that time.” He then writes as if Jesus speaks to him: “Console thyself, thou wouldst not seek Me, if thou hadst not found Me,” and “I thought of thee in Mine agony.” Pascal died in 1662 aged thirty-nine, having given much to the poor, praying, “May God never abandon me.” The big idea: if you are seeking God, it is because he has already found you, and Jesus thought of you on the night before he died.

“My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.” — Matthew 26:38 (KJV)

Memory verse

My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.

Matthew 26:38

Talk together

  1. What two gardens does Pascal contrast?

    The garden of delight where Adam lost himself and the human race, and the garden of agony where Jesus saved the human race.

  2. What does “thou wouldst not seek Me, if thou hadst not found Me” mean for a seeker?

    That the longing to seek God is itself a sign that God has already found us and is at work in us.

  3. How did Pascal live in his last years?

    He gave much of what he had to the poor, and moved out of his own house rather than turn out a poor family whose child was ill.

Activity

Stay Awake

You will need: Bibles, paper and pens

  1. Read Matthew 26:36–46 aloud slowly while everyone listens.
  2. Talk about what Pascal meant by “we must not sleep during that time”, and list practical ways to stay awake to God and to other people’s pain.
  3. Read the line “Console thyself, thou wouldst not seek Me, if thou hadst not found Me” and talk about what it means for seekers.
  4. Look back at the group’s questions from week one and talk about which ones Pascal has helped with.
  5. Give everyone a minute of quiet to thank Jesus for thinking of them in Gethsemane.

Read chapter 13