Prayer (young person’s word study)

 Prayer 

 

A talk with God

 

Has someone ever asked you to pray, and you didn’t know what to say? Everyone has felt that way. We don’t want to do it wrong, and we’re not sure how to do it right. 

God doesn’t want us to be so worried about praying the right way that we don’t pray at all. He wants to hear from us because He loves us. 

When a friend says hello to you, they’re showing that they like you and want to talk with you. God has a way of doing that too. 

God actually started a conversation with us by showing Himself through creation and speaking to us through the Bible. Prayer is our turn to talk back. He’s inviting us to come closer to Him and to know Him and His love. 

So what do we say to God? Anything that is honest. We don’t have to use fancy words. We can say, “Wow! The sky is so beautiful!” Or we can tell Him, “Thank You for macaroni and cheese and for my best friend.” We can tell Him anything, including the wrong things we’ve done, and ask for forgiveness. We might also say, “Help me be loving and not selfish today.”

Whenever we need help, we can go to God. He’s a good, powerful Father! We might see Him make a sick person healthy again or bring us a friend when we’re lonely. 

Does God only hear us when our eyes are closed or when we’re at church? Nope! We can talk to God anytime and anywhere. He always hears us!

 

 

Acts 12

 

Sometimes God answers our prayers in big ways. Take, for example, the apostle Peter. He was put in prison because he’d been teaching people about Jesus. There were chains holding him down and sixteen soldiers guarding the jail, but his Christian friends kept praying that God would save Peter. One night an angel suddenly appeared, and Peter’s chains fell off! The angel led him safely out of jail. God had answered His people’s with an incredible rescue!

 

 

Ask a family member you don’t see often to try something with you. Talk to each other on the phone every day for a week. Afterward, ask yourself, Do I feel closer to this person? You probably will! The more we talk and listen to someone – whether it’s a family member, a friend, or God – the closer relationship we’ll have with them. 

 

 

God, thank You for wanting to be close to me and for listening to me.