Just Talk to Him Already!
Doctrine:Personal Prayer
Students will learn how to have a personal prayer life and how to make it effective in their daily lives.
Matthew 6:9-13
How are we to pray?
HOOK:I don’t know how to pray.
Prayer is simply a call out to or a conversation with God.Even though it’s easy to talk to others, sometimes we have difficulty talking with God. Still, prayer is our most powerful resource.For the believer, it’s both easy and hard.
LESSON CONTENT:Prayer
I.Why We Should Pray
II.How to Pray (Matthew 6:6-13)
CONNECTION:You can have an amazing prayer life with God.
Are YOU ready to have an amazing prayer life with God? Listen to what God says in His Word (read James 5:16). That means that it accomplishes a lot to pray consistently, passionately, and frequently. With what we have learned today, approaching the Lord in prayer seems a lot easier now, doesn’t it? Now that we know how to pray and what our prayers should entail, how can you involve prayer in your everyday life?
DECISION:Pray every day
Try it out; you will be amazed at how much closer you can get to the Lord by simply praying. Take a few minutes to think about an area of your prayer life that needs improving and write it in your journal pages.Remember, Prayer works with God, just talk to Him!
Page 1
Prayer: A call out to or conversation with God.
- Have copies of a prayer journal page from the WOL Quiet Time to hand out to those that don’t have them.
- Pens or pencils
- A PowerPoint presentation for this lesson is available.
Matthew Henry, the Complete Matthew Henry Commentary on the Bible.
Basil Miller, Men of Faith: George Mueller, Bethany House Publishing
Additional Teacher Resources
Skit guys video: “The Skinny on Prayer”
Consider showing an optional clip from the War Room on the importance of prayer. Prayer Scene 3 minutes
How many of you have someone you would consider your best friend? What makes them your best friend? (Allow students time to answer. Possible answers may include “We’ve spent time together,”“We’ve known each other a long time,”“We do everything together.”)
Imagine what your friendship would be like if you only talked to them once a day and you said the exact same thing every single day. How long do you think that friendship would last? (Wait for responses.) Not very long at all!
Friendships and relationships require conversation or communication. If we don’t talk to each other, we will never get to know one another!
As important as regular communication is with your closest friend, it’s even more important if you’re interested in having a deep, meaningful relationship with God.Just to illustrate how messed up we can sometimes be on this topic of talking with God, let’s look at this short video. [Play the Skit Guys 4:43 minute video, “The Skinny on Prayer.”
You saw some pretty funny stuff in that video, didn’t you? Prayer is simply a call out to or a conversation with God.Even though it’s easy to talk to others, sometimes we have difficulty talking with God. Still, prayer is our most powerful resource.For the believer, it’s both easy and hard. In this study, we are going to see how to pray with real authentic conversation that honors God and helps us grow as believers. We are going to see why and how we should pray.Our goal is to understand that prayer works with God; just talk to Him.
I.Why We Should Pray
Maybe you’re wondering why it’s even important to pray. Maybe you’ve tried but you feel silly talking to the air, or trying to imagine that you are praying to a God you cannot see with your eyes. It could be you’ve quit praying because you sense your requests to God simply bounced right back off the ceiling.
If you identify with these feelings, you’re one of those who need to know why we should pray.
A.We can give our concerns to God in prayer. (Have a student read 1 Peter 5:7.)
That verse says: Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Prayer is a powerful tool. There are situations that come in life in which we have no control or things that we cannot help. GOD CAN help and He cares for you! Yes, YOU. He wants to help you endure your burdens and overcome them. All you need to do is tell Him!
This verse also gives us an antidote for worry! Do you ever worry about anything? What are some of the things you worry about? (Wait for responses.)
Casting all of your care upon Him means to recognize that worrying isn’t going to accomplish anything, other than stressing you out. Instead, turn it over to God and trust that He cares for you and will accomplish His purpose.
B.Prayer covers what we can’t control. (1 Kings 18)
In 1 Kings 18 we see the account of Elijah on Mount Carmel as he confronts the followers of Baal, a fake god.Elijah challenged 450 of these followers who worshipped the fake god to pray to their god and ask for fire from heaven to consume an altar made of wood. They prayed, they shouted, and they even cut themselves, but nothing happened.
In verses 36-38, Elijah prayed to God—the true God (read 1 Kings 18:36-38).Immediately God sent down fire from Heaven and consumed the altar of wood! Clearly that was something that Elijah could not do on his own, but through prayer, God rained fire down from Heaven. Talk about prayer being powerful!
Most likely you won’t be calling down fire, though that would be pretty cool. That’s not how God works today. However, there are things in your life that are beyond your control. For example, you have no control over what questions a teacher may put on a final exam. You can study all night, but you still have no control over what they put on the test. You can pray and ask God to help you remember the material better on the test and get a better grade, but He will only help you remember what you have studied. You can pray for a family member or friend who is dealing with an illness. God wants you to pray for them and He can heal their illness if it is His will.
II.How to Pray (Matthew6:6-13)
To have an effective prayer life we must first learn how to pray. Who better to learn from than God Himself? Let’s see what Matthew 6:6-13 says (have a student read). This is also paralleled in Luke chapter 11 where one of the disciples had been watching Jesus pray and simply asked Him, “Lord, will you teach us how to pray?” Sometimes we can learn the most by just simply asking “How?” Jesus then gave some instructions concerning prayer and taught them what is now called the Lord’s Prayer.Here in verses 6-13 we see everything we need to know concerning how to pray and make it effective. Before you begin, you want to realize that:
A.Personal prayer is between you and God (v. 6).
During Biblical times, it was not uncommon for religious leaders such as the Pharisees and Sadducees to stand outside and scream out what they called prayers. The purpose was not to cry out to God, but rather to simply draw attention to themselves. It was a demonstration of who could be “holier” than the other.
This is NOT a good example of personal prayer. Jesus taught that personal prayer is just that, a personal time between you and God in a quiet place. This could be the same place that you have your quiet time each day, or it could be a specific location where you know you won’t be bothered. The key is to find a quiet place with no distractions. Turn off your cell phones, tablets, computers or anything else that would distract while praying.In this way, you position yourself in the best place to connect with God.
Where could be a place that you could get alone and pray to God? (Allow students to answer. Possible answers may be: bedroom, car, front porch, etc.)
We know that Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. The prophet Daniel prayed by an open window in his chamber (Daniel 6:10). Let me challenge you, find a quiet place that you can go and pray personally with God.
In 2015 there was a movie released called War Room and it was about the importance of having a space to regularly talk to God in prayer. The war room is simply a prayer closet, a quiet place set aside for prayer. When we develop a regular place and time to pray, we will begin to see God regularly answer our prayer requests
Consider showing an optional clip from the War Room on the importance of prayer. Prayer Scene 3 minutes
Jesus says in verse 6 that it will be a very rewarding experience. Remember, prayer works with God; just talk to Him!
As you have this personal conversation between you and God, remember that:
B.Personal prayer should not become a meaninglessritual(vv. 7-8).
Okay, let’s be honest. How many say the quick, five-second prayer before eating? “Lord bless this food, in the name of Jesus, amen,” or maybe the “Lord let us have a good day, in the name Jesus, amen” prayer? We ALL have done it at some point.
One Bible commentator described vain repetitions as “idle babbling over the same words again and again to no purpose.” Saying the same thing over and over again after a time, will cause it to lose meaning. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pray for prayer requests regularly, or repeat something that is dear to your heart.
This means to not lose the meaning and focus behind what we say. Don’t be trite and casual, but realize you are praying to a living God. Just saying a phrase over and over doesn’t mean it will be more effective. Talk to God as if you are talking to a real person because He is a very REAL God.
Again, prayer works with God; just talk to Him! Now in the next verses we see exactly HOW we should pray. First,
C.Personal prayer should start with praise(v. 9).
In verse 9 we see the beginning of the model prayer. This is how we should pattern our prayer life. It starts by praising the name of God. This helps us get into the right mindset when praying. A lot of times all we have are prayer requests or we ask for needs. The word “hallowed” also means holy, reverential. We need to realize to WHOM we are praying. He is the Lord Almighty, Creator of the universe, and the One Who died for our sins. Considering all the attributes, He deserves our praise! So, pause and remember He is God!
D.Personal prayer involves asking God for help in surrendering to His will (v. 10).
There are times when you may struggle with doing what God wants you to do. Maybe He has been tugging on your heart about an unhealthy relationship in which you are involved or about the language you have been using at school. He could be leading you to stand up for someone who is being bullied, or maybe to get involved in your local church. Maybe you have been thinking about getting involved in a ministry that you have never tried before and are feeling nervous. Ask for God’s guidance in prayer!
Prayer can set your mind and heart to be ready for your devotions. Ask God to reveal to you more applications from His Word as you dig into it each day. Ask Him to help you understand the Word. We know that on our own we will struggle in doing the will of God. Before going to the cross, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, simply saying He was surrendering to God’s will. God will direct you in everything you do; all you need to do is go to Him in prayer. See how powerful a personal prayer life can be? Prayer works with God; just talk to Him! In addition to helping us surrender to His will, …
E.Personal prayer includes trusting God to meet your needs(v. 11).
Sometimes we get needs and wants confused. What are some basic needs we have as people? (Allow students to answer. Answers may include food, clothing, shelter, etc.) Now let’s separate needs from wants. When it comes to food, our need is to eat our next meal. Our WANT is to get a filet mignon, a loaded baked potato, mac n cheese, deep fried onion rings, and a six-scoop ice cream sundae. See the difference?
Take clothing. Our NEED is to be clothed, our WANT is for our shoes to be Air Jordans and our clothes to have the latest name brands attached to them.We want a lot of things we don’t need, but everything we need God will give us according to His endless riches!Are you willing to be content asking God only for what you need?
George Mueller was a strong Christian man who started several orphanages. One particular morning, the lady mother of the orphanage told Mr. Mueller that the three hundred orphans were ready for school, but they had nothing to eat. Mueller asked they be sent to the dining room and be prepared for their meal. He then prayed to God and thanked Him for the food they were about to partake, and asked the blessing. George Mueller knew that God would provide their needs. Within minutes there was a knock on the door; it was a local baker who said God had pressed upon his heart to make extra bread that morning for the orphans. Not long after that, a milkman came to the door and told how the wheel to his cart had broken, and that his milk would soon spoil. He asked if the orphanage could use some free milk, and it was just enough for all three hundred orphans! God will take care of our needs through prayer! Just like George Mueller, you have the exact same access to the exact same God who provided exactly what the orphanage needed. George Mueller knew all about how prayer works with God; just talk to Him! Continuing in verse 12 we see that…
F.Personal prayer involves confessing known sin(vv. 12-13a).
One of the keys to making sure you stay close to the Lord is to confess any known sin you have and to ask forgiveness for that sin. (Have a student read or quote 1 John 1:9.)
What is so incredible about our Savior is the fact that He is a God of second chances, and third and fourth and five hundredth chances! Be specific when confessing sin. To simply ask God to “forgive all your sins” all the time can become a vain repetition. Confessing specifically may mean praying something like “Lord, I got angry and yelled at my mom today,” whereas praying generally would sound like “God forgive all the bad stuff.” There is a clear difference.
When we confess and ask forgiveness for our sins, God will forgive us every time! Now this does not mean that we go out and do whatever we want just because we can ask for forgiveness. That would be abusing the grace of God. We can, however, know that when we do mess up (and we will mess up!) God will forgive us every time. That is such an encouragement, and adds even more excitement to our prayer. In addition to forgiveness, we should ask God to help us with our struggles as verse 13 states (deliver us from evil).
Personal struggles can mean a lot of different things. The verse specifically says, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The part that says “deliver us from evil” indicates a current state of the praying person. We will always struggle with some element of sin issues. Jesus is saying to ask God to deliver you from those things, and He will. God helps us with all our struggles. He really has all areas covered.Why? Because prayer works with God; just talk to Him already!As we wrap up, Jesus tells us that…
G.Personal prayer should end with praise(v. 13).
The way we end our prayers should be the same way we begin them, by giving praise to the One Who hears our prayers and answers them. A great way to do this would simply be to thank God for listening to our prayer. We should be thankful that we serve a God who listens to us when we pray and is not silent or unwelcoming. Thank God for Who He is and give Him all glory, honor, and praise—in Jesus’ name amen!