Talking to God

Prayer is talking to God

Application:

To teach teens the importance of prayer and how they can pray.

Materials Needed:

A whiteboard.
Dry-wipe pens.
For each teen, copies of the Life Auction sheet below.
Bibles.
Pens or pencils.

Click here for the Life Auction sheet

Text:

John 16:23-24).

"I tell you the truth, My Father will give you whatever you ask in My Name.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS!
Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." (John 16:23-24).

Activity Programme:

Divide the group into teams of three to five teens and have at least five teams for the Life Auction. Give each group auction bidding sheets to complete. After the teams finish their sheets, begin the bidding for each item with the leader acting as the auctioneer.

After the auction is over, get the teams to discuss and evaluate the real spiritual value (if any!) of the items that the group bought on the auction.

Let a member from each team give feedback as to the item(s) they bought and why they chose it/them. Did they agree on each item, or in hindsight what would their team have rather spent their money on?

What is Prayer?

Pose the following questions to the teams and after a few minutes get feedback from the teams. (Prayer is communicating and talking to God).

What is prayer?
To whom do we pray?
Why do we pray?

Prayer Hinderances

Things that prevent us from praying and/or receiving answers to our prayers include the following:

Unforgiven sin in your heart (Psalm 66:18).
Unable or unwilling to forgive others (Mark 11:25).
Discouraged by unanswered prayers.
The devil discouraging you from praying.
You don't see prayer as being important.
Laziness or lack of discipline.
Not sure of what you should say or ask.
Noise and/or distractions.

Let the teams discuss these hinderances and then get a member to write a problem that they face when praying on the whiteboard . Where necessary, remind the group that God can answer, "Yes", "Not Now - it's not the right time", or "No".

After the list of hinderances to praying and/or receiving answers has been completed, ask the teams to suggest ways in which these can be overcome and what helps them to pray and receive answers to their prayers.

Ways of Praying:

Read the following Scripture and then suggest to the ways of praying to the teens.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

Look In: to your heart and confess every sin.
Look Up: to God and thank and praise Him that He is God, and for the prayers He has answered, and for loving you dearly.
Look Around: and pray for the sick, and for your family, friends, church, teachers, for those in authority and for the police (1 Timothy 2:1-6).
Look Back: and thank God for your life and Jesus who saved you.
Look Forward: and ask God for what you need, to lead and guide you, for strength to please Him, and thank Him for what He is doing in your life, and for listening to you and that He will answer your prayers.

Closure:

Get the teams to pray together for each other and for specific needs, and especially that God will work in the hearts and lives of unsaved friends. Remind them to use what they have learnt about prayer and to use it daily in their private Quiet-times.

God Bless!