We had a great evening in THP Students tonight as we began discussing prayer. To start off, we played “Two Truths and a Lie.” After a few rounds, the students noted the fact that this wasn’t a fair game because most of our students had a sibling in the room. They knew the answers because they had a closer relationship with each other. This aspect of the relationship became a key portion of tonight’s conversation.
The Lesson
Ask: Why do you pray?
Many will say that they pray to bring comfort or happiness to their lives. Some pray out of “duty” because it’s what you’re supposed to do. We are often told to pray for “X amount of time a day” or pray in a specific way. Over the ages, people have structured prayer in various preset ways. Not that set prayers are bad, but when the prayer goes from a genuine expression of your heart towards the Father to just a thing to check off your list, it becomes dead.
This is such a sad way to look at prayer since it is the primary way of communicating with God. We feel His presence and see him moving in our lives in various ways, but prayer is truly the primary way to connect and communicate with God.
Ask: In a typical week, how do you stay in touch with your friends? (Write the different ways on a board. You may get answers like Social Media, Texting, Phone Calls, Video Chatting, and yes… believe it or not, face-to-face communication)
Ask: Why do we go to such lengths to keep in touch with our friends? (Because we want to have a healthy relationship with them!)
God is the same way with us. He WANTS you to talk to Him! He longs to hear your voice; He wants to hear your point of view on life. He loves you so much that He wants to know everything about you. Yes, God is omniscient and knows everything already, but he wants you to open your heart and share with Him. He wants something so special and divine and beautiful, something that He has created and placed into all of creation… relationship. He wants a healthy and thriving relationship with you.
Read Revelation 3:20: “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”
Here we have Jesus initiating the relationship by knocking at the door of our hearts, but it is up to us to be active and open the door. We must allow Him in so that we can start that healthy relationship.
Ask: Have you ever met a person and you had an opinion on the type of individual that they were but later discovered they were something entirely different? For example, at first, you thought they were quiet and boring, but after you got to know them, they were super funny. Or how about someone you thought was big and scary, and as it turns out, they were the nicest person in the room? (Have students give their own stories)
Ask: Name someone famous you know a lot about. Tell us a few things about them.
What we’ve listed are facts about these people. But does that really mean we know them? Even watching stars on “reality TV” like The Bachelor or on Social media doesn’t make us experts on who they are. You can’t really know a person’s heart unless you spend time with them. Our times of prayer allow us to get to know God’s heart. It allows us the opportunity to share our hearts with him.
Read Ps 63:1-8 (NASU)
O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 4 So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul is satisfied as with marrow and atnesss, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. 6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, 7 For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
Here, the Psalmist David shares his desire to have intimacy with the Lord and the Fruit of it. Knowing the Father more has allowed him to see God’s power and glory (vs 2), His loving kindness causes David praise God and bless Him (vs3-4). He finds fulfillment in knowing God (vs5). Out of his relationship with God, he’s found God to be his protector in the darkest of times, and this gives him the strength to sing in joy. (vs 7)
Read James 4:8 (ESV)
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Here James is declaring to the church that as they strive to be closer to God that God will come closer to them. This is how a healthy relationship works. As a relationship grows you develop trust and understanding. As your relationship with God grows you find yourself more able to come to Him with your needs and desires. You find that you have more peace and comfort when you spend time with Him.
Challenge: Try to pray this week, even for five simple minutes daily. Try to spend more time with Him.
Adventures in Student Ministry 