Youth devotions on prayer

Prayer

Six ways to grow your prayer life in 2019

Grow your time with God with these practical tips and ideas.

Prayer

Top Bible verses about prayer

Here are our top 10 scriptures on prayer—including free wallpapers!

Prayer

Why Pray?

Three reasons you should pray…and pray often!

Prayer

Four ways to care for the persecuted church

How (and why!) you should show your love for persecuted Christians

Prayer

Why you should start a prayer journal

Do you struggle to make time with God a priority? You’ll love these tips!

Prayer

Learn to pray Jesus’ way

How to use the Lord’s prayer to deepen your time with God.

Prayer

Four ingredients for praying with confidence.

(most people forget at least one of these)

Prayer

“Dear God, please make me rich”

What’s the problem with praying for material wealth?

Prayer

How the Lord’s Prayer can help us pray

Jesus taught his disciples a simple prayer that you can use every day.

Prayer

Why bother praying?

If God knows everything already, then what difference does prayer make?

Prayer

How prayer journals help me focus

Many of us find praying hard, but writing down your thoughts can help!

Prayer

Unanswered prayer

How to know, that your prayers have been heard.

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DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS LESSON

Use this quick lesson to help your youth ministry discover the importance of prayer.

Say: A couple of weeks ago while I was on a business trip, I was talking on my cell phone with my wife (yes, they do more than send text messages!).

I had just received some great news and was excited to share it with her.

Suddenly, I realized that she hadn’t said anything for several seconds.

I looked at my screen and it said that we still had a connection.

I said her name several times and waited for a response but did not get one.

I was frustrated because I was pretty sure that she was still on the line, but for some reason my conversation was only working one-way.

After hanging up and trying again, we were able to resume the conversation, but later I got to thinking about my experience and realized that prayer can sometimes feel the same way.

I know that God can hear me when I pray, but when His voice feels silent in my life, I sometimes wonder if the connection only works one-way.

Read 1 Kings 19:11-13

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain, ” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave…”

Say: In this story, Elijah was searching for God. First, he looked for Him in a windstorm, then a powerful fire, but God was not in either of those things.

This was a very significant experience for Elijah because God had established a pattern of appearing in these ways over hundreds of years when communicating with His people.

God appeared in a burning bush to Moses in Exodus 3 and in billows of smoke on Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19 with winds that shook the ground.

Despite these patterns, Elijah does not feel God’s presence until he hears the faintest of whispers.

Do you ever find yourself expecting God’s voice to come in windstorms and explosive fireworks?

I know that when I am desperately seeking God in prayer, I most often want to hear or see His response in very obvious, visible ways.

If I am sick, I pray for healing and want to feel better immediately.

If I need help with a problem, I want a clear solution.

If I am in emotional pain, I want God make the pain go away.

Sometimes, though, I feel the same way I did during my dropped call with my wife.

I talk to God in prayer and feel and see no change.

It is in those moments that I need to remember that God’s voice sometimes comes in a gentle whisper.

He doesn’t always work in dramatic ways.

Sometimes it is in the little things that God moves the most.

I might not feel healthy right away, but He may nudge me toward the help that I need.

A solution may not present itself to fix my problems, but He can use those problems to make me stronger.

The pain may not always go away immediately, but He sometimes uses that pain to remind of all that He has blessed me with.

These are just a few tangible ways that God speaks through a whisper.

How are you looking for God to respond to your prayers?

Maybe the connection hasn’t been lost.

Perhaps you are just not listening carefully enough.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How has God spoken or moved in your life in a way that seems like a powerful wind or fire?

How has God spoken or moved in your life in a way that seems like a gentle whisper?

What things in your life can make it difficult for you to hear God’s whisper?

Why do you think that God uses a whisper sometimes instead of a dramatic experience?

DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS LESSON

If you liked this lesson, you will enjoy this… 

Youth Group Game on Prayer

ministrytoyouth.com

A Prayer for Hanging On
By Sharon Jaynes

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV). 

Just because you don’t see God working does not mean that He isn’t. Jesus said, “My Father is always at work” (John 5:17). The writer of Hebrews notes: “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35). 

Today, you might be on lap number seven and not even know it. Joshua told them to march around Jericho, but he didn’t tell them how many times they were going to have to do it. He just said to “march forward” and “remain silent.”

Supposed they had stopped on day six saying, “This is ridiculous. I’m not feelin’ it. Not one stone has fallen to the ground. I don’t see any progress. Those folks are probably in there laughing their heads off. I’m going home.” They would have missed the blessing.

I wonder how many times I have missed the blessing because I stopped too soon. Perhaps you’ve wondered:

· How much longer will I have to wait until God brings my prodigal home?
· How much longer will I have to struggle with this unbelieving husband?
· How much longer will I have to endure this dead-end job?
· How much longer will I have to go without a job?
· How many more laps will I have to walk around Jericho before the walls come tumbling down and I can take hold of my Promised Land?

I don’t know the answer to the question of how much longer, but I do know this, tomorrow could be the final lap. Don’t give up too soon.

Can I tell you something? Sometimes I get tired of writing books, posting devotions, and crafting blogs. But as I sit down to the keyboard, I realize that something I say might be just what someone needs to take that last lap around her walled up promise. So I write. And then someone has the courage and sustenance to take one more lap.

Keep going, my friend!

Let’s Pray

Lord, sometimes I just get tired of trying. Tired of hanging on. Tired of believing for a miracle. Fill me with Your power to persevere. I’ll take the next step and believe for the next day. I will not give up!
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Editor’s Note: Content taken from the Girlfriends in God devotional, “Don’t Stop Too Soon,” written by Sharon Jaynes. You can read that piece in full here. All rights reserved.

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