Prayer lesson (28/2)
You all have the prayer lesson in your book. We will do it this Sunday. Click here to download the teachers guide. You must read it as your preparation. It is 13 page long so start early. Teachers always learn the most from every lesson. It is worth it. =] The pdf also contains a Quiz (page 1) you can use as a hook.
At the end of the lesson I hope the youth will take away 2 important things. 1) they should understand that prayer is simply talking to God. 2) they should be encouraged that God does listen and answer prayer.
How do you think God feels when a person is always trying to "take advantage" of him?
As a young child, I remember there were many toys that I wanted. Often I would ask God for them... but I seldom got really awesome presents because my parents were not the type to spoil me with expensive things that we couldn't afford. I believe many of the youth will have shared my experience of asking God for something but not getting what they wanted. This can unconsciously lead to the perception that God isn't there, He doesn't answer prayer, or maybe He doesn't care. What we don't realize is that we often fail to treat God as a person. Instead we treat God like a genie, who must give us what we want, or a slot machine, which gives us what we want sometimes if we're lucky. We sin against God and don't even realize it.
James says when we ask we don't receive because we we have self-seeking motives. God does answer prayer. Try to share you own experiences.
OK. Now you've told your youth that prayer works. Maybe you've told them that when you talk to God, God talks back, and they think you are crazy. They want to know how you do it. That's what the disciples wanted to know too (Matthew 6: 5-17). We can't do better than Jesus so we will imitate Him teach them the Lord's prayer.
When you go through the Lord's prayer, it is good to clarify... the difference between a formula and format. They know from chemistry if you mix the right elements together you will always get the same result because it is defined by a formula. Prayer is not a formula. We should not expect God to answer our prayer just because we pray in a certain way. The Lord's prayer and other prayer models are more of a format...a general guide or structure to go by, just like you have "Hello" and "Goodbye" in your conversation. But we are free to choose to follow or not to follow it.
Of course Jesus probably had more to say than just repeating this long and complex prayer over and over again each time to talked to God. You can ask them to read Luke 5:16 and imagine what Jesus prayed about and why Jesus practiced times of praying alone. Simple prayers mean a lot to God. You can close by taking turns to pray and each tell God something that is on their minds or hearts.
At the end of the lesson I hope the youth will take away 2 important things. 1) they should understand that prayer is simply talking to God. 2) they should be encouraged that God does listen and answer prayer.
How do you think God feels when a person is always trying to "take advantage" of him?
As a young child, I remember there were many toys that I wanted. Often I would ask God for them... but I seldom got really awesome presents because my parents were not the type to spoil me with expensive things that we couldn't afford. I believe many of the youth will have shared my experience of asking God for something but not getting what they wanted. This can unconsciously lead to the perception that God isn't there, He doesn't answer prayer, or maybe He doesn't care. What we don't realize is that we often fail to treat God as a person. Instead we treat God like a genie, who must give us what we want, or a slot machine, which gives us what we want sometimes if we're lucky. We sin against God and don't even realize it.
James says when we ask we don't receive because we we have self-seeking motives. God does answer prayer. Try to share you own experiences.
OK. Now you've told your youth that prayer works. Maybe you've told them that when you talk to God, God talks back, and they think you are crazy. They want to know how you do it. That's what the disciples wanted to know too (Matthew 6: 5-17). We can't do better than Jesus so we will imitate Him teach them the Lord's prayer.
When you go through the Lord's prayer, it is good to clarify... the difference between a formula and format. They know from chemistry if you mix the right elements together you will always get the same result because it is defined by a formula. Prayer is not a formula. We should not expect God to answer our prayer just because we pray in a certain way. The Lord's prayer and other prayer models are more of a format...a general guide or structure to go by, just like you have "Hello" and "Goodbye" in your conversation. But we are free to choose to follow or not to follow it.
Of course Jesus probably had more to say than just repeating this long and complex prayer over and over again each time to talked to God. You can ask them to read Luke 5:16 and imagine what Jesus prayed about and why Jesus practiced times of praying alone. Simple prayers mean a lot to God. You can close by taking turns to pray and each tell God something that is on their minds or hearts.
Cheers
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