Prayer

Parents,

Like having a secret clubhouse or a favorite corner of the playground, God wants to have a special place–a hideout—with each one of us. The big surprise when it comes to prayer is that where we pray matters to God. As revelatory as this may be, your goal this week is to take whatever time is needed to understand where your students are when it comes to the topic of prayer. Have they ever prayed before? What do they think about prayer? Do they have misconceptions or frustrations holding them back from praying? Let this week’s conversation open up some of your group’s struggles and frustrations. Don’t feel the need to give a solution right away. Prayer is complicated and difficult to talk about. It’s important to create a space for your students to feel comfortable being honest about a difficult topic.

Create meaningful conversation.

1. What are your first memories of prayer? Did you learn a formula prayer? Who taught it to you?
2. Before tonight, what would you say if someone were to ask you, “Why do you pray?”
3. What frustrates you about prayer?
4. Would you say you pray (1) Too much; (2) Just about the right amount; or (3) Not as much as you “should”? (It’s important to remember there is no “should” here. God doesn’t give us a number of times to pray each day.)
5. When you don’t pray, what keeps you from praying? (Maybe things never seem to work out the way you want, maybe it feels like no one is listening, maybe you don’t know what to say, maybe you run out of time, etc.)
6. Where do you most typically pray? (In your car, on the bus, in the hallway, on the field)** If you have a student who already has a special place to pray where they are alone with God, you might ask him or her to share about that experience. Why did they choose their special place, and what difference do they think it makes?
7. Read Matthew 6:6. Why do you think Jesus taught his disciples to go to a special place to pray? How do you think the places you pray affect the way you pray?
8. God wants a relationship with you more than anything. If we keep this big picture in mind, how would this affect the way you approach prayer?
9. Where is a place that you can be intentional about spending time with God this coming week?

In Him,

Pastor Mark