Week 10: How do I talk to God?

We learned in January that the Bible is how God has made Himself known to the world and how He talks with His people. Prayer, then, is how we talk with Him. Any close friendship comes by talking with that person regularly. It’s the same with God. For the next few weeks, we’ll look at what Jesus said when He taught His disciples to pray.

Be ready to read the following passages:

Let’s start it.

Think about the friend you talk to the most. Tell your family what makes that person easy to talk with. What are your favorite topics of conversation?

Let’s learn it.

Before you read Matthew 6:5-13 together, see if any members of your family can say the Lord’s Prayer (also known as the Model Prayer) from memory. We’ll get to know this passage much better this month. Today, we’re going to explore verses 5-9.

Jesus gave His disciples two examples when He taught them how to pray. First, He told them not to follow the bad example of hypocrites – people whose actions don’t match what they say they believe. These hypocrites prayed long, loud prayers when they went to their place of worship because they wanted other people to hear them and praise them. Jesus didn’t say that it’s wrong to pray in public, but He cautioned His disciples to remember that prayer is talking with God, not a speech to get the attention of others.

Jesus then gave His disciples a right pattern to follow by praying a model prayer. The first part of the Lord’s model prayer reminds us that we’re talking with our Father in Heaven. Conversations with the Lord are different from conversations with other friends because we’re talking to the Creator of the universe! Any conversation with God should start by recognizing that He is great and that His name should be respected above every other name. This lesson from Christ teaches us the importance of taking time to praise God for who He is before we ask Him to do anything. Read Psalm 89:1-15 and look for the praiseworthy names and qualities of God in this passage.

Isn’t it amazing that the Lord God Almighty wants to talk with us as friends? Whether you pray in front of friends at church or alone in your room – prayer is between you and the one true God. He doesn’t mind if you stutter, and you don’t have to use big words. The Lord just wants you to talk with Him honestly. He already knows exactly what you need, what you think, and how you feel before you say the first word of a prayer. Even so, it’s important to pray because it helps us learn to depend on God and to trust Him.

Let’s discuss it.

  1. Why do you think Jesus taught His closest friends to pray?
  2. What did Psalm 89:1-15 teach you or remind you about God?
  3. How would praising Him for that character quality when you start to pray change how you pray?

Let’s do it.

Most of us spend more time asking God for help or for things that we want than we spend praising Him. How would you feel if your close friends only talked to you when they wanted something from you? Don’t misunderstand; God wants us to ask Him to meet our needs – as we’ll talk about later in Matthew 6. However, a healthy relationship with God is built by praying the way Jesus taught His followers to pray.

Close this week’s devotion by practicing prayers of praise together. To get started, open your Bibles to Psalm 89 and take turns praising God for the names and qualities found there. Make a special effort to talk only about God in this prayer time (for example: “I praise you, Lord, because you are faithful”). As you begin to notice His character traits throughout the Bible, you’ll be able to praise God regularly for who He is – just as Jesus taught.