Ask: What prayers do you first remember learning as a child? After responses, point out that many of the themes of these prayers are also themes in the Lord’s Prayer. (For example: “God is Great, God is Good” gives thanks for God’s daily provision of food). Call attention to the words of the children’s prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Share that the prayer was first published in 1727 in Thomas Fleet’s New England Primer. Ask: Why do you think this prayer has remained in use for so many years? After responses, share that these prayers are simple Christian prayers that teach children that they can depend upon God and go to Him in prayer. Discuss:
Share that, in Pursuing PRAYER, Penny Cooke described the purpose of prayer this way: “Prayer is a privileged invitation from a Holy God We get to crawl up in His lap and talk to Him. How awesome is that? He wants to have a relationship with us. As a result, He meets our spiritual and emotional needs. Isn’t that precisely what we’re all looking for? We often look for people and things to meet those needs, but we were made to need Him. He is our Creator and the greatest satisfaction for our longing souls. He fills the God-shaped hole in all our hearts” (p. 9).
Discuss:
Share this true story: A young lady was a part of a mission leadership team with mostly seminary students. The prayers of the seminary students seemed so lofty, so magnificent to her, that she became reluctant to pray. However, when she expressed her simple, heartfelt prayers to God, the others would pick up those prayers and continue them on. She realized that prayers are magnificent not because of the words used, but the heartfelt feelings that are expressed in them.
Ask: How could your prayers begin to show the heart of who you are in Christ? Suggest that sometimes the simplest prayers can be the most meaningful, and the most personal. Lead learners in prayer, asking them to take turns offering short, simple prayers that point out their dependence upon God.