Who Does God Listen To?

Who Does God Listen To?

Bible Blast: Read Matthew 6:5-8

When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Matthew 6:7

It’s easy to feel intimidated about praying out loud, isn’t it? I know people who pray really long prayers that make me think, Maybe my prayers should be long, too. I know people who pray with flowery words almost like poetry, and I think, I wish I could pray so beautifully. And I’ve heard people pray loudly, and I think, They really mean business! Maybe I should pray louder!

Everyone has different styles of communicating with God. We are all unique, and God likes to hear all of our different voices in prayer.

Jesus isn’t concerned with how many words you say or how loudly you say them, he just wants you to talk from your heart. He even gave an example in Matthew 6:9-13. We call it the Lord’s Prayer.

“Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

After each line of this simple prayer, talk to your mom about what it means. Copy each line below onto a separate piece of paper and write down what you believe Jesus was saying about how we should pray.

“Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.”

“May your Kingdom come soon.”

“May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

“Give us today the food we need.”

“Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”

“Don’t let us yield to temptation.”

“Rescue us from the evil one.”

Girl Gab: God isn’t impressed with how we pray. He’s more concerned with why we pray. Applying what you learned from the Lord’s Prayer, pray to God about your day.