Prayer: Chatting With God Like a Best Friend by Wycliffe Bible Translatorsਨਮੂਨਾ

Praying the Bible Back to God

The Bible is God’s letter to everyone, written in a big book made up of smaller books. Inside the pages of His Word, from the first book called Genesis to the last book called Revelation, God is telling you a story. He’s giving you instructions on how to live your life. He’s sharing about His plan for the world and for all the people He’s made — and that includes you! He’s telling you about His Son, Jesus, and the great sacrifice Jesus made so that you — and all people who trust in Him as Savior — can live in heaven one day.

God tells you about who He is in the pages of the Bible, and He tells you who you are. He tells you how you can talk to Him — and also how to not talk to Him.

Wait a minute. How to not talk to God? You read that right. God tells you in His Word what to do when you sometimes feel like you have no words for God; you have no idea what to think or say. When that happens, here’s what to do: Ask His Holy Spirit to pray to God for you instead! Romans 8:26-27 says that if you don’t know what to say when you talk to God, you can ask the Holy Spirit — His Helper — to pray for you.

Have you ever tried to tell a story but couldn’t think of the right words to use? Or maybe you couldn’t quite remember everything that happened. When you don’t know what to pray, you can ask the Holy Spirit to say it for you. God knows what’s inside of your heart and mind, even if you can’t figure out how to say it with words on your own. That’s amazing! You can also use the Bible to pray. Taking verses from the Bible and turning them into a prayer is an easy and wonderful way to talk to God.

For example, you could pray some of the words from Psalm 19:14 like this: “God, I pray that the words I say and the things in my heart are pleasing to You. I love to make You happy!”

Or pray from Psalm 23:4 like this: “God, I’m not going to be afraid. You are with me, so I have nothing to be scared of.”

There are so many verses throughout the Bible that you could use when you pray. Ask an adult to help you find a Scripture verse that might match how you’re feeling. Or better yet, start to memorize Scriptures that you can use in your prayers — verses for when you’re sad, angry, happy, nervous or excited.

The Bible has verses that can help you with anything you’re feeling or experiencing, and those verses can help you find the words you want to say to God. With the help of the Holy Spirit and the Bible, you have a lot of things you can chat about with God!

Think and Pray

• Think of a time when you didn’t know what to pray. What did you do? Ask an adult to tell you about what they do when they don’t know what to pray.
• Choose a few verses that you could write out and place somewhere that you see each day. Then memorize them! Then you’ll have God’s words in your heart the next time you’re scared, worried, happy or excited.