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

Praying Whenever, However and Wherever

You’re a kid, so you might have a lot of things you wonder about — and that’s awesome! Some things you might wonder are, “What does it mean to pray? Who am I even talking to when I pray? Why does it matter if I pray or not?” Prayer can feel like a hard thing, but it’s actually not. Or at least, it shouldn’t be. “Prayer” is just a fancy word for talking with God! He’s your heavenly Father who knows you best and loves you best, so it’s great to learn more about how to talk to Him.

You probably talk to lots of people every day, but talking to God is different because you can’t see Him. It’s hard to know when He’s talking back to you because you don’t hear His voice the same way you hear your family’s and friends’ voices.

But prayer is important and special because you can talk to God whenever you want. And your prayers can actually change things! God loves hearing from you, and He wants to answer you. Sometimes He’ll answer like You ask, and sometimes He answers differently because He knows what you need even better than anyone else does!

Did you know that you can pray about anything and everything? It’s true! God loves you and cares about what’s important to you. You can pray for yourself and for people you know, but you can also pray for people you don’t know — like people all around the world who need the Bible in their own language.

There are lots of different ways to pray. Maybe you think you need to fold your hands, bow your head and close your eyes when you talk to God. Or maybe you think that you can only pray when you’re asking God for something or if you’re thanking Him for something He’s done. You can pray those ways, but you can also talk to God whenever, however and wherever you want!

In the next few days, you’ll learn more about prayer — what it is, what it can be and what the Bible has to say about talking with God. Since God is your friend, talking to Him can be as easy for you as talking with your own friends. When you talk with your friends, you get to know them better; just like that, prayer is a great way to get to know God — our ultimate best friend! — better and grow closer to Him.

Think and Pray:

• What does prayer look like in your family? Do you find yourselves praying at specific times of the day like before meals and at bedtime, or do you talk to God throughout the day?
• What’s one simple way you can talk to God more each day? After all, the Bible says to “never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). What might that look like in your life?