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Transcript of Prayer Practice for Kids-printultimatebundles7645-2016uhomb.s3.amazonaws.com/PDF/Faith/Prayer... ·...
Prayer Practice
for Kids
Copyright © 2015 by Rachel Ramey. All rights reserved. Except as
permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of
this publication may be reproduced or distributed, without the prior
written permission of the author.
Cartoons (including the cover cartoon) used under license from
iClipArt.com
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright ©
1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents................................................................7
Introduction.........................................................................9
Challenges.........................................................................11
Getting Started & Tools................................................11
Build Up (Time)...........................................................23
WHAT to Pray..............................................................25
Praying All the Time....................................................35
Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone/Being Bold..........39
Getting to Know God...................................................49
Appendix: Prayers Other People Prayed..........................55
Psalm 141:3..................................................................55
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi......................................55
Take My Life and Let it Be..........................................56
Psalm 51:10-12............................................................57
About the Author..............................................................59
Introduction
Do you ever wonder how to pray? Do you think that you
could never spend a long time…like an hour…praying?
Prayer isn’t complicated – praying is just talking to God!
But we can all learn to pray better. Just like we can
practice different skills to communicate better with our
parents, brothers and sisters, or friends, we can learn
different tools for praying better.
So this book is about practicing prayer. It’s full of
challenges that will help you learn to interact with God in
different ways – as a friend, as a father, and as the all-
powerful Creator. You’ll learn some tools to help you pray
for longer stretches of time, for a greater variety of things,
and with more meaning.
Some of these challenges are more, well, challenging than
others. Some are serious. Some are silly. But when you’re
done I hope you’ll feel comfortable talking to God at any
time, in any situation!
I’ve divided the challenges up into categories to make it
easier for you to find what you’re looking for. Feel free to
do the challenges all in order, or to skip around from
section to section. I do recommend that you do the very
first challenge in the book first, and that you use the
challenges within a particular section in order. (They build
on each other and get a little harder as you go, so you
probably don’t want to do the last challenge in a section
before the first one in that section.)
If you’re reading this on a Kindle, you might want to
highlight each challenge as you do it so you know which
ones you’ve tried.
Challenges
Getting Started & Tools
1. Pray that God will teach you to pray.
It’s always a good idea to start something new by asking
for God’s help! Did you know that even the twelve
disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray? (Read
Luke 11:1.)
2. List five things to praise God for.
Over the years, people have created various "templates" or
"patterns" for praying. My favorite is the one my sisters
and I learned as children from what we called “the Ryan
book” (Adventure at Hidden Haven Ranch). This pattern
teaches a prayer topic for each finger on one's hand, in the
following order: Praise, Thanks, Confession, Intercession,
Requests.
Praise is telling God something good about Himself. Like,
“God, You are powerful,” or, “You’re so good to me.”
Today, write down five things you can PRAISE God for.
3. List five things to thank God for.
Today, write down five things you are THANKFUL for.
4. Confess your sin to God.
The third prayer category is CONFESSION. Sin is falling
short of the standard God set. Confession is admitting
your sin. How have you sinned today (or yesterday, if you
are reading this first thing in the morning)? Confess your
sin(s) to God. Be specific.
5. Intercede for someone/something.
The fourth prayer category is INTERCESSION.
Intercession is praying for someone else’s needs (not your
own). Choose a need you know about, and intercede for
this need.
6. Make your own requests of God.
REQUESTS come last. These are the things you want to
ask God for, for yourself, and usually aren’t difficult to
think of! What do you need to ask of God, for yourself?
7. Start a prayer request journal.
You might not be familiar with the idea of a prayer request
journal. A prayer request journal is simply a place to write
down what you're praying for and the ways God answers
your prayers. It’s good to include the date you started
praying for something and the date you saw God’s answer.
Looking back at how God has answered your prayers helps
encourage you during hard times. It doesn’t have to be
fancy – just a notebook will do.
8. Pray an ACTS prayer.
Another pattern many people use for prayer is “ACTS.”
This stands for Adoration (praise), Confession,
Thanksgiving, Supplication (intercession and requests,
wrapped up in one).
A. _________________________________________
C. _________________________________________
T. _________________________________________
S. _________________________________________
9. Create a weekly prayer schedule.
It’s definitely okay to pray for anything on any day. But
sometimes my list gets long and I have a hard time getting
to everything I want to pray about. It’s helpful for me to
divide my prayer requests up into categories - for instance,
Sunday – church, Monday – government, Tuesday –
friends, Wednesday – missions, Thursday – immediate
family (the people who live in my house), Friday –
extended family (aunts and uncles and people like that),
Saturday – myself.
You might find it helpful to make a similar schedule. You
can use it all the time, or you can just refer to it on days
when you’re drawing a blank and can’t think of what to
pray about.
10. Make a prayer book or box.
Using the weekly prayer schedule you made in challenge
#9, make a "prayer book" to use for reminders. There are
lots of ways you can do this – you can use a flip chart, a
loose-leaf notebook, a hardbound journal, a box of index
cards, etc. (My kids like index cards the best.)
You don't have to fill it up today; just create the sections
(one for each day of the week, plus an extra one for “every
day.”
11. Fill the first section of your prayer book/box.
Today, fill the first section of your prayer journal. You’re
probably wondering what you should fill it with! Prayer
reminders. Different things serve as reminders for
different prayer needs.
Photos of friends and family can help you remember who
to pray for. A picture of your church building can remind
you to pray for your church. Maps are good for missions.
So are prayer cards if your missionaries offer them. I like
to use government websites or websites meant for sending
emails to Congress to find pictures of our government
leaders (like the President, our Senators, and our state
governor).
You can use little drawings to help you remember certain
things, too. For example, the phrase “showers of
blessings” is familiar to me, so a drawing of an umbrella
helps me remember to thank God for my blessings.
Use whatever images help you remember the things you
want to pray for.
12. Fill the second section of your prayer
book/box.
13. Fill the third section of your prayer
book/box.
14. Fill the fourth section of your prayer
book/box.
15. Fill your fifth prayer book/box section.
16. Fill the sixth section of your prayer
book/box.
17. Fill the seventh section of your prayer
book/box.
18. Fill the “every day” section of your prayer
book/box.
You have created and filled seven sections of your prayer
reminder book (or card box). Today, add one final section:
things you want to pray for every day.
19. Pray in writing.
Basically, the idea is to write a letter to God. (Of course
you won’t be mailing it, though.)
20. Think about the words you use.
Sometimes people use weird or fancy words and phrases
when they pray – things they would only say if they’re
praying. Maybe you’ve heard somebody pray like this,
and you thought, “He doesn’t usually talk like that!”
Or maybe you’ve heard people add “extra” words when
they pray. (Like “just.” Lots of people say “just” a lot in
their prayers where it isn’t necessary. It’s only an added
word.) We don’t need to add “fluff” phrases to “fill up”
our prayers, or talk funny. We can talk to God just like we
would talk to a family member or human friend.
Pay attention to whether you use any weird or extra words
in your prayer, and try to talk simply to God instead of
working at sounding fancy or formal.
21. Get rid of anything that keeps God from
listening to your prayers.
Sometimes people teach that God always listens to
everybody’s prayers. According to the Bible, that’s not
really true. He’s God; He knows everything. So He
always knows when you’re praying. But certain things can
make it like He’s not “paying attention.”
“One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even
his prayer is an abomination.” – Pr. 28:9
“When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes
from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not
hear. Your hands are full of blood.” – Is. 1:15
These verses talk about people who are
disobedient/rebellious. (The second one, from Isaiah,
makes more sense when you read the whole chapter it’s
part of.) That doesn’t mean that if you slip up and disobey
your mom, God never listens to your prayers anymore. It
does mean that people whose whole lives are built on
disobeying God have no guarantee that God will listen
when they talk to Him. (Think about it: would you want to
hold a conversation with your enemy? It’s different,
though, if they’re talking to Him about not being His
enemy anymore.)
So what’s today’s challenge? Think about your own life.
If most of your time is spent rebelling against God, you
probably need to fix that before you can talk to Him about
anything else! If you’re trying your best to follow Him,
that’s great! It’s still good to remember when you do mess
up (which you will; we all do) to confess that sin to Him
and ask for His help to do better next time.
22. Meditate.
“I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your
ways.” – Ps. 119:15
What does it mean to “meditate”? Meditation is focusing
your mind on a single "target" – in this case, a verse or
passage of Scripture, or something you know to be true
because the Bible says so. Whenever you find your mind
chasing other things, direct it back to the thing you chose
to meditate on.
Today, practice meditating. Pick something – a Bible
verse is the easiest place to start – and choose to think
about that verse today whenever your mind isn’t busy with
other things (like schoolwork).
(It’s always important for Christians to only meditate on
things God has told us are true.)
23. Watch for answers to prayer.
Read back over the prayer request journal you started in
#7. Have you seen answers to any of these prayers?
Thank God for the answers! If not, don't give up. Some
things just take time.
Build Up (Time)
Praying for an hour can seem overwhelming if you’ve
never done it before! The trick is to not start with an hour.
Instead, build up slowly. If you’ve never prayed before,
you might have a hard time with five minutes at first. (If
you’ve been praying for a while, that might be a
comfortable amount of time.) Try gradually longer periods
of time and build up to a whole hour. Most of the
challenges in this section simply help you build up the
length of your prayer in this manner. Feel free to do each
one as many times as you need to, only moving on when
you’re ready.
24. Pray for 5 minutes.
25. Pray for 10 minutes.
26. Pray for 15 minutes.
27. Pray for 20 minutes.
28. Pray for 30 minutes.
29. Pray for 45 minutes.
30. Pray for an hour.
31. Get up early.
Sometimes the hard thing about spending more time
praying is that we run out of time. So try getting up half
an hour earlier than you usually do, and using the time to
pray. (If you want to make this an ongoing thing, you can
learn to get up earlier gradually. First set the alarm five
minutes earlier, then ten minutes, and so on until it’s as
early as you want.)
WHAT to Pray
32. Pray a prayer from Scripture.
Choose one of the prayers in the Bible and pray it. The
prayer in Colossians 1 is a good one. You can pray this
prayer for yourself or for a friend or someone in your
family.
33. Pray an acrostic. (#1)
Do you have a hard time thinking of things to pray
for/about? Try an acrostic or an alphabet prayer. An
acrostic is a kind of poem where each line starts with a
letter from a certain word. (It doesn’t have to rhyme.)
Like this:
Praise God,
Raise your requests to Him,
And wait for Him to say
Yes.
That was not an excellent example, but hopefully it will
give you the idea! You can use a similar method to pray
when your mind is blank. Thank the Lord for something
that starts with each letter in a word of your choice. Or
you can just use the whole alphabet – thank Him for
something that starts with A, then something that starts
with B, and so on. (There is, of course, no "magic
formula" here; it's just to get you thinking.)
34. Pray an acrostic. (#2)
Using the same acrostic or alphabet-style process you used
last time, pray for a need that begins with each letter. (Try
to remember the needs of others, rather than just yourself.)
35. Use word association.
Flip through the dictionary and choose a random word. (It
will help if you pick one that you know what it means!)
Using word association, form a prayer. That means to
use the word you found in the dictionary to pray for
something it made you think of. You can pray any type of
prayer – a praise, thanks, a need, confession…
36. Remind God of His promises.
You might have heard people talk about "reminding God
of his Word.” Several men of God in the Bible did this –
like Moses (See Num. 14:11-24, especially verses 17-18.),
Nehemiah (See Neh. 1.), and the Psalmist. Choose a
promise from the Bible and “pray it back” to God. (Like,
“God, You said that ________,” or, “God, thank You that
You promised to ________.”)
37. Copy someone.
It’s not okay to copy someone else’s work when you’re
doing a school assignment or writing a book! But it’s okay
to learn to pray better by copying someone who already
knows what he’s doing. So today, use someone else's
words: find a prayer someone else has prayed, and make it
your prayer. (There are some examples at the end of this
book. Many Psalms work well, too.)
38. “Prayer walk” your neighborhood.
Take a walk through your neighborhood, and pray for the
people who live in each house as you pass it. (You don't
have to pray out loud. God knows your thoughts.)
Make sure it’s okay with your parents for you to walk
wherever you’re walking, before you go.
39. Pick a neighbor.
Choose a particular neighbor to pray for. (If you choose a
neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus yet, one thing you can
pray for is his salvation.) Pray every day this week for the
neighbor you picked.
40. Ride through town.
Ride through your town (if you can get your parents’ help),
or picture your town as though you were riding through it.
Let the buildings and other places help you think of who
and/or what you can pray for. Maybe shops will remind
you to pray for the local business owners’ businesses to do
well. The fire stations might prompt you to thank God for
the firefighters and EMTs, and ask Him to keep them safe.
City Hall might make you think of praying that the people
who run your city will be wise. What else can you think
of?
41. Cast your burdens on the Lord.
Write down the things that worry you. (These are the
things that are “burdens” to you – things that weigh you
down.) To symbolize giving these things to God, destroy
the list.
(Dissolve it in water, have a parent help you burn it, etc.
Be safe, though, and smart! Don’t burn anything without
adult permission & supervision and don’t go clogging up
your drains or anything. I don’t want your mom or dad to
get mad at me, and I really don’t want you to hurt
yourself!)
42. Notice God’s gifts.
Today notice a gift that God has provided for you to enjoy:
colorful flowers, beautiful music, the laughter of a baby –
whatever God has created and placed in your life that
makes you happy. Thank Him for the gift and be sure to
enjoy it today. (When you give someone a gift, you hope
the person you gave it to really enjoys it! Don't you think
God is pleased when you enjoy His gifts?)
43. Use a magazine.
Flip through a magazine (that you’re allowed to look at)
and pray for the people pictured in the articles.
44. Use the Lord’s Prayer.
You’ve probably heard "The Lord's Prayer," Jesus’
response to the disciples' request that He would teach them
to pray. Use it as an example for your prayer today:
Our Father in heaven, (acknowledging who God is)
Hallowed be Your name. (praising Him)
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven. (praying that His will would
be done)
Give us day by day our daily bread. (asking for Him to
meet our needs)
And forgive us our sins, (asking Him to forgive our sin)
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. (and
acknowledging
that we have to
be forgiving, too.)
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one. (asking Him to help us
resist temptation to sin)
45. Pray for strength.
Ask God to help you overcome your current greatest
weakness – that is, the sin you have the hardest time
staying away from.
BONUS Challenge: Ask a friend or family member to pray
about it, too.
46. Pray for a nation.
Choose a country or culture to pray for. Countries that are
closed to the gospel (that means it's against the law for
anyone to tell people about Jesus there), waiting for the
Bible to be translated into their language, and/or
persecuting Christians (throwing them in jail and stuff for
being Christians) can especially use prayer.
If you’re stuck for ideas, check out The Seed Company.
This is an organization whose goal is to translate the Bible
into every language that doesn’t have the Bible yet, before
those of us currently alive have died. They can tell you
which people groups most need prayer.
47. Pray for someone’s salvation.
Do you know someone who doesn’t know Jesus? (Of
course you do!) Choose one person, and spend your whole
prayer time praying eagerly for his salvation. If it is
someone you might have a chance to talk to, pray for an
opportunity to tell him about the Lord.
48. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out
workers into His fields.
Matthew 9:38 says, "therefore pray the Lord of the harvest
to send out laborers into His harvest." This means to pray
that God will raise up people to do His work – especially
telling people about Jesus.
49. Pray for your enemies.
Jesus tells us, in Matthew 5:44, to "love [our] enemies,
bless those who curse [us], do good to those who hate [us],
and pray for those who spitefully use [us] and persecute
[us].” Do you have any enemies? Is there someone who
"spitefully uses you" (is mean to you)? Pray for this
person.
50. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Psalm 122:6 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May
they prosper who love you.’” Jerusalem is a Jewish city
that plays a special role in the Bible and is special to God.
Pray that God will allow Jerusalem to be at peace, and
pray that our country will love the Jewish people.
51. Pray for your authorities.
Pray for those in authority over you: your parents, your
church leaders, government officials, etc.
52. Be specific! (#1)
Choose a need you have asked God to meet, and be more
specific about it. For instance, if you have asked God to
help you do better with your schoolwork, you could ask
him about a particular thing you especially need help with.
Maybe you’re struggling with division or you just can’t
seem to remember when to use an apostrophe. Ask God to
help with the very specific thing.
53. Be specific! (#2)
Choose a praise you have used in the past, and "break it
down." Write down as many attributes (traits or
“features”) of God as you can think of that are related to
the praise you chose. Be as specific and detailed as
possible. For instance, if you praised God for being a
good Creator, you might list things like, “You made so
many different colors,” “You made animals to know how
to feed themselves,” etc. Make a list, write a paragraph, or
do it however makes sense to you.
Praying All the Time
54. Pray while you brush your teeth.
Obviously you’ll have to pray silently in your head for this
one! You can’t talk very well with a mouth full of
toothpaste.
55. Pray while you shower or take a bath.
You have to take a bath or shower anyway, right? Try
using this time to pray.
56. Pray “without ceasing.” (#1)
“Pray without ceasing.” – 1 Th. 5:17
The Bible says to "pray without ceasing." (“Ceasing”
means “stopping.”) That doesn’t mean we’re never
supposed to do anything else! It just means that we’re
always ready to say something to God at any moment –
just like if we were in the same room with a friend or
family member we might at any moment ask a question or
tell him something.
This takes practice, though, since we can’t see God. Set a
timer today to go off every hour. When the timer goes off,
say a sentence prayer (that means just a quick prayer –
about a sentence long), and reset the timer for another
hour.
57. Pray “without ceasing.” (#2)
Take "pray without ceasing" a step further today. All day
long, try to pay special attention to the idea of praying.
Try to say a sentence prayer every few minutes. As you
start each new activity, or see a new person for the day, use
that thing or that person as a reminder to pray.
58. Let everyday things remind you.
Everyday things can serve as reminders to pray. Choose a
random object from your house, and use it as a prompt for
prayer. (For example, a can of beans could remind you to
thank God for food or a bottle of glue might encourage
you to praise Him for His creativity.)
59. Pray during chores.
Use chore time to pray. For example, pray for your friends
while you're tidying your room. Pray for people who don’t
have enough to eat while you feed your pets. Pray for your
family while you wash the dishes. (These are just
examples. Your chores might be different.)
Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone/Being Bold
60. Change your posture. (#1)
Actually bow down and pray.
61. Change your posture. (#2)
Pray with your hands lifted to the Lord.
"I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up
holy hands, without wrath and doubting." -1 Tim 2:8
62. Pray in public (sort of).
Is it hard for you to pray publicly? Take the first step
without having to speak out loud. If you use Facebook or
Twitter, post a prayer. (If you’re too young for a Facebook
account, maybe your mom or dad will let you post to their
accounts just this once. Be sure to ask, though; don’t just
do it!)
BONUS Challenge (for those who are old enough and
have their own accounts): If you're really up for a
challenge, post a prayer every week for a month, or every
day for a week or a month.
63. Visit your neighbor.
Visit the neighbor you've been praying for. Tell him
you've been praying for him, and ask if there is anything in
particular you can pray about for him.
(Make sure this is okay with your mom or dad first. They
might want to go with you.)
64. Sing.
Choose a hymn or praise song, and sing it to the Lord. Pay
careful attention to the words as you sing.
65. Pray out loud.
Pray with somebody. Out loud. If your family is
Christian, pray with them. If not, find a friend who will
pray with you.
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name,
I am there in the midst of them.” – Matt. 18:20
66. Pray for a friend. (#1)
Call a friend and ask if he has anything he would like you
to pray for. Pray about it right away. (Either with him, or
as soon as you hang up. But don't wait.)
67. Pray for a friend. (#2)
Write out a short prayer for a friend, then send it to
him/her. A snail-mail card is nice, but email or Facebook
are okay, too, if you use those.
68. Don’t ask for anything.
Only thank/praise God during your prayer time today.
Don't ask Him for anything this time.
69. Write a poem.
Write a poem of prayer to God. It doesn't have to be good,
and no one else ever needs to see it (unless you want them
to).
70. Pray instead of something you do for fun.
Skip an activity you would ordinarily do (not something
important like homework – something like watching
television or reading a story), and use that time to pray.
71. Be persistent.
In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about a widow who
persistently asked (that is, she asked again and again) a
judge to take care of her. We're told that the purpose of the
parable is "that men [would always] pray and not lose
heart." Is there anything you have prayed for, that you
need to keep praying for?
72. Be humble.
"Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord." Today, ask
God to show you where you're wrong.
73. Pray with art.
Pray today through art – draw God a picture. (If you're
artsy, you could create a collage, painting, etc.) You can
interpret this challenge any way you like: draw pictures of
the things you’re thankful for, or use abstract art to express
things we don’t have words for (like happiness or anger).
Or just draw a picture to offer Him, the same way children
create drawings for their parents.
74. Pray without words.
Pray the prayer today for which you have no words. This
is a tricky one. Sometimes there are things we want to
pray about, but we don’t know what words to use. If we
had to explain it out loud, we just couldn’t make it make
sense. It’s okay when this happens; God still knows our
hearts.
When we think about it, God knows what we mean,
because he knows what we think about. Then you can tell
Him something like, “God, I don’t know how to tell You
[or ask You] about this, but You know, so please just take
care of it.”
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we
do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered.” – Rom. 8:26
75. Pray for a stranger.
Do you see someone you don’t know – or don’t know very
well – who seems to be having a hard time? Maybe
someone at the store is sad, or you saw an ambulance and
know someone is hurt. Pray for this person. (Be wise!
Don’t go over to pray with a stranger unless it’s okay with
your mom or dad.)
76. Rejoice!
Hebrew – the language most of the Old Testament was
originally written in – is different from English. We only
have one word "rejoice," but in Hebrew there are many!
Words we translate as “rejoice” were originally more
specific; they mean to "spin around," "to shout," etc. How
many ways can you rejoice?
(An especially fun example is found in Psalm 96:11-12. If
we replace "rejoice" and its variations with short
definitions of the Hebrew words, it reads something like
this:
"Let the heavens [brighten up], and let the earth [spin
around]; let the sea [tumble/crash], and the fulness
thereof. Let the field [jump for joy], and all that is therein:
then shall all the trees of the wood [creak]." Isn’t that
cool?! All of creation rejoices just by being itself!)
77. Fast.
(Only do this one if it’s okay with your mom or dad.) Skip
a meal today, and use the time you would otherwise be
eating to pray.
“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request
by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and
ashes.” – Dan. 9:3
78. Ask yourself what will happen if God says,
“yes.”
Look at one of the requests you have made of God in
previous challenges – one of the things you’ve asked Him
to do or to give. What might happen if He answers that
prayer? Is He likely to answer it the way you originally
imagined? Is He likely to answer it some other way?
Would there be other consequences to these answers? Are
you willing for God to answer it differently than how you
had in mind, or would that make you angry? Talk to God
about these things.
79. “Thy will, not mine.”
Dwight L. Moody said: "Spread out your petition before
God, and then say, ‘Thy will, not mine, be done.’ The
sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school is to let the
Lord choose for me."
Today, follow his advice. That means tell him what your
wants or needs are – but then tell Him that you want Him
to do things His way, not your way (and mean it!)
80. Pray for what God wants you to pray for.
Ask God what He wants you to pray for – what is most
important to Him. Then pray for that (whatever He helps
you think of when you ask)!
Getting to Know God
81. Spend time with God.
How well do you know God? Do you know Him as well
as your best (human) friend? Participate in some activity
you would usually do with some other friend, but do it
with God. Yes, God is always there, but the difference is
that this time you will be paying attention to that fact!
Will you talk to God while you’re jumping rope? Go for a
walk? “Ride bikes” together? (Of course God wouldn’t
ride a bike; you would ride your bike while remembering
God is there, too.)
(This is just an exercise to help you remember that God is
always with you.)
82. Be glad that God delights in you.
Know that God delights in you. ("...He will rejoice over
you...") Thank Him for being delighted with you.
“The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One,
will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will
quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with
singing.” – Zeph. 3:17
83. Call God, “Daddy.”
Remember that God is your daddy. (That’s what “Abba”
means, in the Bible. “Abba” is the Hebrew word for
“Daddy.”) As you begin your prayer today, call Him that.
("Daddy,...")
84. Give a hug.
Children give their parents affection in physical ways –
they give hugs and kisses, hold hands, sit in laps, etc. God
is our Father, but He’s only with us physically through the
Body of Christ (other Christians).
Show physical affection to God today by showing
affection to another Christian. (Kiss your mom, hold your
brother's hand, give a friend a hug, etc.) Remember that
Jesus said, "whatever you do unto the least of these…
you’ve done for Me."
85. Listen.
Sit quietly for five minutes, and listen for God to speak to
you. Write down anything that comes to mind. (God
doesn’t talk to us out loud, but He talks to us by helping us
think of the things He wants us to think about.)
86. Listen again.
What did God tell you yesterday? Does it make you think
of any questions? Ask Him one of your questions, and
then listen again for five minutes.
87. Tell God a joke.
I know; it sounds kind of silly! But God is always with
you, right? And He made your sense of humor. Remind
yourself that He’s always there – and that your joy pleases
Him – by telling Him a joke.
88. Go green!
Sometimes it can be easy to ignore God's presence when
we're surrounded by things people made. It's much harder
to forget Him when we're surrounded by His creation! If
you can, pray someplace green. If you can get outside
somewhere with grass and trees, that’s the very best
option. If you can’t, maybe you can visit a greenhouse or
sit by a houseplant while you pray.
89. Give God a gift.
The Bible says that "whatever you do unto the least of
these," you've done for Him, so find someone you can give
a gift to as a representative of God. It doesn't have to be
fancy or expensive. Children bring flowers picked from
the yard to their parents all the time!
90. Enjoy His presence.
Today, just sit with God. Don't talk. If He speaks to you,
don't ignore Him (of course!). But don't actively look for
Him to talk. Just enjoy His presence, by merely sitting
with Him.
"Be still, and know that I am God." – Ps. 46:10a
Appendix: Prayers Other People Prayed
Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing.
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
Take My Life and Let it Be
Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless
praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy
love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing, always, only for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with message from
Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt
choose.
Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer
Thine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own. It shall be Thy royal
throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure
store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.
(by Frances Havergal)
Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your
presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by
Your generous Spirit.
About the Author
Rachel Ramey is a married mom of four. At the time this
book was written, the oldest of her kids was about to turn
thirteen, and the youngest was two. She lives in the
mountains in Virginia, which helps her remember how big
God is! Rachel can be reached by email or found on
Facebook or at her website.
facebook.com/titus2homemaker
www.titus2homemaker.com