The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. Psalm 6:9 ESV

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6 ESV

Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven. Lamentations 3:41 ESV

When you pray to God, know that He hears you. Prayer is how we talk to God. Prayer can be out loud or just thoughts in your mind. There are hundreds of verses in the Bible that talk about prayer. We have three for this week. Our first tells us that God hears and accepts our prayers. Our second, that we don’t need to pray so that people hear our prayers, just God. Our third says that we should lift our hearts to God, that means share everything we feel with Him.

God hears your prayers! And you can pray to Father God, to Jesus, and even to the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of prayers depending on what you are praying about.

Kinds of Prayers

1. Prayers of confession – praying to ask God to forgive you for something wrong you have done, tell God what you did and ask for forgiveness.
2. Prayers of thanks – praying to thank God for all that He has already done for you. You can be thankful for your mom and dad, brothers and sisters. You can thank God for blessings and the good things in your life.
3. Prayers of praise – praying to God to tell Him you love Him, how amazing His creation is, or even how wonderful He is.
4. Prayers of request – praying to God for things you need, the right words to say to someone, strength to get through a hard day, or confidence to tell a friend about Jesus.
5. Prayers for someone else – praying for your family or friends or for someone you met who needs help or just needs to know God.

God hears every single prayer you pray but that doesn’t mean He will give you everything you pray for. God works all things for your good. God does forgive you when you confess and ask for forgiveness. But we have to trust that God knows what we need and what will help us.

This week, talk with your parents. Do you already pray with your family and by yourself? As you look at the different kinds of prayers, which kind do you pray the most? How has God answered your prayers? Get a piece of paper or a notebook and write or draw a prayer for each one of the kinds of prayers. Talk to God, pray for forgiveness, pray with thanks, pray with praise, pray for something you need, and pray for someone else and what they need.

Blessings and joy as you pray to God and know that He always hears your prayers!