“Prayer is more than talking to God. It’s also listening to God and learning from God. Prayer is a conversation with your heavenly Father.” — Young Life’s Discipleship Team
What is prayer? Is it asking? Listening? Petitioning? Learning? A conversation with God? The answer is all of the above — and more. Prayer is so much more than asking God for something and it isn’t just for church services or small group gatherings.
It’s connecting with God, who created you, knows you, and wants you to know him. Prayer is an essential part of your individual relationship with God, drawing you deeper into his love.
But in today’s noisy world, finding time for prayer can feel impossible. Prayer often calls for quiet, and quiet can be elusive. When was the last time you sat for 10 minutes in silence — no phone, no laundry, no distractions? If you’re anything like me, it’s been awhile.
Sometimes the struggle isn’t just making time — it’s knowing how to pray. What better teacher could we have than Jesus himself?
JESUS WAS INTERRUPTED, TOO.
Matthew 14:13-23
In this passage, Jesus seeks alone time with his Father but is interrupted by crowds who follow him. How relatable is that? We try to carve out time for prayer, but then life happens: the phone rings, an email pings, or someone needs us.
So, how does Jesus handle this interruption? He pauses to care for the people who need him, even feeding them, but he doesn’t let the interruption stop him from finding time to pray. As soon as he could, Jesus sent the crowd and his disciples (his closest friends) away and retreated to pray alone. He doesn’t say, “Oh well, I missed my chance. There’s always tomorrow.” Instead, he prioritizes time with his Father.
If Jesus, the Son of God, made prayer a priority, why wouldn’t we? Jesus knows this will bring him closer to the Father and knows his heart needs it. It’s the same for us!
Takeaway: Next time your prayer time is interrupted, ask yourself if it’s something that needs immediate attention. If it is, handle it, but don’t let that derail your time with God. Seek him as soon as you can.
JESUS SURRENDERED (After he asked for another way.)
Luke 22:39-46
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is in a state of desperation, praying fervently for God to take away the impending suffering if there is any other way. But he ends with, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” He fully surrenders to his Father, knowing he knows what is best and what must happen.
Do you approach prayer open-handed, ready to accept God’s will even if it’s not what you want? It’s tempting to treat God like a genie who grants wishes, but that’s not who he is. Prayer helps to align our hearts with God’s, shaping us to be more like him as we grow in faith.
Then, there are the disciples. Jesus tells them twice to pray against temptation but finds them asleep. How many times have we waited until the evening to spend time with God, only to fall asleep? I’ve been there. But you might be a night owl! You know yourself best and what time you should carve out to pray.
Takeaways: Approach prayer with an open heart, seeking alignment with God’s will. Choose a time when you can be intentional and focused — even if it means setting your alarm a little earlier (or going to bed a little later for those night owls out there.)
JESUS LED WITH HUMILITY
Luke 18:9-14
This parable shows the attitude we should take when we enter into prayer: humility.
The Pharisee elevates himself through comparing his “righteousness” to others and listing his good deeds. There are so many things wrong with the posture of his heart, but we should not compare ourselves to others because we are all sinners. We are all broken — each going through different trials and challenges. We are not above anything, no matter how closely we are following Jesus.
Next we look at the tax collector whose prayer was short and sweet, admitting his sinfulness and asking God to be merciful. Nothing else had to be said. Simple. Humble. True for all of us.
Takeaway: Lead with humility in prayer. Remember that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross covers the brokenness in all of us — including you.
JESUS TAUGHT ON PRAYER
Matthew 6:5-18
Jesus gives us the freedom to keep prayer simple. We don’t need elaborate words or perfect phrasing. He even provides us with a template: the Lord’s Prayer.
Jesus also emphasizes praying in private, shutting out distractions, and focusing on genuine connection with the Father — not for show or recognition, but out of love.
Takeaway: Check your motivations for prayer. Remember, you don’t need all the right words — just a sincere heart.
Even going through these four passages, we can see that prayer can be so many different things. It can be time alone, blessing a meal, facing our hesitations and surrendering, or simply asking God to have mercy. And all of these are conversations that bring us closer to the Father, but they’re just scratching the surface of how we can incorporate prayer into our lives …
Here are some ideas about how to spend time in prayer from Young Life’s Discipleship website:
- Start each day with a short prayer asking God to be with you and thanking him for something in your life. You could do this at the same time each day like while making your bed, getting dressed, or brushing your teeth.
- Pray each time you begin reading the Bible, asking God to be present and teach you.
- Pray a Bible passage by turning it into a simple prayer, like this: “Dear God, help me to trust you fully, in everything I do and say” (Proverbs 3:5).
- Pray at a specific prompt of your choice, for example each time you see a bird, each time you hear a certain sound, when you walk out the front door or into class, or something else like that.
- Pray slowly by writing your prayers in a journal. This also allows you to go back and remember your prayers and write down how God answers them.
- Pray before each meal, thanking God for the gift of food.
- Pray at the end of each day, thanking God for how he loved, guided, protected, and comforted you.
Let’s end with the Lord’s Prayer.
Say it aloud or reflect on the words:
“Our Father in heaven,
May your name be kept holy.
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.”
Amen.
If you’d like to dig deeper on prayer with a small group, friends, or family, check out Time in Prayer on Young Life’s Discipleship website.
