Leader Guide

Objective
Students will see the importance of prayer and ignite a passion to pray for God to intervene on behalf of their lost friends, family, and in their own life.

Warm Up
Divide into teams of 4-5 handing everyone a blindfold. Call out a letter of the alphabet and teams must lay down on the floor and form that letter as a team blindfolded! Have volunteers vote on the best letter. After 3-4 letters, allow one person on each team to take off their blindfold. Do 1-2 more letters.

• Was it easier to make the letter look right when someone could see?

Transition
Life is complicated to say the least. People are struggling and need others to intercede on their behalf— to pray for them. This is called intercessory prayer and it can make a huge difference in someone’s life.

The Song
Play “In Jesus Name (God Of Possible)” by Katy Nichole.

Transition
Prayer can and does make a difference. The video shows a family dealing with a struggle and how prayer can make a difference in the outcome.

• How have you seen God answer a prayer in your life or in someone else’s life?
• When do you seem to pray the most?
• What causes you to want to pray?
• Do you believe your prayers can make a difference in someone’s life?

Bible Study
Read Philippians 4:6

• Is there something in your life that you need God to intervene?
• Are you worrying about something?
• Do you need the peace of God to help sustain you?

Prayer is the only thing in scripture tied to the power of God. If you want to know the power of God, you must pray. There is something about praying that can change your situation, attitude, and help you overcome obstacles.
This verse states that we should let our requests be made known to God. It is important that we develop an intimate relationship with Jesus and talk to Him through prayer — making mention of our struggles, worries and life in general. The more we are honest with our lives and struggles, the more we can invite Him into those situations.

Read James 5:16
The last part of that verse states that the intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful. As a forgiven follower of Jesus, you are seen as righteous in the eyes of God. Your prayers are very powerful.

• Have you ever thought about your prayers as being powerful?

Read 1 Timothy 2:1

• Who do you spend the most time praying for?
• What percentage of the time do you pray for others compared to yourselves?

We must pray. It makes a difference in your life and your prayers will make a difference in the life of your friends and family. 1 Timothy tells us that we should pray for everyone. The desire is to pray to invite God into situations even when we don’t know the people or the circumstance. When we see or hear of situations, we should pray and ask God to intervene. It can and does make a difference.

Wrap Up
Prayer is powerful. Your prayers are powerful. Have everyone say it: “My prayers are powerful!” Over and over again we can talk about how we have seen God answer prayers and help in our lives. Let’s take it to the next level and pray for God to move in our friends, family, and across our schools.

• What would it look like if your campus was changed as a result of your prayers?
• What would you pray for? What circumstances need to change?
• Who needs the peace of God in their lives?
• What friends will you invite to join you as you begin praying for your campus?

Take a sheet of paper and just begin writing what God is laying on your heart to pray for. Put those requests in an envelope and seal it. Give it to your youth leader to hang on to until the end of the school year. At the end of the school year or semester, as you open the envelopes, it will be so powerful to see how those prayers were answered. How exciting it would be to be praying and see God answer those prayers!

Join with 1-3 other friends and begin praying for those things.

Playlist
This song is featured on “The Linc: Prayer; Intercessory” Spotify playlist – which is the perfect way to remind your students what you’ve taught them in this session. To share it with them, click the live link on the web version of this study.