I Can Pray From My Heart

Host

Welcome to the Train Station, Jr. Conductors!

Co-Host

Today we get to hear more about talking to God. There’s a special name for when we chat with God. Do you know what we call talking to God? (Pause) Praying! That’s right!

Host

I think it would be fun to make our voices sound different. Hold your nose and say, “Welcome to the Train Station!”

Co-Host

That sounded funny. Let go of your nose and say, “Welcome to the Train Station” with an angry frown. (Say it with a frown) Now say it while making a giant smile.

Host

What if we say it with our mouths only open a tiny crack, so that we mumble. Let’s say, “Welcome to the Train Station” like that. (Mumble the line) Try saying it like a squeaky little mouse.

Co-Host

There are lots of fun ways to make your words sound different, but you don’t have to make any changes to your voice when you pray to God. You can use your regular voice and words. Let's use our voice to make a big, “Choo-choo!”

Co-Host

Mr. Rios seems like a really nice teacher. Do you remember what language Mr. Rios speaks? (Pause) It is Spanish.

Host

Engineer Kelly and Farmer Faith are worried that they need to learn new words so they can pray at the hospital. Our Big Point teaches us something different. Let’s stand and practice the Big Point again,

Host

I Can Pray From My Heart!

Co-Host

Praying from your heart means that you don’t have to pretend to sound like someone else. God wants you to pray using your own words and your own voice.

Host

God wants to talk to the real you. Let’s talk about things that are real and things that are fake. I’m going to show you some food, and I want to find out if you can decide which one is real and which one is fake food.

Co-Host

I think I would rather eat the real food rather than the fake food. Fake food does not taste good. Everyone, say, “Yuck!”

Host

God wants to talk to you. That means God wants to hear all about the things that are on your heart. He wants you to use your real, regular voice and your normal words. You can talk to God just like you talk to your mommy or daddy.

Co-Host

That makes me feel better about talking to God. I can just be me! Maybe we should share the Big Point with Engineer Kelly and Farmer Faith.

Co-Host

They tried to use big words from that book, but they didn’t say them the right way.

Host

Conductor Carl reminded them to use regular words that they understand. That’s what we learned in our Big Point. Let’s practice singing the Big Point again,

Host

I Can Pray From My Heart!

Co-Host

I like the verse that Conductor Carl shared from the Bible. James 5:16 (NIrV) says, “The prayer of a godly person is powerful.”

Host

A godly person is someone who listens to God and does what God says.

Co-Host

Hmm, so if a godly person listens to and obeys God, then that person would pray for good things to happen, the kinds of things God loves. Can anyone become godly?

Host

We sure can. Anyone who loves Jesus and follows Him can be a godly person. That means any of us can pray powerful prayers. That’s because the power in our prayers comes from God.

Co-Host

Have you ever tried to blow up a balloon? Could you do it in one breath? I’ll try.

Co-Host

That was hard.

Host

Watch this. I’m going to blow this up with just one breath.

Co-Host

That was a powerful breath.

Host

Yep, and we can pray powerful prayers when we pray the things that God wants. Let’s stand and worship God.

When you pray, you don’t have do all the talking. You can listen, too. Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes. Quietly take a moment to listen to God. He may not talk out loud, but God can speak to your heart. He does that by bringing thoughts to your mind. He might tell you, “I love you,” or “You can talk to Me anytime.” Let’s get quiet now and listen to see what God has to say to us. (Pause) Now I’ll pray for all of us. Dear God, thank You that we can pray simply from our hearts. I’m so glad that we don’t have to use special words or sound different. Thank You for loving us just the way You created us to be. Amen!

Co-Host

Mr. Rios loved their prayer, even though it sounded different than his prayer.

Host

They didn’t have to use special words. They learned that they could pray just using their own words. Let’s practice our Big Point again,

Host

I Can Pray From My Heart!

Co-Host

That’s what the tax collector did in our Big Story. He prayed a very humble prayer from his heart because he wanted to follow God.

Host

You can tell your family about the tax collector when you do the Big Do this week.

Host

Offer to pray before one of your family’s meals. You could pray for your family’s lunch or dinner.

Co-Host

What are some of your favorite foods to eat?

Host

If you eat food like (list some of the options), do you have to pray with big, fancy words, or can you pray for the food with your regular words?

Co-Host

Yep, we can all pray with our regular voices and regular words when we talk to God. Let’s say our Big Point once more.

Co-Host

I Can Pray From My Heart!

• Did our Big Point say I Can Pray From My Toes or I Can Pray From My Heart?

• Let’s practice saying a word from a different language. Try saying, Hola! That’s Spanish for, “Hello.” Who prayed in a different language at the Train Station? Mr. Rios Was his prayer more special than Engineer Kelly’s prayer? No

• Can you make big muscles? Show them to me. James 5:16 (NIrV), “The prayer of a godly person is (weak / powerful). ”

• Poke out your chest like you feel proud. Let’s make a proud face by lifting our chin and looking up. Did the tax collector or teacher act proud in the Big Story? Teacher Now bow your head and look down. Who prayed from his heart, the tax collector or the teacher? Tax collector Can we pray from our hearts? Yes

• What did Conductor Carl tell us to do in the Big Do? Volunteer to pray before one of your family’s meals