Helping Students Develop a Prayer Journal

By Doug Franklin June 1, 2017

Many of our students love to worship, but they hate to pray. A worship service tends to draw a crowd, while a request for someone to pray makes the room go silent. It’s possible that some of our students just aren’t interested in prayer, but it’s more likely that they are afraid to pray because they’ve never been taught how.

Let’s not forget that prayer doesn’t always come easily. We all need help to know when to pray, how to pray, and what to pray about. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, and we should do the same with our students. (See Luke 11:1-13)

“Jesus taught his disciples to pray, and we should do the same with our students.”

A prayer journal is a tool to guide your students in the process of prayer rather than the common wish list of things they want from God. On LeaderTreks Trips, we teach students to pray using the ACTS Prayer Method. It challenges students to (1) Adore the Lord for who He is, (2) Confess their sins in light of His holiness, (3) Thank Him for His grace and blessings, (4) and Ask Him to supply their needs.

When teaching students to use a prayer journal be sure to stress the following:

Discipleship
Christian means Christ-follower—for our students to be followers of Christ they must know Him and He must have their time and their humility. A prayer journal helps students properly present themselves before the King. It allows them to come into His throne room as humble servants, asking to know his vision for their lives.

Commitment
A prayer journal makes spending time with God a priority. It establishes a measurable time and place for an encounter with God. A prayer journal also gives students a place to record what God is saying and watch how God answers their prayers over a period of time. Without a place to write down God’s response to their prayers, students are less likely to be listening for them.

Joy
The consistent use of a prayer journal will bring great joy to your students; they won’t be able to live without growth in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is what will help Christ come alive in their lives as they have a chance to experience the joy through his presence and through answered prayers.

Use a prayer journal to help your students develop a healthy and consistent prayer process. That prayer process will keep them on track to the true purpose of prayer: a deep and lasting relationship with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And we’ve designed a tool to help. Download and share Helping Students Pray.