This skit and devotion work together to talk about the importance of prayer. Youth may doubt God is listening to their prayer, but this discussion will help them think about God’s response. The key focus is that God hears all our prayers to Him. We can love and trust Him to answer our prayers according to His will.
You can download the skit and devotion here.
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CHARACTERS
DAVE- The pizzeria delivery boy
ANNA- Caller desperate for a response
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(DAVE and ANNA are standing on opposite sides of the stage, on their phones)
DAVE: Hello, this is Mega Mega Pizzeria. How may I help you?
ANNA: Oh, good, someone answered.
DAVE: Did you call before? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the phone ring.
ANNA: No, no. This is my first time calling. Well, here anyway.
DAVE: What?
ANNA: What’s your name?
DAVE: Um, Dave?
ANNA: Do you ever feel like no one’s ever listening, Dave?
DAVE: …. Look, I’m just a pizza guy-
ANNA: A pizza guy who deserves to be heard! Don’t we all!? Don’t we all deserve answers to questions that we ask?
DAVE: (very uncomfortable) Look, Ma’am, this is a Mega Mega Pizzeria. If you’re not ordering a pizza, I’m going to have to let you go.
ANNA: Oh, I want something for delivery.
DAVE: Oh, great, what is it?
ANNA: I want deliverance on my problems! Can I get a what what?
DAVE: What?
ANNA: No, two “What’s”. It’s a what what.
DAVE: People don’t talk like that. And I’m going to have to hang up now. Good night. (starts to hang up the phone)
ANNA: WAIT! (DAVE stops) You cannot honestly tell me you’re not curious about wanting your prayers answered, too.
DAVE: Prayers? Is that what all of this is about?
ANNA: Obviously.
DAVE: …So you called a pizza place to try and get your prayers answered?
ANNA: Well, I was just so used to getting ignored by God I knew that you’d have to at least answer. Another voice to give me some kind of gratification. Let’s be real: God has to love some people more than others. Or maybe he just is too busy. But it seems to me God answers some prayers and not others! Why else would he do that! Why would God give some people what they want and not others? Its evident God doesn’t love me and is not listening to my prayers.
DAVE: Whoa, whoa, whoa there. Back it up. God DOES love you. God loves everyone. He sent His son Jesus to earth to die for your sins. It’s all right there in the greatest love letter of all time- the Bible.
ANNA: I wouldn’t qualify the Bible as a love letter.
DAVE: The Bible is all about how much God loves us. God shows His love in how He made us. We can see his love in how He gives us the Law, like the 10 Commandments, for our good. Most importantly, when we broke His Law, He loved us enough to save us through Jesus’ live and death. The Bible is there so we can get to know God better and learn about Him. There’s love all over the place in that book.
ANNA: Well, then why won’t He answer my prayers? Hm?
DAVE: He does.
ANNA: Uh, NO, He doesn’t.
DAVE: God hears and answers every prayer that is prayed in His name. It just might not be in the way we want or expect. There are three ways He’ll answer prayers: Yes, which is what you’re thinking of, where you get what you’re praying for, or wait, where God doesn’t give you what you pray for in your timing but His timing, and no, where God in His all-powerful, all knowing wisdom says this isn’t His will or plan.
ANNA: So…”no” is an answer?
DAVE: No is an answer.
ANNA: But what if it’s not something I want and it’s something I need? How can God deny something I need?
DAVE: I can’t pretend I know God’s thinking or ways, because it’s so far beyond what we could even imagine. I do know God is all knowing and all powerful. I know God loves us very much and gives us the gift of faith so we can trust Him, through the thick and thin. Remember, God didn’t just give us the gift of prayer to ask for things, but so we can talk to him about literally anything that’s on our hearts and minds. Philippians 4:6 says “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.”
ANNA: Yeah, you’re right. You know I do feel better! Thank you, Dave, the pizza guy.
DAVE: Okay, then ma’am?
ANNA: Yes
DAVE: …Are you going to order something, or….?
ANNA: Yeah, give me a large pepperoni.
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DEVOTION
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7
Do you ever feel unheard by God? There are things we pray and pray for and it seems like God is not listening at all. It can be frustrating not to get what we want or even things we feel we need. We can feel hurt and abandoned by God. But God never leaves us, not for a second.
God promises that he hears all our prayers to Him. God is right by our side through it all and gave us the gift of prayer so we can talk to him directly about anything and everything that is on our hearts and minds. While God is there to hear our wants and needs, God is also there to just hear from us.
While God does love us, our will is not His will, which at times can be hard to swallow. In our sinful nature, we don’t always understand why He says “wait” or “no” to our prayers. Yet through faith, we trust that God answers prayers in His own way and in His own time. His plan is far greater than ours. Isaiah 55: 8-9 reads “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” God is good and almighty and no matter what is happening in our world, we always can pray to God for comfort and guidance.
When we spend time in prayer, it’s important to remember that we can pray for the physical and spiritual wellbeing of ourselves, our neighbor. We should praise and thank God for who He is and what He has done. Most importantly, we should pray that God’s will is done in all things so that everyone can be saved through Jesus. If we don’t know what to pray, we know the Holy Spirit is with us, hearing our thoughts and groanings even when we don’t have words. (Romans 8:26-27) God also gave us prayers like the Lord’s Prayer to help us when we aren’t sure what to pray.
QUESTIONS
- When did God answer a prayer in a way that was unexpected?
- How does God provide for you even when you don’t ask?
PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for hearing my prayers. Prayer is a wonderful gift. Please help to grow in my prayer life and learn to come to you in my deepest troubles and praise you in my greatest triumphs. I don’t always understand why you answer prayers the way you do. Please help me to trust
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