What can I talk to God about?

On this page we will think about different kinds of prayers. We will learn what kinds of things we can pray about. We will give you some ideas about what to say to God when you pray.

You can read the whole page, or you can click one of these links to jump to the part you want to read.

God wants us to talk to him

‘Please’ prayers – asking God for things we want or need

‘Thank you’ prayers – thanking God for things he has done

‘Sorry’ prayers – saying sorry to God for doing bad things

‘Wow’ prayers – praising God for who he is

‘Anything’ prayers – talking to God like a friend

Time to get started

Praying just means talking to God. God really wants us to talk to him. We do not have to use special words or pray long prayers. We can talk to God just like we would talk to a friend.

Some people only talk to God when they need help. This kind of prayer is good. But God wants us to talk to him about other things too. Here are the 4 main kinds of prayers:

Most of our prayers fit into one of these 4 groups. But we can talk to God about anything that is on our minds.

We can ask God for anything. We can trust him to give us good things, because he loves us. Click here to learn more about why it is good to ask God for things.

We can ask God for help when we need it. And we can pray for other people too. We can pray for people we love. And if we hear about bad things happening in the world, we can ask God to help people who are hurting. Click here to learn about how to pray when bad things happen in the world.

God does not always answer our prayers in the way we want. Sometimes the thing we are asking for would not be good for us. Sometimes we need to wait and keep asking. Sometimes we do not know why God says no. When God does not give us what we want, we can ask him to help us understand and keep trusting him.

Being thankful is good for us. It makes us feel happier and helps us see all the good things in our lives. It is also something God wants us to do. God made us, so all the good things we have come from him.

We can thank God for small things and big things. We can thank him for sunny days, good friends or tasty food. And we can thank him that he came into the world as Jesus. Jesus died so we could be friends with him. This is the best thing God has done for us.

We can thank God for answering our prayers. And we can thank him for the times when he has helped us.

We all do bad things sometimes. These things can make us feel like we have messed everything up. We might feel like we are not good enough to be friends with God. But God wants us to come to him and say sorry. He wants to forgive us and make our hearts clean again. And he wants to help us do better in future.

We can say sorry to God for things we have done, things we have said and things we have thought. We can also say sorry when we did not do a good thing we should have done.

Sometimes we need to say sorry to people too. People might forgive us, or they might not forgive us. But God always forgives us.

It is good to think about what God is like and how amazing he is. This reminds us that he is big and strong enough to help us. It reminds us that he loves us. And it reminds us why we want to follow him and live his way.

We can praise God because he loves us so much. We can praise him because he is kind and because he forgives us. And we can praise him for the amazing things he has done.

We can also tell God how much we love him. And we can ask him to help us love him more.

When we talk to God we might say all these kinds of prayers. And there are lots more things we can talk to God about too.

Here are a few more things we can say to God.

We can tell God what is happening in our lives. We can talk to him about the things that worry us and the things that make us happy. We can chat like we would chat with a friend. God wants us to talk to him about whatever is on our minds. He is always listening.

God wants us to be honest with him about how we feel. If we are angry, afraid, excited or sad, we can tell God. Even if we think our feelings are wrong, it is still good to talk to God about them. He wants us to show him who we really are and what we really think and feel. If we let him in, he can mend the parts that are broken.

Sometimes life is confusing. Sometimes even God is confusing! It is good to tell God when we do not understand. We can ask him questions. We can ask him for wisdom to make good choices. We can also talk to other Christians if we need help and advice.

You do not have to say everything to God all at once. Here are some easy ways to start if you are new to prayer.

If you are still not sure what to say, start by praying a prayer that someone else has written. Click here to see some famous easy read prayers.

Remember, God loves you and he wants you to talk to him. It is okay if you feel shy. It is okay if you say the wrong words or only say a short prayer. He is happy to spend time with you. And he will never stop loving you.