Teaching Children to Pray at a Faith Milestone

Jesus is our model for worship, study, play, and prayer. Prayer is one of those sacred practices which can be caught, but when we offer an intentional teaching time, students grow to have more confidence. When practiced with their families, it’s a shared sacred memory. This is the motivation behind the Faith Milestone: I Can Pray offered to our families with 1^st and 2^nd grade students. The event was scheduled for a Wednesday evening 5:45pm-6:30pm.

After students decorate a solid colored gift bag to hold all their take home goodies and printed instructions, we share that “Prayer is talking AND listening to God (Father and Creator), Jesus (God’s son, our best friend, and Savior), and the Holy Spirit (Comforter, reminding us as believers/followers what will please the Lord.)” Students are required to stay with and participate fully with their parents/caregivers. Students and families are then led to these stations spread throughout a large room.

Supplies:

These are the various stations with directions:

Find The Page – Choose a book. Find the page where the little bears are praying before bedtime and read aloud. Take one for your family prayer bag.

Spinner Prayers for Who’s At The Top – Each Day, pray for…
Monday – Teachers and Coaches (by name)
Tuesday – Local Government of Mayor and City Council (by name)
Wednesday – Pastor and Spiritual Teachers (by name)
Thursday – National Government of President, Congress, and Supreme Court (by name)
Friday – Law Enforcement & Firefighters (by name)

Teacher, Coach, and Spiritual Teacher names are easy, but finding out the name of your town’s mayor and a city council member may require you asking your parents. Ask your parents to also help you find out the name of your US Congressperson and find the name of someone who serves in law enforcement and a firefighter so you can pray for ‘by name’, too. Names are so important and it will make your prayers specific and more personal.

For each leader, spin the spinner and talk to God about ‘Who’s At The Top’ until the spinner stops. If your top is still spinning when you finish the prayer below, you must be a master spinner! So keep praying until it stops!

Example: (Insert names)
Dear Lord, I pray for _________________ and _______________ to lead a life that is worthy of You Lord.
I pray that __________________ and __________________ will please You in every way, God.
I pray that __________________ and __________________ will want to grow to know You better, God.
I pray that __________________ and __________________ will be strong and patient, God.
I pray that __________________ and __________________ will never give up and be joyful, God.
(based on Colossians 1:10-11)

Silly Putty Prayers (W.I.T.H. Prayer)

Take out your silly putty and stretch, mold, pull, tug on it as you sit quietly and ponder the following:
Take a deep breath and blow it out slowly.
Think of something that makes you say “WOW!” (pause)
Take a deep breath…when you slowly and quietly exhale, whisper, “Wow, God!”
Take a deep breath and blow it out slowly.
Think of something that you’ve said, done, or thought that would not please God….something you’d want to say, “I’m sorry” about. (pause)
Take a deep breath…when you slowly and quietly exhale, whisper, “I’m sorry, God.”
Take a deep breath and blow it out slowly.
Keep pulling on your silly putty.
Think of something you want to thank God for. Several somethings. (pause)
Take a deep breath…when you slowly and quietly exhale, whisper, “Thank you, God.”
Take a deep breath and blow it out slowly.
Think of someone you know who needs help…maybe they are sad, maybe they are sick, maybe they are poor, maybe they are hurting. (pause)
Take a deep breath…when you slowly and quietly exhale, whisper, “Help them, God.”
Then close to tell God whatever you want. He loves to hear from you! Amen.
Thankful to Mark Burrows for sharing this experience at National Christian Educators Fellowship Conference in Nashville several years ago.

Bubble Prayers

Blow a bubble. As it floats to the floor, pray a help prayer.

“Lord, please help _____________________ because ______________________. Amen.”

Journal Prayers

Choose a journal.
Open to the first page.
Trace the hands of everyone in the family on individual pages and write their name on the page.
Put your hand in each family member’s traced hand and talk to God about that family member.
Then turn to a fresh page each day with a date to invite family members to write prayer requests. As you pray for that prayer request, place your hand on the family member’s traced hand.

A Wiggle Prayer

O God, who made my fingers (wiggle fingers)

O God, who made my toes, (wiggle toes)

O God, who made my eyebrows, (wiggle eyebrows)

O God, who made my nose, (wiggle nose)

You made my heart for laughter, (put hand to heart)

You made my voice for song, (make a “singing” pose)

You made my soul to dance, (dance in place)

And praise you all lifelong. (raise both hands in the air)

Amen

“Glory” Celebration Prayers – Open a call bell. Every time you think of a time to say, “Thank you, Lord!”, ring the bell and say, “Glory!” Place the bell somewhere in your home when anyone in the family wishes to express a thanks to the Lord, they ring the bell and shout, “Glory!”

M&M Prayers – Find a quiet spot, take a deep breath, and open your bag of M&Ms. As you put an M&M in your mouth, close your eyes and take time to feel and taste as the candy melts in your mouth. As the candy melts, turn your thoughts to God, and use the color code below to focus your prayers:

Red candy: Think about the greatness of God. Think about the great things God has made.

Take a deep breath, hold it counting to 5, then breathe out slowly and whisper “God, You are great.”

Orange candy: Thank God for the blessings you have received and the goodness in your life. Take a deep breath, hold it counting to 5, then breathe out slowly and whisper, “God, You are good.”

Yellow candy: Pray for those who are in need of basic human needs; food, shelter, water, peace.

Take a deep breath, hold it counting to 5, then breathe out slowly and whisper, “Thank you, God.”

Brown candy: Pray for those close to you or far away in need of God’s guiding spirit, that they will feel God’s abundant love in their life.

Take a deep breath, holding it counting to 5, then breathe out slowly and whisper, “Help them, God.”

Blue candy: Confess to God (agree with God) that you are sometimes weak and fail to follow God as you should. Ask God to help you stay strong.

Take a deep breath, holding it counting to 5, then breathe out slowly and whisper, “Forgive me, God.”

Green candy: Sit in silence as you ask God to hear your prayers, those spoken and those that are unsaid in your heart.

Take a deep breath, holding it counting to 5, then breathe out slowly and whisper, “Praise you, God, for hearing my prayers.”

Upon completion, we debrief by asking:

What was your favorite station?

What do you think you could do to pray tonight before you go to bed?

What do you think you could do in the morning when you wake up to help you pray?

What is prayer? “When we _____ & ______ to the Lord.”

Prayer is ‘caught’ AND ‘taught’. What other ways can we intentionally teach children and families to pray together?

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1