My children love to pray, and that makes my heart so happy. Flower recently told me that she had run out of people to pray for, so we went to the Bible to see what it had to say about prayer.
Who are we supposed to pray for? 1 Timothy 2:1-2 tells us "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, kings, and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." We are to pray for all people...even people we may not know!
When are we supposed to pray? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says "Pray without ceasing." We should always have a prayer in our hearts and our tongues!
I looked on Pinterest, of course, for some fun craft ideas to help teach my kids to pray. I found a really neat "Prayer Stick" craft that used popsicle sticks. I didn't have any, and didn't want to go buy any, either. But, we do have three trees in the backyard!
So out went Flower, gathering up all the super small sticks she could find. If you want to make one with your kids, you'll want to find some relatively smooth sticks. It makes painting easier, as well as choosing the sticks!
We pulled out the paints again, and Flower painted each one.
It was a test of her patience!
After that, we sat and thought of all the people we could pray for. We listed out Daddy, Mama, Flower and Little Man, as well as Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Once Flower realized we could pray for anyone, she started coming up with some great ideas! We also wrote out our pastors, missionaries, friends at school, teachers, the daycare kids and their families, people who don't know who Jesus is, our Girl Scout friends, people in the military, our president, and our neighbors. I was so happy to see how excited she got, just thinking about who we were going to pray for!
While she was at school, I grabbed some of my index cards, and cut them into smaller pieces. On each one, I wrote a name from the list, then punched holes on either end. I threaded each name onto a stick.
I had a little decorative bucket I found at the dollar store, so we put them all into the bucket.
Each morning, we draw a stick to see who we will pray for! Our first prayer is together, when we are sitting eating breakfast and having our devotional before school. Each day I write a note to Flower to put in her lunchbox, and I remind her there who we are praying for that day.
There are other variations on this, too! If your kids can't read, try gluing photos of the people you want to pray for! Write names on flower shapes, and have a "prayer garden"!
This has been so fun to do with my kids! Its reminds us that if we "stick" to praying, God will hear us, and He will answer our prayers! It reminds that there is always someone who needs a little prayer.
We pulled out the paints again, and Flower painted each one.
It was a test of her patience!
After that, we sat and thought of all the people we could pray for. We listed out Daddy, Mama, Flower and Little Man, as well as Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Once Flower realized we could pray for anyone, she started coming up with some great ideas! We also wrote out our pastors, missionaries, friends at school, teachers, the daycare kids and their families, people who don't know who Jesus is, our Girl Scout friends, people in the military, our president, and our neighbors. I was so happy to see how excited she got, just thinking about who we were going to pray for!
While she was at school, I grabbed some of my index cards, and cut them into smaller pieces. On each one, I wrote a name from the list, then punched holes on either end. I threaded each name onto a stick.
I had a little decorative bucket I found at the dollar store, so we put them all into the bucket.
Each morning, we draw a stick to see who we will pray for! Our first prayer is together, when we are sitting eating breakfast and having our devotional before school. Each day I write a note to Flower to put in her lunchbox, and I remind her there who we are praying for that day.
There are other variations on this, too! If your kids can't read, try gluing photos of the people you want to pray for! Write names on flower shapes, and have a "prayer garden"!
This has been so fun to do with my kids! Its reminds us that if we "stick" to praying, God will hear us, and He will answer our prayers! It reminds that there is always someone who needs a little prayer.
This is fabulous!! What a wonderful visual for kids to teach them how to pray! I want to do this with my kiddos. I will link to you when we do.
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