Teaching tip 31 - Teaching children to P.R.A.Y.
Teaching tip 31 - Teaching children to P.R.A.Y.Here is a simple prayer pattern that you can teach children so as to help encourage them to get into regular prayer habits.
Preparation. Get a piece of cardboard, and write out the four words as shown below, ensuring that the first letter of each word is larger than the others.
Praise
Regrets
Ask
Yourself
Cut and fold the cardboard in such a way that you can show the word 'PRAY' on its own, and then in turn unfold the remainder of each word as you talk about it.
Teaching. Prayer is talking to God, and I can't think of anything that God likes better than when we do this. We can talk to God anywhere, anytime, and about anything. The most important thing about prayer, however, is that it should be regular. Set aside a few minutes every day to talk to God. Most people find that the best time of the day to do this is either first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, before they go to bed. These are times which you can easily remember, and you are less likely to be interrupted.
There are basically four different types of prayer, and if you remember the word 'P.R.A.Y.' it will remind you of them. You can use this as your prayer pattern as you talk to God.
P stands for 'Praise'. (Unfold the card to reveal the first word). Praise is talking (or singing) to God about God. You could pray something like "God you're good, loving, wonderful, awesome etc." Praise also includes thanksgiving. I am sure you can all think of a lot to thank God for - Your lives, His gift of Jesus, your families, friends, school, etc.
R stands for 'Regrets'. Think back to the last time you prayed, and ask yourself if there is anything you regret - anything that you have done, said, or even thought that you are sorry about. If there is, ask God to forgive you, and He well. Then ask Him to help you do better next time.
A stands for 'Ask'. We can ask God to help others. We can pray for our family, friends, anybody at all and ask God to be with them and meet their needs. The Bible particularly says that we should pray for those in authority over us, e.g. parents, teachers, those in government. If you don't know their particular needs, you could ask God to help them make good choices.
Y stands for 'Yourself'. God encourages us to come to Him and ask for our needs. In fact, Jesus promised that He would give us all our needs. What are some of the things we need? That's right, food, water, clothes, homes, families to look after us, peace (if we are troubled), joy (if we are sad), love (if someone is annoying us), patience (if we are waiting for something). However, God did not promise to give us everything we want - our wants are different from our needs. God likes to bless us, and there is nothing wrong in asking Him for whatever you want. But He knows what is best for you, and will never give you something that would be bad for you. Therefore, His answer to your request might be Yes, wait, or no. (You could do the well known traffic light illustration here).
Conclusion. Let's all say aloud together the four different types of prayer.
P stands for - - - - - Praise.
R stands for - - - - - Regrets.
A stands for - - - - - Ask.
Y stands for - - - - - Yourself.
Application. Following on from this teaching, I often get the children to write out a prayer along the lines I have described. I emphasise that if they do not wish to write a particular type of prayer (e.g. Regrets) that is alright. Finally, I encourage them to conclude by actually praying their prayer.
I will share a few of the children's prayers that have been written in my classes recently. They never cease to bless and/or amuse me.
Children's prayers.
Praise.
"God, you are really caring about other people, especially me."
"God, you are wonderful and fun. You are the best Dad."
"God, you are an angel for helping other people."
Regrets.
"I am sorry for doing everything bad, but I will try to get good, and make my family go to church."
"I am sorry that I don't like my brother a lot."
"I am sorry for strangling my brothers and stealing my mum's money."
"Sorry for swearing sometimes. I didn't know what I was doing. Do you forgive me?"
"Forgive me for asking for something that I never got."
Ask.
"Please help the people who live on the street."
'God, I ask you to help my _________. They seem very dim. So please help them."
"God, can you please look after my poor dog 'Racer' in heaven."
"Can you please help my brother to behave better, because he is naughty all the time."
Yourself.
"Please God, can you be with me wherever I am, even when I am in a different country."
"God, I really like to sing. When I am older I want to sing out loud on stage, and live in a big fancy house."
"God, help me make good choices in life, and can I have an air-rifle."
"God, make sure that I will be a professional soccer player."
"Dear Lord, I have nothing to ask for. I have everything I need. Amen."
"God, if you wrote the Bible, why does it not say "Written and illustrated by God" on the cover of my Bible?"
posted by Maurice Sweetsur @ 7:27 PM
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