We have been thinking of new ways to engage families in spiritual formation during the summer time. So many families travel on weekends during the summer and that means missing worship and all the…
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During the summer of 2012, my daughter and I visited a restaurant at the beach that gave me an idea. The restaurant had something called a Wishing Wall. Ever seen one? The whole wall was filled with tiny cubbies. Everyone was invited to write a wish on a colored piece of paper, roll it up, and stick it inside a cubby. The different colored papers made the most beautiful abstract artwork! I decided to make a cross with cubbies and have the kids write a prayer on their paper on the first day of Sunday school with the instructions that we would read them on the last day of class and discuss their outcomes. It took several weeks to completely fill the cross because I wanted to make sure everyone had an opportunity to write at least one prayer. There was really only one rule: the prayer had to be for someone else. We actually began reading the prayers about a month before the last day because I didn’t want to miss anyone who may be leaving for an early vacation. I was quite pleased with how it all turned out. For those whose prayers were answered—well, isn’t God wonderful! For those whose prayers were not answered, we talked about how God’s plans are not always our plans. It was a wonderful segue into having faith that God knows best. Two people who had prayers that were not answered shared stories of how the unanswered prayer turned out to be the best thing. Again, isn’t God wonderful! This exercise teaches children to focus on looking to God for help, strength and understanding not just for ourselves, but for others as well. We see through answered prayers that God hears us. It draws us closer to Him and strengthens our faith and trust in Him. It's important to talk about how not all prayers are answered. Sometimes we can see later how that was the best thing, but sometimes we still don't understand why our prayers were not answered. This is where trust is so important. We have to remember that God always does the right thing, and although we don't understand it right now, He loves us deeply and is doing what is best for us. This would also be a great learning tool to use at home with the whole family, or with homeschoolers, play groups, and youth groups of all ages. Materials needed: 6 wooden boxes (I found mine at Michael’s for just a few dollars) 15 toilet paper rolls (cut in half) or as many as needed to fill your boxes Hot glue gun & glue Yarn or cord for hanging Command hook for hanging Strips of colored paper 1. Glue boxes together in a cross pattern. 2. Glue toilet paper halves in place. 3. Glue cord to back for hanging. I think it’s prettier with the paper rolled tighter, so next time I’ll probably add pieces of cardboard in an X shape inside the toilet paper compartments to divide them into 4 smaller spaces each. I only had 12 kids last year, so I kept them large and we each had at least two prayers. We hung our cross on the classroom door for everyone to enjoy. NOTE: All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation. Thanks so much!
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If you are looking for an active, kinaesthetic, way of praying in a small group or even with the whole congregation, then this might be for you! You will need: A collection of buttons of different shapes, sizes and colours- at least one button for each person praying. Give everyone a button. Feel the hardness of the button and think about people who are going through hard times. Ask God to help them. Buttons are used to fasten clothes together. Ask God to bring together people who have fallen out and moved apart from each other. Pray that He will bring peace. Look at your button and see how many holes it has. Think of that number of things you would like to say thank you to God for and say Thank you prayers. Look at the colour of the button and say thank you to God for something that is that colour Find someone who has the same colour button as you. You might want to make a small group of people with the same colour. Say thank you to God for families. Ask God to bless them and help them to live together and to love each other. Find someone who has a different button to you- it could be different in shape, size or colour. Thank God for making everyone different and giving us all different gifts. Pray for the person you have found. Ask Them what they would like God to help them with.
Bid vir jou man... Lees die teksverse na en gebruik die riglyn vir gebed in 10 areas van jou man se lewe... Pray for your man... Read these bible verses and pray for these 10 things....
This experiment with skittles is colourful, easy and makes a great statement about what we are asking God to do when we pray. In essence, prayers are a way of joining with God and asking him to have an effect on the world and situations around us. We pray because we believe that our prayers, through God's power, will make a difference to the world. In this activity, colour is released from the sweets into the surrounding water, creating a colourful picture, symbolic of how the prayers we raise to God are a way of us joining with Him to release the kingdom here on earth and have an impact. You will need: A bag of skittles, a plate, hot water (not hot enough to scald, but hot enough to make the colour run!) Arrange the skittles in the plate Pour some hot water onto the plate to cover its surface. Pour it carefully so that the skittles stay in place. Wait and the skittles will gradually release their colour Try an alternative... Cover the surface of the plate with water and ask children to pick up a skittle, pray for a person or situation and place the skittle on the plate.
