All posts tagged prayer

Response Stations

By | May 11, 2012 | The Gathering | No comments

The cool thing about having The Gathering at Rock Harbor church is the opportunity to see Tru in action.  The classrooms are set up as they are throughout the week, so we can see the different response stations for the kids.  Today we’ll get to see the class experience in action, so I’m excited for that!

Journal Response

Journal Station

I like the heavy duty journal and Bibles underneath

Prayer Response

Prayers are held on with clothespin and yarn

Prayer Wall

Art Station

Art Station

Sunday Sermon: Rebuilding the World

By | June 28, 2011 | My Thoughts | Comments Off
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This past Sunday we had a guest speaker from India share a message from Nehemiah (chapter one) with our church.  He made some great points as to why Nehemiah was effective in his mission.  I thought I’d share with the readers here. Enjoy!

Nehemiah Was Filled with Compassion

When Nehemiah heard the news about his people, he wept and mourned for many days. Verse four says, ”When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”   When was the last time we really mourned for anything, not directly related to ourselves?  When we really got on our faces in intercession for another person or people group?  When we felt the pain on injustice burning deeply in our own hearts?
For many of us, it’s been too long, I’m afraid.  It’s inconvenient.  It’s stressful.  It’s not easily scheduled, and it doesn’t seem very productive.  Oh yeah, and it’s pretty uncomfortable too.  And to prolong the mourning for days?  That seems like too much.  But what if it did it?  What if we really thought about the spiritual state of our country or even our own neighborhood?  The souls of our friends and family?  What if we truly mourned, fasted, and prayed for those things that we say we really care about?
Check out this great soundtrack about the subject of mourning:

Nehemiah Was Connected

  1. To God (through prayer, fasting, and making the Lord a priority)
  2. To the People: “…while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem” (vs 1-2).  Nehemiah took the time to ask about his people.  How often are we so busy scurrying around with our to-do list that we don’t have time to ask (and listen!) to how people are doing.

Nehemiah Was Filled with Prayer

Check out Nehemiah’s prayer (vs 5-10):

“LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

In this prayer, Nehemiah was opening his whole heart to God.  He was revealing his true feelings and he wasn’t holding back.  He understood the holiness of God and sought righteousness by confessing both his own sin and the sins of the nation before making a request.  He prayed with confidence and a firm trust in God.

Remember Jacob when he wrestled with God?  He said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26).   Do we have the confidence in God to make such a request?  Do we persevere in prayer till we see results?  I for one, am not such a diligent prayer.  When I think about the lives that are possible affected by my ministry, I am ashamed that I do not take praying for these souls more seriously.

Finally, Nehemiah Was a Man of Sacrifice

Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the King.  He lived a comfortable life, and he knew in order to rebuild the walls he would have to leave that life.  Once on the build site, he was criticized by his people, attacked by enemies, ridiculed and more. It was worth the sacrifice to him, though.  He was a man on a mission.

 

 

Friday Freebie: Adventures in Odyssey

By | June 17, 2011 | Ministry Ideas, Parents, Prayer, Preteens, Resources | Comments Off
odys

I was browsing through the latest copy of Thriving Family Magazine when I read about a great radio program for preteens about prayer.  Even better?  You can download it free — a great resource for both parents and children’s ministry workers. Here’s the description:

Do your tweens understand that prayer reflects a unique relationship between God and man?  Or do they approach prayer like ti’s simply a way to get what they want?  As your tweens mature, they may begin to appreciate the importance and privilege of talking to their Creator.  Download this complimentary episode called “When in Doubt…Pray!” to explore the deeper realities of prayer with your child.

Also, find more free episodes at Whitsendblog.org/thriving.  Each episode comes with summary and discussion questions.

Make a Prayer Mural

By | April 27, 2011 | Prayer, Spiritual Milestones | 2 Comments
Flickr by kk+

Prayer Mural: A Hands-on Approach to Get Kids Engaged in Prayer

Recently I read, “Children tend to be egocentric in their prayers, but not selfish.  Egocentric means their world is small.  Their prayers are limited to pets, family, and friends.  It is our job to enlarge their world and also mentor children how to pray.  Without this coaching, the prayers of children remain the typical bedtime prayers that never change until eventually, the desire itself to pray is lost” (Hohman, Kids Making a Difference).

How do we expand the prayer list of the children in our ministries?  By putting ideas in their hands, literally.   One way to do this is through prayer cards.  Another way is with a prayer mural.  Here’s how to create one:

  1. Encourage parents and congregation members to save their magazines and newspapers for about a month.
  2. Browse through magazines as a small group, discussing things the pictures might represent.    Missions magazines might be especially helpful for this (you can get a free subscription to Alliance Life here).
  3. Additionally, you might  want to draft up a list of prayer ideas such as military personal, national leaders, healthy food for kids, quality time for families, safety for missionaries, housing for the homeless, etc and have kids find matching pictures in magazines.
  4. Look over the headlines in the newspaper and cut out ones the kids can pray about.
  5. Take some pictures of the leaders in your church, such as the pastor, children’s ministry director, music director, etc and add it to the collection.
  6. When you have enough pictures gathered up, glue them to a giant sheet of butcher or mural paper.   Make sure to label each picture with an appropriate prayer request.
  7. During prayer time, have kids walk along the prayer mural, touching each picture and praying for the request that accompanies it.  Kids can take turns praying, pray silently, or whatever is appropriate for your group.
  8. As the weeks progress, you can add more prayer requests to the mural or add praises to it as well.  If your church has a congregational prayer request list (for weekly prayer meeting), be sure to add some of those requests as well.
  9. If your mural is looking a little sparse, browse through Scripture for ideas.  Some key passages might include Matthew 6, James 1:5, Philippians 4:6 or whatever you are currently studying in your ministry.

Above all, keep practicing prayer, no matter what method you use.  The more you practice, the more it will become a habit for both the kids and the volunteers in your ministry.  What method have you found especially effective in engaging kids in prayer?

 

Warning: This Book Will Not Change Your Life

By | February 2, 2011 | Prayer, Resources, Reviews | 3 Comments
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I just finished reading through Couples Who Pray by Squire Rushnell and Louis Duart.  I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I was with this book.  The introduction was consumed with author self-accolades and ravings about the celebrity couples whose quasi-perfect marriages were improved by the 40 day prayer challenge.   After I trudged through that completely useless section, I was lucky enough to read about the “Life-changing Lovemaking” that results from the methods in this book.    The rest of the chapters followed in the same way, giving story after story of how the prayer challenge revolutionized marriages near and far.  Some of this is nice, of course, but seventy pages of it? Seems like a little much.

Finally, in section three, you think you’ve arrived at the prayer challenge only to find you have to read through a bunch of theology — some of it very faulty.  One example I found especially alarming was the woman who started “tithing” by promising her clients that 10% of her commission would go to a charity of their choice. Apparently, she felt pretty strongly that you could use this act of worship as a business tactic and God would be completely okay with that.

The book never actually outlines a 40 day prayer challenge — I guess you’re on your own for that.  If I were you, I’d skip this book and all its ridiculous testimonials and just start praying with your spouse.     Or pick up one of these resources:

The Power of Prayer to Change Your Marriage

The Power of a Praying® Wife

The Power of a Praying® Husband Deluxe Edition

The One Year Book of Praying through the Bible

Disclosure:  I received this book free from BookSneeze.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Teaching Kids to Pray

By | January 26, 2011 | Prayer, Resources, Spiritual Milestones | 2 Comments
Child Praying

I’ve been taking a class at CMUO and have been truly been inspired by the children prayer warriors I have read about.  In our textbook, Kids Making a Difference, author Pete Hohmann states:

“Children tend to be egocentric in their prayers, but not selfish.  Egocentric means their world is small.  Their prayers are limited to pets, family, and friends.  It is our job to enlarge their world and also mentor children how to pray.  Without this coaching, the prayers of children remain the typical bedtime prayers that never change until eventually, the desire itself to pray is lost” (p12).

So how do we mentor and coach children to pray?  Here are some great resources to point you in the right direction:

When Children Pray: Teaching Your Kids to Pray with Power

Prayer Adventure for Boys & Girls/Teacher’s

52 WAYS TO TEACH CHILDREN TO PRAY

The Power of a Praying® Kid

Let the Children Pray: How God’s Young Intercessors Are Changing the World

In our Kids Club, we’ve been using Prayer Cards and praying in small groups or as a large group almost every week.  I’m also thinking about starting a monthly prayer group/club that will meet during the Sunday School hour for some in depth prayer coaching and practice for interested kids.

Related Posts about Prayer:

Making a Prayer Mural

 

Praying around the Clock: Fun craft idea for families!

Constant Prayer: Book Review

And It Will Take My Breath Away: Preparing for the spiritual “wow” moments

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