Prayer activities around Yeah, right! theme
For children
God loves you
for younger children
Look again at the pictures you drew of each other (in God’s here ), and ask the children to identify each one. Invite the children to hold hands in a circle, put the pictures in the centre, and walk around, singing the following for each child (to the tune ‘Skip to my Lou’)
(name — repeated if needed) God loves you,
You are special, and we pray for you,
God will always be with you,
God knows all of us.
If you haven’t drawn the pictures, you can still do this. Ask each child to name one other person in the group, and then use the prayer.
Again, using the identified pictures, display them and invite each child to stand facing his or her picture. Go along the line, calling each child by name. As each child turns, the group says:
‘(Name) , God will be with you this week wherever you are. Look for God.’
When all the children have turned around, pray for the group as a whole, asking that others will see God in the things the children do.
(You can also do this without the pictures!)
A responsive prayer
Loving God, help us to recognise you when you speak to us,
help us not to be too busy for you.
Loving God, help us to understand what you want us to do,
help us not to be too busy for you.
Loving God, help us to live our lives in such a way that others will know how much we honour and respect you,
help us not to be too busy for you.
Amen.
For young people
Roll of honour
Abraham chose to honour God through his hospitality, but we can honour God in other ways. Give the young people some time to write up words and phrases on the graffiti wall (see Set the scene ) to honour God, in praise or thanks.
Possible impossible
Becoming pregnant seemed laughable to Sarah, yet it was clearly not impossible for God, who doesn’t have our limitations — anything is possible for God. Hand out paper and pens, and give the group time to write a prayer asking for God’s help in a situation or scenario, even if it seems impossible!
Alphabety God
Abraham made sure he gave God the honour he deserved, and we need to remember to do the same in our prayers. Sit the group in a circle, and have each person in turn come up with an ending to the sentence ‘Thank you, God, for being…’. The first person chooses an ending beginning with ‘a’, the second with ‘b’ and so on until you’ve got to ‘z’.
Restful God
Play some restful music and have a time of silence. Encourage the young people to sit or lie down, away from the distractions of others, and to shut their eyes. Invite the young people to use the time to ask God to refresh them — to rest and to reflect on the things they’ve done during the week and the ways in which they’ve met God. Finish with a short prayer.