While lighting a candle to remind you of God’s Presence, have someone read the candle prayer.
Share something you are bringing into the room today– a feeling, a concern, a lament, something you are grateful for, or even something you have been distracted by this week. This kind of conversation helps us connect us to one another, but also helps us become more attuned to what is going on inside of us before we turn our attention to God in prayer.
These are the words Jesus gives his disciples to pray. Stanley Hauerwas says this about the Lord’s Prayer: ”This prayer is not for getting what we want, but rather for bending our wants towards what God wants.” This kind of bending, or formation takes place over time as we allow ourselves and our desires to be shaped by these words as we pray them regularly.
There are many ways to be shaped by this prayer–here is one way that Kim has been practicing recently. What follows is an audio file of Kim slowly reading through the prayer and offering some prompts to guide your personal reflection, leaving some silence in between prompts.
As you listen, you can close your eyes, you can allow your eyes to be guided by the words on page we have attached drawn by Dave Zimmerman, or doodle/colour while you pray. This audio recording is just over 12 minutes long.
What was that experience like for you? What, if anything, did you appreciate or find helpful? What was difficult? Feel free to share any particular parts of the prayer that resonated for you.
For the rest of our series in Luke, Communion is an optional practice during Small Church.
The communion table reminds us of the “great reversal’ where the hungry are fed, the sick and hurting are healed, and sinners forgiven. If, as Brian Zahnd says, “grace runs downhill”, then this table is at the bottom of the hill.
With some bread and some juice, serve each other the body and blood of Christ as a sign of the good news we share in Jesus.
We did our prayer series last summer and started with the Lord’s Prayer. If you never had the opportunity to do these activities then, or if you want to revisit it, we are sharing these resources again. We have also added two new book suggestions you may want to consider.
The story of a little girl who joins her father in repairing an elderly neighbour’s house, illustrated and described using the words of the Lord’s Prayer.
Faith Connection:
This book offers some great visuals to complement the themes of the Lord’s Prayer. We would recommend reading slowly and asking your child to notice details in each photo. Having a story to better illustrate the themes of the Lord’s Prayer should help it become more memorable. We hope the illustrations and story help bring the prayer to life.
Questions:
This collection of Psalms, paraphrased for young readers, uses simple yet powerful imagery to help children express their feelings.
Faith Connection:
The Psalms are such a wonderful part of the bible to focus on with kids because the words have such a focus on emotions. This book is a lovely way to talk about prayer and bringing our full selves to God. Some of the Psalms are to God and some are about God. The drawings in the book encourage the reader to use their imagination when praying and talking to God. This is a great bedtime reading option if you are looking to incorporate prayer into a bedtime routine.
Questions:
In The Rabbit Listened, Taylor builds a magnificent structure out of blocks and is filled with pride, only to be devastated when a passing flock of birds destroys it. One by one, a group of well-meaning animals approach, each offering their own way to “fix” the situation: shouting, forgetting, rebuilding, or seeking revenge. But none of them truly help—until the rabbit comes and simply sits beside Taylor, quietly listening.
Faith Connection:
This story can be used in many meaningful ways, but I think it’s especially powerful for talking about prayer. For many kids, and adults, connecting with an unseen God can feel difficult, especially when we don’t receive a tangible or immediate response like we do in other relationships. My boys, for example, have sometimes struggled to connect Jesus and God the Father, and this tension often comes up when we talk about prayer.
The rabbit in this story can be a helpful image of God – always present, always listening. Just as the rabbit doesn’t try to fix Taylor’s feelings or rush through the grief, God doesn’t judge us when we’re sad or angry. He doesn’t try to talk us out of our emotions. He sits with us in them. Though we may not see Him or hear an audible response, God is always at work, in our lives, in the lives of others, and in the world. And He’s given us the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us.
Prayer, then, can be as simple and profound as telling God what’s going on, trusting that He’s listening and that His presence is enough.
Questions:
All the Things I Say to God gently explores the rich world of prayer, showing children that they can talk to God anytime, anywhere, and about anything.
Abby has grown up praying with her parents; before meals, before bed, on both good days and hard ones. One day, she asks a simple but powerful question: “Mom, can I pray to God all by myself?” From there, Abby begins a journey of discovering what prayer really looks like. She learns how to express gratitude, ask questions, pray for others, and even embrace silence as a way of communicating with God. Through it all, she discovers that God’s love is wide, deep, and always available.
Faith Connection:
Although I haven’t had the chance to read this book yet, I’ve read other work by Tanner Olson and deeply appreciate his thoughtful, accessible approach to faith. This book comes highly recommended, especially by Sarah Bessey, and I imagine it would be a wonderful tool to model prayer for children and families alike.
Prayer is a spiritual practice that we grow into, and this book offers a gentle invitation to make it personal, practical, and relational.
Questions:
This week we’re inviting your children to engage in a creative and interactive activity that will help them understand the structure and meaning of the Lord’s Prayer. Our prayer sandwich craft, inspired by the concept found at Hey Sister Studio, will encourage your kids to visualize the different components of the Lord’s Prayer.
Materials:
Instructions:
You will receive a pre-printed Lord’s Prayer sandwich template with the prayer printed on it.
Encourage your child to colour the different parts of the prayer sandwich and cut out the bread slices and the sandwich fillings.
Assemble the prayer sandwich by stacking the pages in order of the numbers and securing them with a paper fastener. If you do not have paper fasteners in your house, a staple will work as well.
Use the sandwich to work through the lines of the lord’s prayer!
Benefits:
Creating a prayer sandwich helps children understand the different components of the Lord’s Prayer. By breaking down the prayer into smaller parts and associating them with tangible elements, children can better remember each section. This activity also encourages creativity and provides an opportunity for hands-on learning. The Lord’s Prayer is the way in which Jesus invited the disciples to pray. This visual sandwich could be a helpful template for creating personal prayers in the future. The bread is how we start and finish our prayers and the toppings are what we fill in the middle. You could use this metaphor as you pray with your kids in the future and could even make your own prayer sandwich with different prompts that work for your family.
We hope your children enjoy creating their prayer sandwiches and that they serve as a fun way to engage with the Lord’s Prayer.
Extra Idea: Make actual sandwiches with your family for a picnic. Use this time as an opportunity to pray as a family. Feel free to use the Lord’s Prayer or create your own version of the prayer. After you make your sandwiches, go enjoy a picnic lunch together!
