Getting Students Comfortable With Prayer

Teaching prayer can sometimes be dry and sterile. It is not a topic that leads itself to the vibrant engaging activity. Well that is what I thought until last year when I decided to change how I approach the topic of Chirstian Prayer. The main goal is no longer for students to know the difference between a petition and intercession, or private and corporate prayer. It is more important for each student to pray, to try new ways of praying, to see me pray, to hear and share stories of praying, to get comfortable praying from the heart and mind alone and with others. Don't get me wrong I still teach "prayer vocabulary", but we speak and write prayers while learning term.

Most recently, my students finished a simple project in which they created visual Our Father slide-shows. Once they are finished, we use student visual prayers to begin class. It has produced a deeper insight into the meaning behind each word of the prayer. This was only done after weeks of careful study and discussion on the meaning of the payer.

The Religion Teacher, a blog that I regularly read, recently posed another great prayer method.

As Christians we are programmed to pray with our hands usually held together tightly. The five finger prayer method is a great way for children to literally pray with their hands and fingers. You can pray this prayer together with your kids in class or have them pray it at home in their personal prayer time or with their families.

The Five Finger Prayer Method for Kids | The Religion Teacher | Catholic Religious Education:

'via Blog this'

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