Here’s a simple way of worshipping at home on your own or with your family. This one explores the holy habit of prayer.
- Say you’re going to be a little part of (name your church) church at home today.
- Light a candle and pray:
With the light of this candle, we remember the light of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God, you are here with us now and also with our friends and family in their homes today.
Especially we remember that you are also with… (invite everyone to remember people from church, school, extended family, neighbourhood)
Thank you, Jesus, light for the world. Amen
- Say: Today we’re thinking about prayer: not wishlists we read out to God, but prayer as the holy habit that connects us with God and with God’s kingdom, like air connects us with life.
Invite everyone to have two minutes to go round your home and bring back to the table one object that says something about prayer. Talk about what everyone brings back. If they fit into any of the sections below, refer back to them.
- Play some or all of Aretha Franklin’s ‘I say a little prayer for you‘ and talk about what everyone thinks of the way she prays in this song.
- Ask someone to read Luke 11:1-4.
Ask: Why do you think Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray?
- Say: God’s people have prayed in many different ways. Here are a few.
Draw the shape from the photo – there are 3 photos – on to a piece of paper, give everyone coloured pens and fill it in as you go along, getting everyone’s suggestions of words or pictures to put in each section. If everyone thinks of other ways of praying, such as praying for other people, add more pieces of paper.
- They pray to praise God, just enjoying who God is
- They pray with silence and listen to God
- They pray with words – sometimes prayers created by other people and sometimes prayers straight from their heart
- They pray to say sorry
- They pray to say thank you
- They pray in anger, sadness or frustration
- Say the Lord’s Prayer together, with or without actions
- Say the Messy Grace if you usually do that at Messy Church
- Blow out the candle, changing the light from visible to invisible light
Prayer notebook activity
If you’d like to make a notebook to write down reminders of who to pray for, this video is a really easy way to make a tiny notebook from one sheet of paper and only needs a pair of scissors and a sheet of A4 paper. Write a person’s name on each page and pray for them at bedtime or first thing in the morning.
