Family Prayer Room

In this room:

Preparation

Decide as a family when and where you will do these prayer activities – in your lounge, kitchen, a bedroom or other space. Try to remove distractions – turn phones off, TV off etc. You may find that it helps to have quiet worship music on in the background.

For the various activities below you will need:

• Bible
• Paper
• Pens or pencils
• Bin or waste paper basket
• Small Basket or bowl
• Colouring pencils
• Counters from games
• Hand sanitiser

You can print the resources from the activities below here:-

1 Adoration

(10 mins)

Choose one of the worship songs below. Join in with singing the words and do the actions

Read together the Psalm below

1 Lord our Lord, your name is the most wonderful in all the earth!

    It brings you praise everywhere in heaven.

2 From the mouths of children and babies come songs of praise to you.

    They sing of your power to silence your enemies who were seeking revenge.

3 I look at the heavens you made with your hands.

    I see the moon and the stars you created.

4 And I wonder, “Why are people so important to you?

    Why do you even think about them?

Why do you care so much about humans[a]?

    Why do you even notice them?”

5 But you made them almost like gods

    and crowned them with glory and honor.

6 You put them in charge of everything you made.

    You put everything under their control.

7 People rule over the sheep and cattle and all the wild animals.

8 They rule over the birds in the sky

    and the fish that swim in the sea.

9 Lord our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!

2 Confession and receiving forgiveness

(5 mins)

This is a time to say sorry to God for things we’ve done or haven’t done which has not made God happy.

Let each person write or draw on a piece of paper what they want to say sorry to God for. This is between each person and God – they don’t need to show the rest of the family if they don’t want to.

Say together the words of this prayer

Father God, we come to you as your children.

We are sorry for the times we have let you down.

We’re sorry for not loving you with all our heart,

with all our soul,

with all our strength

and with all our mind.

We’re sorry for not loving other people as much as we love ourselves.

We’re sorry for when we’ve not been upset by things that upset you.

We’re sorry for when we’ve ignored someone instead of helping them

We’re sorry for when we’ve not used our possessions, money, time and talents the way you would want us.

Thank you that you forgive us because Jesus died for us.

Each person can screw up their piece of paper and throw it into the bin as a visual reminder that God forgives the wrong things we’ve done because Jesus died for us.

Amen!

3 Thanksgiving

(5 mins)

Read the following verses together

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart.
    I will tell about the wonderful things you have done.
You make me happy, so I will rejoice in you.
    God Most High, I praise your name

(Psalm 9:1-2, Easy to Read version)

Give each family member 3 or 4 small pieces of paper

Without taking long, each person should write or draw something they want to thank God for on each of their pieces of paper. Fold up each piece of paper and put it into a bowl or basket.

Mix up the folded papers in the bowl and pass the bowl around. Each person should take one piece of paper, unfold it and say a prayer of thanks for whatever is on the paper: “Thank you God for……”. Then pass the bowl on to the next person until all the pieces of paper have been taken out.

Add some of your prayers of thanksgiving to the Prayer wall

4 Praying for our neighbourhood

(10 mins)

With a large piece of paper, sketch a map of the area you live. You may like to cover just your local neighbourhood or draw the whole town (but don’t take too long drawing the map)

Alternatively, you can print out the map below by selecting the zoom level you want, then click 'view larger map' then select print from the menu in the top right corner.

By placing counters or pieces of a board game (monopoly is ideal) or lego people and small bricks, mark on the map things like:

• Where you live
• Where your friends live
• Your school
• The church
• Hospitals and doctors surgeries
• Shops, garages

Take it in turns to place a counter or figure on the map and say a prayer for that place on the map e.g.

• “Please help my friend……. with…….”
• “Please help the staff who work at the hospital”
• “Please help us to show your love to our neighbours”
• “Please help the people who work here”

5 Praying for the pandemic

(5 mins)

Pray for local and national leaders

Place your hands on your head and ask God to give wisdom to national and local political leaders as they make decisions to protect people.

Cup your hand over your ear and ask God to bring excellent advisers to guide them.

Open your hands in front of you and ask God to give them the ability to communicate clearly to the public.

Pray for those serving the sick

Rub sanitiser into your hands as you ask God to protect the health professionals (doctors, nurses, ambulance crews and more) caring for those affected by the virus.

Ask God to give them peace, wisdom, to anoint them for their jobs and to protect them from infection.

Pray for those who are sick or vulnerable

Stretch up high and thank God that He is bigger than any disease and that He is in control

Sit or lie down on the floor and pray for people you know who are sick or feeling weak at the moment

Jump up and thank God that he gives us hope; pray that those who are hurting would know God's hope.

6 Prayer Squares Game

(10 mins)

You will need: A piece of paper (or use the printout below) , pens or pencils (each player should have a different colour)

Draw some dots in lines and columns on the paper on a 7 x 7 grid, or print this out: Prayer Squares Grid

• Each player takes it in turns to draw a line between two of the dots.  Eventually, you will be able to close up boxes.  Whoever draws the line that closes the box can write or draw inside the box...
• Someone's name- ask God to bless them and help them
• Something that you want to thank God for
• Something you would like to ask God for
• Take time to say the prayer out loud or in your head, and then carry on!

7 Pray for the world

(5 mins)

Look at an atlas or globe or scroll around the map below and pick a country to pray for

Pray for the country you chose. See if it is listed in the operation world website below and if so use the short prayer video to guide you

Operation World Country videos

8 Listen

(5 mins)

Now it's time to listen to what the Holy Spirit might be saying to you. Listening isn’t always easy and it takes practice. If you find it helpful try colouring in or drawing with this colouring sheet as you ask God to show you what’s on his heart.

Pray the following prayer out loud then try to be quiet for 5 minutes and enjoy God’s presence. You may like to play some instrumental worship music in the background like this: Peace of God Children's Melodies

Dear God

Thank you that you are our father and you love to spend time with us

Help us to be aware of your presence as we spend some quiet time with you now.

Please fill us with your holy spirit now

Please remind us of who you are and your love for us

Please show us what’s on your heart

Help us to see what you see

Help us to listen to your voice

Come Holy Spirit

Amen

At the end of the quiet time share with each other how you found the quiet time with God and if you felt God was reminding you of anything, or saying anything to you. You can share this on the Virtual Prayer Wall

9 Respond

(5 mins)

To finish up your time of prayer you may like to join in the words and actions of this version of the Lord's prayer below:

Please give us your feedback about this virtual prayer room

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