8/14/2019 Ways to Pray 2

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ways-to-pray-2 1/1

Praying with the imagination

Ask the pupils to close their eyes. Imagineyou are surrounded by darkness. Listen tothe sounds around you. Picture theclassroom in your mind. Picture in your mindyour best friend. Imagine what it would be

like if you were blind and unable to seethings or people again! Now listen to thestory of ‘The healing of Bartimaeus. (seeMark 10: 46-52). Read it slowly. At the end invite the pupils to think about what Jesusdid for the blind man. open your eyes. ThankGod for the gift of sight.

Try this with other short Gospel stories.

Photo prayers

Have a collection of photos (people, places,situations etc). Invite a pupil to choose one of the photos. Ask the class to share their thoughts about what they see. Conclude with ashort prayer thanking God for the insights we

are given.

Making a prayer circle

Ask the pupils to join hands. Mentionpeople/situations that it would be good to keepin our thoughts and prayers. Still holdinghands, say the Lord’s prayer slowly andthoughtfully, pausing after each phrase.

Praying with pebbles etc

Give each pupil a pebble (etc). Ask them tolook at it. Ask them to close their eyes and thento feel it carefully. Reflect on the idea that weare all unique and this is something to thankGod for. God loves us and accepts us just aswe are.

God in nature

Ask the pupils to provide an object from natureor supply one yourself (a leaf, twig, flower,stone pine cone, shell, sand etc.). With somequiet music in the background, encourage thepupils to be still but relaxed. With the object intheir hands ask, Is it hard/soft? Does it have asmell? Does it tell you anything about God? IsGod like the object in any way? What does it 

tell you about yourself? Are you like this object in any way? Turn to God in your heart. Thinkwhatever is prompted by your heart.

Echo prayers

Ask the pupils to echo (slowly) a phrasespoken by you or a leader, such as Thank you,

Lord, for the experiences of this day. Help us,Lord, to be the people you want us to be …

Using the rosary

Rosary beads help some people to meditate.Traditionally the Hail Mary is said ten times(corresponding to ten beads) providing aprayerful background to thinking about keymoments or ‘mysteries’ in the salvation story.

With some imagination this can be adapted tosuit the needs of the class. A short prayer could be repeated while the class look at animage that might stimulate their imagination.Music can also be played to enhance theatmosphere.

More prayer resourceswill be placed on thepool in the ‘Ways to

pray’ folder.