In January of this year, we held a week-long prayer space in the prayer meeting room at church. Prayer spaces provide an interactive way to pray and are often used in schools with children who do not usually go to church, to help them explore the Christian faith. Below are some pictures for our prayer space.
Prayer Space at Home
There is an excellent website called Prayer Space in Schools which is full of ideas for prayer spaces, and which has recently been expanded to include a section on using prayer spaces in your home.
Here are some ideas for how you can use prayer space to help your prayer life during lockdown. These can be done with children, but are also very beneficial for adults.
One Minute of Thanks
It can be so easy at this time to get caught up in just asking God for things. Our HBC prayer WhatsApp group is full of requests for healing for those with Covid-19 and it is good and right that we pray for them. But let me encourage us to pause and just praise and thank God. For children (and even adults) this may be challenging so why not set a one-minute timer on your phone and pause to thank God during that time. You might start by reading a short Psalm and then spend the time thanking God for all the blessings in your life. You may even wish to spend that time in silence. You can extend the time beyond one minute for older children.
Get Well Soon
For this prayer, you will need some plasters and pens. Fabric plasters work best, but you can write on other plasters using permanent markers. Think of some people that you know who are unwell and write one name on each plaster. Make a poster of all the plasters and display it somewhere you will see it so you can remember to pray regularly for these people.
Help the NHS
We are all so grateful for the work the NHS is doing. We can do our part to protect the NHS by washing our hands regularly. When you are washing your hands for 20 seconds, spend that time praying a prayer of protection for the doctors, nurses and other frontline staff.
Fizzy Prayers
This was a popular activity at our church prayer space. You will need a glass of water and either a fizzy vitamin C tablet or a teaspoon of sugar (or a sugar cube). Think of a sin that you need forgiveness for. Add the tablet or sugar to the water, ask God for forgiveness and as it dissolves imagine that your sin is being forgiven, and forgotten, by God. You can speed this up for younger children by using warm water or stirring.
Pray for the World
For this prayer activity, you will need a map or globe – you could even print one off the internet. Write prayers for different countries on post-it notes and stick them on the relevant countries as you pray. You can use the news for inspiration or visit the Operation World website to find the prayer needs of specific countries that God lays on your heart.
Thankful Jar
You will need an empty jar, strips of paper and pens. Every day, ask every person in the house to write down something they are grateful for or a happy thought that they have had that day. Put them in the jar each day and at the end of the week, open the jar and read what you’ve been thankful for together. Say a prayer of thanks to God together.
That’s Not Fair
At this time of year, we reflect on Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus’ trial was unfair and rigged. There are many unfair situations in the world. Write the things you have thought of on some strips of paper then stick or staple them together to make a paper chain. Break each link in the chain as you pray for God to fix the unfair situations.
Be the Light
Who do you know who needs some encouragement at this time? Can you be a light for them in the darkness? Light a candle and pray for them (an adult should light the candle and supervise throughout). Perhaps you could send them a message or call them to encourage them.
Prayer Wall
Dedicate a blank wall in your home for prayers. You will need some post-it notes and pens. Whenever you get a prayer request or see something on the news that you want to pray for, write the prayer on a post-it note and stick it on the wall. You can continue to pray every time you read the note.
Letting Go
Write the things that are worrying you on a piece of paper. Sit and spend some time talking to God about these things. When you are ready, screw them up and throw them in the bin, symbolising that you’ve given these worries to God.
Other Ideas
I encourage you to visit the Prayer Space website for many more ideas. You can also be creative and think of your own. We would love to hear about the prayer space ideas that you have tried at home!