This post first appeared on another of my blogs in 2012, I'm reposting as we remade our prayer box this week, it had got a bit tatty and some of the prayers out of date and so we gave it an overhaul...
So some time ago I made myself a prayer box, there were so many people, so many situations to pray for, I just couldn't do them all every day! So I got a nice box and put in things and people I wanted to pray for on slips of paper. Now each day, I take 3 a day out of the box and pray for them. At bedtime each day I pray with my kids and they often go blank about what to pray for and they wanted to use my prayer box, which was nice but a bit difficult as some of the situations and people were just too difficult to explain! then they wanted to put things into my box, and then they wanted to make their own, which was probably the best idea! So we sat down and they made their own prayer box...
I love that this was something they wanted to do and I think it will continue to be a great way for them to think and pray about situations and people around them. I want them to be compassionate but also to recognise both the importance of and the effectiveness of prayer. It’s funny how so often we think that kids aren’t able to handle difficult situations, and I am regularly surprised by how much they can! They might not be so tactful as adults, but sometimes that’s good – they often ask the questions that we want to but can’t or find difficult. This week we have prayed for friends with marriage problems and a recent bereavement, and they have done so with such love and compassion, I have been really moved. Of course we have also had prayers to get picked for the cricket squad too… (and that prayer was answered ;)
