Prayer is like a Rainbow Cake

Last Sunday we learnt about prayer. Prayer is really just talking to God, and you can do it in lots of different ways.

Dylan made a rainbow cake with five layers. We thought this was a little bit like prayer. A prayer can be a bit like a cake, with lots of ingredients, or layers. Some people pray using their five fingers to help them remember what to pray for, like this:

1. Thumb: reminds us to pray for those closest to us (our family and friends).
2. Index finger (or pointer finger): reminds us to pray for our leaders and teachers - the people who point us in the right direction.
3. Middle finger (the tallest one): reminds us to pray for the leaders of our church, country & the world (they need a lot of help!)
4. Ring finger: reminds us to pray for people who are sick, sad, lonely or who need help.
5. Smallest finger: reminds us to pray for ourself!

We thought that by the time we got through all those other people and things to pray for, and got to the little finger, our problems might seem not quite so bad after all!

Another five finger prayer is this:
1. Praise God ("Hey God, we think you're great!")
2. Thank God for something
3. Say sorry to God for something
4. Ask God to help someone else
5. Ask God to help YOU!

Or, a simpler version is the J.O.Y. prayer:
J for Jesus - thank Jesus for something
O for Others - pray for others
Y for YOU - pray for yourself

Anyway... we decided it didn't matter how you pray, whichever way you do it - God will be very pleased to hear from you!

When we all pray together, like we do in church, or in Awesome Time, or on the Prayer Link Chain - we are all unified, or 'brought together' in prayer (just like all the parts of Dylan's rainbow cake). Wherever we come from, however old we are, whatever language we speak, when we pray together - God thinks that's pretty awesome.

Prayer is like an Umbrella too

We also thought that prayer is a bit like an umbrella in the storms of life. Prayer doesn't stop the rain from falling, but it helps shield and shelter us. We made a prayer umbrella! 

Georgia and Monica wrote on the edge of the umbrella "PRAYER IS LIKE AN UMBRELLA IN LIFE'S STORMS"
Then we each wrote a prayer and tied it to the umbrella.

We made loom band chains to remind us of our church's Prayer Chain, and how we can all be connected to God and to one another, in prayer. We also enjoyed the delicious rainbow cake, and made prayer pillow boxes.

Thanks to Isabella for writing and reading her own prayer in church. You are pretty awesome, Isabella!