FHE Idea: Prayer

Clipart from LDSfiles.com

Scripture: James 1:5

Song: I Pray in Faith (Children's Songbook, #14) (Download the song here or see the words and music here)

Activity and Lesson Ideas:

• Gather enough rocks for your family and get some paint (think puffy paint or even acrylic paint and a small paintbrush). Paint the words, "Did you think to pray?" on each rock. Each person is supposed to put their rock on their pillows (preferably in the morning after they make their bed) and then when they get in the bed, they see the rock and it reminds them to pray. Subsequently it gets put on the floor and when you stand up in the morning, you see/step on it and remind yourself to pray again. You could also make a special pillowcase, picture, or anything else special that each person can hang up to remind them to pray.
• Ask each person (or those capable of doing so) to share an experience they've had with prayer or why prayer is important to them.
• Make a list of reasons, times, and places that we can pray. The point of this is to show that we can pray for anything, anytime, and anywhere, even if it's just a silent prayer.
• If you have young children, you might consider starting with the basics - learning how to pray. I know that with Andyroo (who is 3), he can pray on his own, but it's really the same exact prayer unless we prompt him to say something else. We're working on helping him say different things, but it takes time to learn that prayers don't have to be the same thing every time. Discuss the parts of a prayer and why each part is important (the opening, thanking Heavenly Father, asking for blessings, and the closing). For younger children, you could use this flip book activity from the Nursery Manual (pg 16-19).
• Here are a few poems and articles I found that might be helpful for planning your lesson
• "My Little Prayer" - a poem from the October 2011 Friend
• Watch this short video from LDS.org about one woman's experience with prayer
• "Come Unto Him in Prayer and Faith" - an article by President Thomas S. Monson in the March 2009 Ensign
• "How Can I Make Prayer More Meaningful" - an article by Elder D. Todd Christofferson from the October 2010 New Era. It's a Q&A format meant to help make prayer more meaningful.