These Hands Can Pray

Last week, the Level I class  explored “What is Prayer?” Students shared what they knew about prayer then practiced many ways to pray: words, silence (hand on heart), a hum, open-hand movement, helping, and art. As a creative activity, each child pressed a sand–salt-dough hand print to remember, “These hands can pray!” 

The Level II class explored prayer as our response to God, “by thought and by deeds, with or without words” (BCP, p. 856). They learned about types of prayer including adoration, praise, thanksgiving, penitence, oblation, intercession, and petition, with simple examples. The book, Sparrow’s Prayer, prompted a discussion about wordless ways to pray. They practiced gentle breath-and-stretch prayers, and then rotated through two stations: tying a fleece prayer blanket (“our hands are praying; every knot is love”) which will be given to a special member of our community and creating artwork as a prayer of adoration and praise.