Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

-Philippians 4:6

1. Your place (individual)

Find a place away from the hustle and bustle of life. This could be a favorite spot outdoors, a closet in your home, or a quiet spot in the library, driving in your car. Spend time praying in this space and listening to what God has to say to you.

2. Building a wall (group/family)

Collect some large rocks (you could all do this together) so that each person has one. Encourage the children to think of one thing that God has done for them. They then write it down on the rock. Now get each of them to bring their rock and make a “memorial” pile to remember God’s goodness (see Joshua 4).

Note: you could also use shoe boxes.

3. A.C.T.S. (ALL)

Pray using this accronym as your guide.

A. Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfil the commandment to love him with all of our heart, mind and soul. As we spend time in adoration, we praise God for who He is - our Creator, our Sustainer and our Redeemer.

C. Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him.  All of us have sinned. John writes in his epistle "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (I Jn 1:8,9)

T. Thanksgiving.  From childhood we are brought up to say "Thank You" when someone does something for us, or gives us a gift.  Each moment God is blessing us, every minute we can recall the wonderful things that God has done for us, and the gifts that we have been given. And so, we need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings.

S. Supplication or Intercession. Finally we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others. There are many demands on our prayer time - many topics and issues that we could pray for, so we need to choose, and to be specific.

4. Photographs (individual/family)

Gather pictures of family, friends, or symbols that will help you to remember to pray for certain people and things. Pin these up on a bulletin board in your home so that when you look at the board you are reminded to pray for the pictures posted.

5. The “Hot seat” (group/family)

Set a stool in the middle of the room. Each person in turn sits on the stool and everyone else gathers round to pray for them. Explain about laying hands on someone and encourage them to listen to God as they pray. They could pray one at a time, or all at once out loud.

6. Play dough prayers (families)

Give each child some play dough or soft modelling material (even clay) and encourage them to make models of their family, their house, a friend or their school. They then use these to pray for the people they represent. You might suggest that they lift them up to Father God as they pray or have a large cross where the models can be placed symbolically.

7. Newspaper prayers (All)

Get out your local or national newspapers and search them to find things to give thanks and pray for. You could ring the articles with marker pens or cut them out.

8. Missionary correspondance (All)

Get ahold of news and prayer letters from missionaries and e-mail them or write letters to these missionaries for up-to-date prayer requests and answers.

9. Prayer wall (All)

Sometimes it’s easier to write or draw than it is to speak out prayers. Why not have a write-on prayer wall? This could be a whiteboard, blackboard, large sheets of paper, even a whitewashed or blackboard-painted wall. Note that you don’t have to understand the detail for the prayer to be valid!

10. Journal your prayers (Individual)

Set aside some time each day/week to journal your prayers. You can write your prayers word for word, take notes, or draw symbols. Make sure you date the prayers so you can see how God answered them.