I sat in on the 3rd graders prayer time and was thoroughly blessed by how heartfelt their prayers were. The 3rd graders along with Mrs. Chelsea were practicing upward, inward, and outward prayer. Upward is to praise God, inward is recognizing and asking God to forgive you for a sin, and outward is prayer to God for something going on in life that you need His guidance and help with. I could not help but smile as the children began to pray. Each child had a prayer cue card to use if they were stuck and could not think of anything. They could look at the cue card and be prompted. When Mrs. Chelsea announced that next they would be taking time to pray, Josh immediately said that he did not want to pray, he said that usually they don’t have to if they don’t want to. You see Mrs. Chelsea is not the regular 3rd grade teacher, and so she kindly asked Josh if tonight he would pray, since she was a visiting teacher. I tell you all this because you should have seen how submissive he was after Mrs. Chelsea said that to him, he did not even say anything else just sat there quietly and when it was his turn sure enough he opened up his mouth and prayed.
The upward prayer started with Madison, she and she praised God because he is able to protect her and is wise, Teagan praised God for talking and listening to her, Josh praised God because he is the creator, and both GG and Macy praised God because he is wise and strong.
Following the upward prayer was inward prayer. Madison asked that God would forgive her for being mean to friends, Teagan asked for forgiveness for being selfish and sometimes forgetting about Him, Josh asked that God would forgive him for yelling at his dad, Macey asked that she would be forgiven for not listening to her mother the 1st time, and GG asked God to forgive her for not obeying.
The last was outward prayer. Madison prayed for her sister who was graduating from High School, Teagan asked that God would protect her family, and Macey asked that God would let her grandpa have a safe trip back to Missouri. I think that I will often think of the way these children prayed and hope that I can do the same.
The upward prayer started with Madison, she and she praised God because he is able to protect her and is wise, Teagan praised God for talking and listening to her, Josh praised God because he is the creator, and both GG and Macy praised God because he is wise and strong.
Following the upward prayer was inward prayer. Madison asked that God would forgive her for being mean to friends, Teagan asked for forgiveness for being selfish and sometimes forgetting about Him, Josh asked that God would forgive him for yelling at his dad, Macey asked that she would be forgiven for not listening to her mother the 1st time, and GG asked God to forgive her for not obeying.
The last was outward prayer. Madison prayed for her sister who was graduating from High School, Teagan asked that God would protect her family, and Macey asked that God would let her grandpa have a safe trip back to Missouri. I think that I will often think of the way these children prayed and hope that I can do the same.
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