PRAYER JOURNAL

Create a prayer journal (or simply give them the assignment each week and have them use their Spiritual Life Journals) with a different prayer exercise each week to do and with space to write or draw their reflections on that style/exercise.

Prayer styles/exercises

1. Recite the Lord’s Prayer over and over like a chant at least ten times a day.

2. Take a slow walk in a park or some other beautiful place and with each step say: “God is with me”

3. Light a candle remembering that God appeared to Moses as a burning bush, that Jesus said “I am the light of the world” and that the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of flames. Sit for at least five minutes as day staring into the flame quietly.

4. Read Psalm 139:1-18 slowly, line by line and be in silence between each line.

5. Read Psalm 150. Put on music you like and dance around, thanking God for your body.

6. Write five things you are grateful to God for each day, five thing you are sorry you did, and the names of five people or situations you know need God’s love and care.

7. Read the 23^rd Psalm and rewrite it using a metaphor that might be more relevant to your life (The Lord is my skateboard, the Lord is my Best Friend, the Lord is my Protector, the Lord is my …)

Deepening Faith: Youth Ministry Resources and Some Miscellaneous Advice

Rev. Lizann Bassham, Front Porch Spirit Press