Prayer Pots: A Tool for Family/Group Prayer

The girls came out of church on Sunday, each with her own Prayer Pot:

Inside each pot were five craft sticks, labeled with five different things the girls could be praying for:  family, friends, church, missions, and "you" (their own prayer requests and concerns).

When my six-year-old Katy got home, she raided our craft stash and added some additional sticks to her pot:  Grandma, uncles, cat, mom, aunts, dad, sister, cousins, Grandpa.

As I was getting ready for our Living Stones meeting, Katy suggested that we use her prayer pot to help us with our prayer time.  I invited her to explain to the group how it can be used, and then each of us drew a stick from the pot.  We said a sentence or two to pray for the label on our stick, and then named the next person in line (to prevent long and awkward pauses with everyone wondering when it was their turn to pray). 

One of our members suggested that we use that kind of tool in the future, and I think it might be a valuable aid to overcome proseucheglossophobia.  (Be sure to click the link to read about proseucheglossophobia, if you are unfamiliar with the term!)

This prayer tool can be as simple as writing prayer topics on craft sticks and putting them in a plastic cup, or as artsy/craftsy as turning each stick into a spring flower in a decorated pot.  It can be used during children's prayer time before bed, during a weekly family devotion time, or with a group of praying friends.  No one has to wonder what she "should pray for," and everyone can be encouraged to keep his prayer simple and direct so no one feels like prayers need to be flowery (flower pot, notwithstanding!). 

Many thanks to Danielle, our church's Children's Co-Director, who presented this wonderful prayer tool to my children on Sunday, to my daughter Katy for sharing it with our group, and for the women of Living Stones for being willing to try it out during our prayer time together!

If you try this prayer tool with your own family or prayer group, please share with us how it works out for you.