Wiping tears from their eyes: Spray paint prayers

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.  Revelation 21:4

Sometimes the life can be sad and worrying. It is important to acknowledge that children feel these emotions and I strongly feel that it is part of our ministry to help them to express to God what makes them feel sad.  I love Revelation 21 because it really paints a picture of a place where God is and where all that makes this world sad is washed away forever. This prayer activity is based on that hope.

You will need: paper (watercolour paper is especially good), small spray bottles, water, paint, stiff cardboard (I used an Amazon box), scissors

Before you start the activity put a small amount of paint in the spray bottles and water it down so that it will easily spray onto the paper.

Ask children to think about People who are going through difficult times or situations that are hard, or of something that makes them sad.  Give them cardboard and scissors and get them to cut out shapes that reflect what they are thinking about- it might be an initial letter, a heart, or some other relevant shape.

Get children to place their shape on a piece of paper and to hold it down firmly. Spray water over the shape and pray that God will see the tears of sadness for that person or place and bring his hope and new life. Carefully remove the shape and see the space that has been protected underneath as a symbol of the hope and protection God brings.

Praying in sad times: oil and water prayers

Often we avoid speaking to children about sad and traumatic times, but to do so is to do them a disservice.  This activity helps children to pray for themselves or others who are going through sad times and gives an opportunity for discussion to be opened up.

It is helpful, in this activity to use the verses from Revelation 21: 3-4 where the new heaven and new earth is described and we can see that, in God's kingdom, all sadness and pain will be taken away for ever:

I heard a loud voice from the throne. It said, “Now God’s home is with people. He will live with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.”

You will need: Strips of paper (5cm by 2cm is a good size), ready mix paint, water, baby oil (or vegetable oil, but this will give yellow drops!), containers for the paint.

Water down some paint so that it is very thin and drip some drops of oil on top of it. If you like, you can stir the droplets so that they become smaller and more dispersed.  

Ask children to think of sad situations in the world or people they know who are sad. Take a piece of paper and lay it on top of the liquid. The paper will soak up the paint and oil, with the oil droplets making a 'tear drop' effect amongst the colour. They might want to write a name or a place on the paper before they put it in the paint. 

Leave the paper to dry and pray that God will wipe away the tears of those you are praying for.

Sensory Spice Painting Prayers!

I have to admit to liking a bit of incense every know and again.  Multi sensory prayers are my favourite thing and one of my favourite images in the Bible is of the smoke of the incense rising with the prayers of God's people in Revelation 8:4.  I love it when all of the senses get involved- but smell is pretty hard to achieve, especially as we have to be very careful if working with people who have asthma. After seeing some posts about painting with spices, I thought I'd have a go at applying it to prayer.  I wasn't disappointed!

This prayer activity works really well if you can get hold of some strongly coloured spices.  I would have loved to use some saffron, but it was a bit out of my price range. Turmeric worked really well for a yellow though!  

You will need: cupcake cases, water, spices- I used paprika, cinnamon, ginger, cumin and tumeric, paintbrushes, paper

Put about a tablespoon full of spice into each cupcake case (one spice per case).

Mix some water into the spice to make a paste. Gradually add water until you get a paintable consistency.

Ask children to paint their prayers for people and places or to say thank you to God in words and pictures.  Be ready for some wonderful spicy smells to rise up as they pray!