Can prayer begin with a game?

Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.  Matthew 19:14

Kids of all ages have so much to teach us about coming to Jesus-- and little ones do it best, don't they? They are the ones eager to climb

 up into His lap. Willing to simply come.  We don't want to snuff out their joy with a bunch of rules... so let's play a game while we "sit on Jesus' lap". 

Remember making "cootie catchers" when you were a kid?  Well this is a "conversation catcher"!Once folded, you "pick a number from 1-10",  hold "pockets"with both forefingers and thumbs and open, close until you arrive at the chosen number.


To refresh your memory from childhood - fold as such.  Copy paper works best, beginning by making a 8 1/2 in square.  Once labelled, you simply make copies, as all writing is on one side.  Another joy in doing this.


  Cut copy paper square   

 Fold in half and diagonally all four-ways

 

Then fold each corner into the center,

flip over to other side and do the same thing.

 

 

This folded game - I've labelled "God You are..." lends itself perfectly to beginning prayer with four different aspects of prayer and who God is. I began with "All-powerful/Friend", "Perfect/Creator", "Generous/Good", and "Merciful/Savior" -- but many others could be used as well. 

 Under each flap is another prayer-step that leads to sharing a personal praise, concern, confession or request. Your child can draw or write personal words or thoughts that will help them with their prayer.

 The simple beauty of this game is that it teaches the child to first speak truth about who God is. It leads them to more than one kind of conversation with God.  It gives them a start that is personal and from the heart. Just the way Jesus wants all God's children to come!