5 Free Online Tools for Prayer

If you're like me, finding time and inspiration to pray isn't always the first thing I go to.  Having these online tools has helped me prioritize prayer and gives me some direction as I pray.  Hopefully you can find some inspiration here, too!

1. Online devotions and guided journalling prayers.  Examen.me is an online prayer journalling site with daily readings you can choose from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms or Gospels.  They also provide journalling space for a centering prayer as well as an examen prayer.  Create a free user account to start.   www.examen.me

2. Spoken mp3 guided prayer for your mobile device.  Pray as you go gives a 10 minute Scripture reading and guided prayer to download to your mp3 player/smartphone to pray on your commute.  Part of the Jesuit Media Initiative, expect some classic liturgy, monks chanting and lovely UK accents.  www.pray-as-you-go.org

3. Online meditation and scripture for prayer.  Once again, the Irish Jesuits promote prayer through The Sacred Space.  Available in every language possible (well, not quite), this site leads you at a meditative pace right from your computer screen through Scriptures and thoughts to meditate on.  www.sacredspace.ie

4. Online prayer requests and tools.  Prayer Central gathers prayer requests from missions and world hotspots and invites the online community to pray together for these big requests.  Also provides tools, tips and devotions for prayer.   www.prayercentral.net

5.  Put out by Australia's Uniting Church (a union of Methodist, Presbyterian & Fellowship Churches for us North Americans), this site is an inviting place to "pray, reflect and meditate."  http://prayer.sa.uca.org.au/

6. When you have a bit more time, this website is worth a pass through.  An online prayer labyrinth, it has "stops" along the labyrinth to pause and reflect on our journey and relationships with the world around us, ourselves, and our Lord.  It takes a bit of time to go through, but is well worth it.  www.labyrinth.org.uk/

5 ways to mobilize prayer for your ministry

Prayer is one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal for combatting the hopelessness, despair, rage, disempowerment and other forces that affect our kids in the inner cities.  Mobilizing that prayer takes some effort.  Here are a few ways to be purposeful about prayer:

 

1. Make it a personal priority - When you are serious about prayer, it will come first in your life.  While I admire and respect people who can spend hours in prayer, this doesn't have to be your immediate aim.  Instead, decide to spend the first part of each workday in prayer, whether 3 or 20 minutes, just make it the first thing.  I heard a story about International Justice Ministries, where in the office, the first half hour of every day was dictated as quiet time in the office: no phone calls, no talking, no emails - just be still.  What an inspiration!  (Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but I like the concept anyway!)  Even if your workplace isn't as conducive, arriving to work early, or taking time before you leave can make a huge difference.
   


2. Enable volunteers - People are often willing to pray, but don't know how.  Sending out regular prayer requests (no matter how general) empowers people to know how to pray for your ministry.  Alternatively, pair up youth with prayer partners who will commit to pray specifically for one individual every week.  This can be done confidentially or with the full knowledge of both individuals.  You can download a basic printable prayer partner form here.


3. Use ownership and accountability.  Our inner city church recently mobilized 1000 people to commit to praying for 3600 houses in our neighbourhood for 366 days.  Now, we've had calls to prayer before, and a sub-ministry who goes around weekly to knock on doors & pray... all half-dozen of them... So why was this different?  It was specific, it involves ownership (I have 3 addresses to pray for, and I'm the only one praying for those 3), it involves a signed commitment and we will be asked about how we're doing throughout the year.  Check out their call to action here.  While this kind of goal or response might not be what you are intending, the principles still apply: taking ownership and doing some follow-up can go a long way.


4. Be specific.  Asking people "to pray" is too vague.  Asking them to "pray for finances" is good.  Asking people to "pray that we will receive $2,698 by May 1st to cover our expenses for the spring trip" is better.  The more specific you can afford to be, the better off you are.


5. Be respectful.  Of course, all this is moot if you are alienating the people you are called to love.  If being specific, giving names or even details about circumstances will undermine someone's dignity or cause confidentiality issues, those are times to pray privately.  If the need for prayer is great, ask permission, change names (always a good idea for children under 18 anyway) or give only enough information to respect privacy.  If it works in your ministry, have children give their own prayer requests to pass on to prayer partners.  Download a "pray for me" card here.

However you choose to mobilize prayer, know that God loves to answer prayer and his power flows through the prayers of his people.  When we can mobilize his people to pray, we will see God work in tremendous ways!

Prayer Journal Printable Craft

Here's a great printablePrayer Journal pages perfect to use as part of 10:10 Kid's Teach Me To Pray curriculum, or as a journal to use during a camp or mission trip.

1. Download & Print the booklet.  Page 1 may be printed on cardstock if so desired.  Print multiple, double-sided page 3's for a larger booklet.


2. Fold in half & Staple on the spine


3. Colour & decorate the front cover, so each child's journal is personalized and unique.


4. Use the first page to pray together, so children get the hang of how to use a prayer journal.

 

Free Lord's Prayer Bookmark Printable

This week is a FREE printable bookmark for kids to colour.  (To turn it into a craft, after coloring, laminate with contact paper, punch a hole in the top and tie a ribbon through.  Add a few beads for a beautiful beaded b0okmark!)

Lord's prayer bookmark

A great addition to 10:10 Kids Bible Lesson series Teach Me To Pray.

Free Prayer Crafts for Kids

 

 

Here are some  ideas for cheap & easy crafts to make with kids on the topic of prayer:

1. Praying Monkey

2. Jelly Bean Prayer Jars (includes free printable cards)

3. Prayer Buckets

4. Prayer Rocks (has some neat ideas for how to use these to remind kids to pray)

5. Prayer Garden (this one takes a bit more work, but with beautiful results).

6. Prayer Journal (instructions are minimal, but you get the idea!)

These crafts work great with 10:10 Kids! Teach Me To Pray 4-week Bible lesson plans.

 

5 Tips for a Successful Prayer Walk

One of the tools I have come to appreciate in inner city ministry is the power of a prayer walk.  There are a few formats for going on a prayer walk, but essentially it means getting your feet on the pavement and praying for what you see.  When I am alone, or with fellow ministers, this can be a wandering, spontaneous walk where prayers arise from the situations and places we see: a kid we know, a school issue as we pass, an empty lot where a liquor store is slated to build, and so on.  With groups, especially missions teams, we get a bit more structured, plan a route in advance, and plan stopping points where we can gather to inform and pray together without causing too much of a stir.  We may pray for the gangs and those affected by them near a grafittied wall.  We may stop and pray against suicide and violence, as well as for the families affected by it, around a streetside memorial.  We may stop and pray for the children in the community by a playground.  Another way of doing a prayer walk is by sending teams out with specific objectives (count the number of tags you see on this route; compare the number of quality, viable businesses you see with the number of pawn shops, liquor marts, money marts and bingo halls, etc.) to pray specifically for a situation or dynamic in your neighbourhood.  However you structure it, here are a few tips to make a successful prayer walk:

1. Set a time limit or a pre-determined route.
Prayer Walks can take all day.  Trust me.  If you have all day, go for it.  If not, plan ahead.

2. Be safe. 
There are good reasons to take on risks; stopping to pray for the guy waving a gun because "we're on a prayer walk" may be exactly what Christ is calling you to do - but make sure it's His voice you're hearing, otherwise,  move on.  It's okay to pray a block away.

3. Choose how you will be conspicuous.
If you are on your own, or with a friend, a prayer walk could look like a leisurely stroll with you talking out loud conversationally... just to God.  Most passerbys will never notice.  But if you're leading a group, it looks a little wierd walking in groups of ten or more, and even wierder when you stop and pray out loud periodically.  There are times when this weirdness is just what you're looking for - you're inviting people to notice what you are doing and hoping conversations (and confrontations) happen.  If this is your aim, that's great.  My point is, if you are going to be conspicuous, be purposeful.  There are ways to go on prayer walks, even with large groups, that are less conspicuous, so decide how you want to be percieved before leaving.

4.  Be a blessing
There are prayers that are meant to be prayed out loud, in public, and prayers that are better left for more private conversations.  Be conscious of who may be listening, and choose words that will bless and benefit those who hear it rather than tear down or destroy.  While it is completely appropriate to pray against laziness and self-destructive behaviour in the parents of the children we minister to, rarely is it appropriate to pray that in front of them unless they are seeking prayer.  Instead, pray that parents would be equipped, motivated and enabled to be the best possible parents they can be: that is a prayer any parent would be blessed by overhearing.

5.  Remember to praise
It is so easy to see the negatives in the inner city environment; as you walk, remember to look for the beauty as well.  Praise God for the big brother protecting his family, for the wild flowers coming up through the cracks in the pavement, for the bus route that takes parents to work, and for those who truly care about their families and communities.  There is always beauty, even in the darkest places, but unless we choose to look for it, it can be hidden.  Look for reasons to praise and thank God, even in the bleakest inner city.
 
So go ahead, take a walk.