At school we teach the children prayer is simply talking to God and it is, so why do many of us find it hard? But we do. That’s why I think it is always helpful to have some strategies in place to help us.
Have you tried praying over the activities of each day? I have found it a great help in organizing my time and priorities. I was excited to see someone else thought so as there was a link to it on this blog.
Here is another prayer suggestion sent to me recently by a member of our bible study group. It’s a five finger prayer.
The first prayer is signified by the thumb. Since your thumb is the finger closest to you, begin by praying for those closest to you. One of the most valuable things we can do for our families, is to pray for them, daily, hourly, if necessary and they are experiencing tough times.
The pointer finger comes next reminding us to pray for those who point the way to others and point them in the right direction. This might include pastors and Sunday school teachers or other teachers of God’s Word, teachers in our schools, parents of children’s friends, doctors. etc
The next finger is tall man as we used to call him in the children’s rhyme ‘where is thumbkins?’ a favorite of many playgroups and pre-schools. This reminds us to pray for the leaders of our country e.g. our president or prime minister and his government, but also leaders in our local community as well, e.g. the mayor and council members, Also people like police, who enforce the law and help keep us safe.
The next is ring finger. Piano teachers claim this is the weakest of our fingers. Not being a person who plays piano I wouldn’t know from experience. But assuming it is the weakest, it reminds us to pray for those who are weak, the sick and frail and helpless certainly but also those who are weak in faith.
And last is our pinky or little finger. This is the finger that signifies you. By coming to our own prayers after we’ve prayed for others it helps us put our needs into proper perspective.
I thought this would be a helpful tool. What do others think? Do you think this would be a helpful pattern for prayer?
Please visit these related blogs
7 Helpful Prayers for Our Children
Have You Considered a Prayer Covenant?
Praying Over the Tasks for Each Day