One of the things we’re trying to teach Emma is how to pray. Each night before bedtime, we ask her to tell us one thing that she’s thankful for. And yes, we have to limit the number of times she names the dog. 🙂 Then we ask her what she would like to ask God about. The third thing on the list is our effort to keep our eyes off of our own needs and on the needs of others. We ask her to choose one person to pray for. This used to be a lengthy nightly ordeal… choosing one person who we haven’t chosen lately. It was hard to remember who we prayed for from night to night. So we started a prayer basket.
The basket itself was quite simple and inexpensive to make. In fact, we had everything we needed on-hand, so it was free for us. We used a dollar store plastic basket, and Emma wove some pretty ribbon (pink, of course!) through it. We tied the ribbons in a double bow. Then Emma wrote our family members’ names on note cards (pink again, of course!). We put the names in the basket and draw a new one out each night. We pray for that person and then move them to the bottom of the pile.
This has been a great tool for our family. Not only are we able to pare down the time it takes to figure out who we’re praying for, but we also make sure that we cover our family members on a regular basis.
I’m sharing this post at:
:: Tip Me Tuesday hosted by Tip Junkie
:: Look What I Made hosted by A Thrifty Mom
:: Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family
:: Strut Your Stuff Thursdays hosted by Somewhat Simple
:: I’m Lovin’ It Fridays hosted by Tidy Mom
:: Homemaking Link-Up hosted by Raising Homemakers
:: Sundae Scoop Party hosted by I Heart Nap Time
I love this idea! We do something similar as a whole family at dinnertime. Our is a Prayer Pail with popsicle sticks.
Oh fun! I like the popsicle sticks too. 🙂