I am pretty sure I came up with this saying first .... It was 2002 when I
thought to myself the children need to know this too ... you may be wondering
what the children need to know. I had been a part of the adult intercessor's
team at CEFC from 2000-2002 and had been learning so much about prayer ....
I
had learned what prayer is and how it's done. I had participated in prayer
meetings that had a beginning time but no ending time. My experience with
prayer prior to being a part of this team was, prayer is private, confidential.
I had grown up in a religious home where my father prayed before meals but as
for praying at other times, or publicly that just did not happen in our home.
When I was asked by my good friend Donna if I wanted to come to a prayer
meeting with much hesitation I said, "Sure, but I won't have to pray aloud
will I?" For weeks I attended with my friend and listened to others pray
without saying a word. I realized after listening in on others as they prayed
that
it was not about religion, it's about a relationship. I could tell
that those who prayed knew personally the God they were praying to. They had a
relationship with Him; they talked like they were talking to a good friend
across the table. I decided that I needed to step out of my comfort
zone of not saying a word and take a risk in praying aloud. At first, I was
uncomfortable. I thought I needed to have the right words. Others were
listening in and I wanted to know I was doing it correctly. It wasn't long when
I realized it was not about doing or saying the right thing but it was about
having a right relationship.
I began to practice praying alone and continued to go to prayer meetings and
pray aloud with others. When I prayed with others I found myself agreeing with
them as they prayed and I was moved to pray in the Spirit about things others
were praying. It became easier and easier, One night after an adult prayer
meeting, with my friend Donna, I leaned over and said, "The children need
to learn this".
I thought if I had learned to pray as a child it would
have been so much easier to go and pray aloud with other adults. I said to
Donna, "someone needs to teach the children." She agreed and stated
that she believed I was the one that should teach the children.
I remember saying to her, "no, not me, but someone needs to."
In October of 2002 I stepped out in faith, and with the support of our
children's pastor and the adult intercessor team and began the NHC Children's
prayer team. We sent out a letter to all the 4th-6th grade parents and invited
them to consider signing up their children for prayer team. There was no
curriculum per say and I was stepping into territory that had not been covered before in
the history of our church. I knew we did not need material or curriculum but we did need to gather to pray. Two boys signed up and they began to pray and then
two girls joined and by January there were seven students desiring to learn to
pray. I had 3 main things I taught the children in 2002, and this year 2012, a team of teachers and myself, will continue to teach the team these same 3 things:
1. it’s not about religion, it's about relationship
2. It's not about having devotions, it's about being devoted
3. P stands for Praise
R stands for Repent
A stands for Ask
Y stands for Yield
Last year was our ninth year of the children's prayer team at New Hope
Church
http://www.newhopechurchmn.org/ . We have grown from a team of 7 in 2002 to a team of 28 in 2012. When
Dayspring was asking for product reviews that could be a part of a life story I
knew I could not resist reviewing this product.
I don't have children going back to school but I am a teacher going back to school both in a public school and at our church. I am excited to have all my notes for prayer team this year in my new notebook with a line that has become a part of the curriculum
it's not about religion, it's about relationship.
I am also excited to start once again teaching school and being a part of a community of parents, students, and teachers where I will use my other products to share about my faith.
Having these tools gives me an opportunity to be bold about my faith. Thank you Dayspring for the opportunity to share my story that began nine years ago. (long before you maybe you even thought of putting these words on notebooks and folders!)
Pastor Greg Braly and I planning out the new year for
HopeWatchers, the children's prayer team at New Hope Church, New Hope, MN
Feel free to get your products here:
(*disclaimer* I was given this products at no cost from Dayspring in exchange for my story about their product. All stories and opinions are mine and mine alone!)
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