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Prayer pods

Photo: Ben Bradley/Tearfund
Tearfund's prayer pod at New Wine
Prayer pods were developed for groups to use during our Global poverty prayer week, but we've kept them on our website as they might be useful to anyone trying to bring some creative zest to their prayer times.

Try these youth – and adult – friendly creative prayer ideas on for size. Here are four ideas for an interactive prayer event.

Get arty, get creative, get on your knees and open up in prayer…

Random objects

Choose an object related to each of the five issues highlighted by the Global poverty prayer week and use them to help people in their prayers.

For example, write prayers about unjust trade laws on monopoly money and encourage people to keep them in their wallets to remind them of their prayers or get a long stretch of red ribbon or string and holding one end pass it around everyone in the church until everyone’s connected to this ribbon and then as the ribbon gets passed back to the beginning pray for a halt in the spread of HIV around the world.

 

Art and the rest

Read the passage in John 9 where Jesus heals the blind man.

Allow people to choose their creative response. But as a suggestion have a bucket of mud and allow people to put mud on their eyes and then wash it off as they do asking God to change their perceptions of world poverty and show them how they can make a difference.

Photo: Richard Hanson/Tearfund
The prompting of God can lead people into caring for those who are suffering: In Zambia, EFZ volunteer Mrs Mutala prays with three women, whose children have died.
 

Maps and paper

Get a large map of the world (placed on a large table in the middle of a room), a stack of newspapers and a bag of tea-light candles (a safer alternative are clean pebbles or small dried flowers).

Have people read quickly through the papers and cut out stories that relate to any of the key issues we’re praying about during the week (click here or see below for a recap).

Once the stories are cut out place them on tables around the map of the world. Have people quietly read through a few of the stories they have not yet read and encourage them to take one candle (or pebble or flower) and pray directly for the situation that has moved them the most, then place their candle, pebble or flower on the map in the location that relates best to their story.

If you can, leave the map in place – or attach the tokens and  stories and hang it on a wall for all to see and add to during and after the Global poverty prayer week.

 

Prayer food

Find five tempting-looking, great-smelling foods. Lay them out on a table and get people to look and smell but NOT EAT. You might want to play some music.

Photo: Ben Bradley/Tearfund
Tearfund's prayer pod at New Wine 2007
Read this proverb out loud: ‘A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away.’ (Proverbs 13:23)

Invite people to spend a few minutes thinking about this, telling God how they feel and asking him to change it. Close by reading Pete Greig’s prayer found here.

When you’re done, eat the food and drink and talk about how God feels about poverty.
 
Prayerpods plus – interactive prayer stations based on our five areas of work 

You can download a printable version of these five Prayerpods by clicking here (PDF, 31K)

 

Thinking about: disasters
You’ll need some: stones, paper and pens (to write out the verse and statistic).
Read this: Isaiah 58:11-12.
And now think about this: total number of people affected by disasters in 2005: 157,511,938.
Do this: write out the verse and the statistic and stick them up beside your pile of stones.
Think about the verse: are there walls that we can repair, situations where we can help? Pick the stones up and explore every aspect of how they feel. For every one (or ten) million people place a stone on its own on the floor as you pray.
Pray for: families worldwide affected by disasters. Pick up a stone as a reminder and take it away with you.

 

Thinking about: water and sanitation
You’ll need some: water, two jugs (one with clean water in it, the other filthy dirty) and a glass.
Read this: Isaiah 55:1

And now think about this: more then a billion people worldwide lack clean water.
Do this: write out the verse and the statistic and stick them up beside your two jugs.
Think about the verse: where can we flow, how can we help people who are desperate? Look at those two jugs of water – you have a choice which one to drink but there are a billion others out there who don’t. As you pour out the water into the glass and take a drink, pray...
Pray for: for access to clean water and sanitation for men, women and children everywhere.

 

Thinking about: climate change
You’ll need: a pen and paper. Draw a giant target on the paper.
Read this: Psalm 24:1

And now think about this: By 2050 there will be 150 million people forced to leave their homes because of natural disasters caused by climate change. A 2°C rise in temperature is recognised as a worldwide danger limit: anything beyond this and the impact of climate change will be a whole lot worse. We need to hit targets to keep temperature rises within 2°C.
Do this: write out the verse and the statistic and stick them up beside your giant target. Think about the verse: if the earth really is God’s, how do you think we ought to treat it? Once you’ve prayed add your signature to the giant target you’ve made.
Pray for: people made homeless because of climate change.


Thinking about: HIV and AIDS
You’ll need some: something to hit, like a drum. A clock. A ball of red wool and one pair of scissors.
Read this: Matthew 14:14
And now think about this: every minute five people die because of HIV and AIDS. That’s one every 12 seconds. Also, a baby is born with HIV every minute. This is preventable. By supporting our HIV and AIDS appeal you can change lives.
Do this: write out the verse and the statistic and stick them up somewhere easy to see.
Think about the verse: try and imagine what that actually looked like – with Jesus seeing people, stopping, helping, praying for and healing them. How long did it last? What kind of expressions did people have on their faces? What noises were kicking off, or was there just silence?
Once you’ve spent time thinking about this, get your clock, wool and scissors out. As each 12 seconds passes on the clock beat the drum as you pray. After a minute cut off the red wool and create a bracelet to take away and wear as a reminder.
Pray for: those orphaned by HIV and AIDS.

 

Thinking about: trade
You’ll need some: Fairtrade chocolate. A pair of scissors.
Read this: Proverbs 13:23

And now think about this: unjust trade rules rob poor countries of £1.3 billion every day, 14 times more than they receive in aid.

Do this: Cut out of your clothes one or two labels that tell you how to care for them and where they were made. Pray for the people from the country in which your clothes were made, that they could be paid a wage that means they can live and not simply survive. Break off a square of chocolate, pop it into your mouth and as it melts pray for farmers who provide our food but who often can’t afford to enjoy the taste of it.
Pray for: people to be put ahead of profits.


This page was last updated on 21 December 2007

We are Christians passionate about the local church bringing justice and transforming lives - overcoming global poverty.
So our ten-year vision is to see 50 million people released from material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches.

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