Prayer Bears

I love these little guys and the important message that they reinforce for our children. It is so important for us to pray for our friends and family. It's something that I always struggle to find enough time for. On Sunday, our pastor suggested a simple daily remedy for spiritual growth in the new year: Talk to God for 15 minutes each day (prayer); Listen to God for 15 minutes each day (read your Bible); and Tell someone about God for 15 minutes each day - pretty powerful stuff!

Last week in our Sunday Night Chapel, we made these little bears to help remind us of how Jesus wants us to pray for those around us.

We used:
Brown construction paper bears (I found the cut-outs at Michaels and used them to trace the bears onto construction paper)
White construction paper for the face and heart. (I'd also recommend red felt or paper for the heart)
Silk flowers
Bandages
Googly Eyes

The Lesson:
1. Using a teddy bear, we talked about how many little kids have teddy bears from people that they love. The bears often help them feel loved at night or when they are away from home. Then, we talked about what other things make us feel loved and how we can show our love. One of these ways was praying for others.

2. In John 17:9 - the Bible tells how Jesus prayed for others the night before he died. He even prayed for the people who wanted to hurt Him!

3. Next, we made our Prayer Bears to help remind us of ways to pray for other people.  After gluing the eyes and faces on, we glued other pieces on as reminders:

• The heart - I let the kids color their own hearts, but you could easily use red paper or felt.  The heart reminds us of love.  We can pray for other people's feelings and happiness.  We can also ask Jesus to help our friends learn about Him and ask Him into their hearts.
• Flowers - The flowers remind us to ask God for ways that we can be kind to others.
• Bandages - The bandages remind us of hurts and illnesses.  We can pray for people who are sick or hurt.
• Poem - Last we added this poem to our bears:

Here is my Prayer Bear

He helps me to know

How to pray for my friends

'Cause God loves them so.

My boys now have their bears hanging in their rooms to help them remember to pray for their friends when they have their nightly prayers.