Theme

General

Age Range

14+

Type

Prayers

Number of Participants

4+

Timescale

20-30 minutes

Quick Overview

Writing a letter as a prayer is often a brilliant way of being more open and honest about what you’re feeling; whether done as a standalone prayer or as a prayer station, writing a letter to God can often be a very spiritually developing exercise.

Requires

Paper and pens (enough for one each with plenty of spares), Clipboards (optional one per person), Music (optional), any resources you need for a prayer focus (e.g.: candles, clothes, crucifix, bible etc.)

Run through

The basic set up for this activity is that young people are given a paper and pen and invited to write what they like as a prayer to God. You start with the sign of the cross and then give the young people a set amount of time to write what they want.

Depending on the age and ability of the group, this can be as long or as short as you think they need to get the most out of the activity.

To help young people enter more into the prayer, you may like to have some reflective music in the background and create a prayer focus (something for them to look at when praying).

To encourage participants to be as honest and open as they can with God, you can tell them beforehand that all the papers will be gathered together at the end and burned. This works in a practical way of ensuring privacy but can be used as a symbolic offering up of the prayers to God and you can say a prayer together as the prayers burn.

Long-term journal variation

Get all the young people little journals and use them all together on a regular basis. This variation is nice in that it allows young people to look back on their old prayers, see how they’ve been answered.

Having a physical prayer journal can also encourage more regular prayer outside of sessions together, especially if this is a kind of prayer that really appeals to a certain young person.