I know what you are thinking. Prayer shouldn't be about fun! Prayer is a very serious thing, a conversation between you & God. And you would be correct!
HOWEVER
There are many times where we gather corporately to intercede or pray on behalf of someone else. These times can be a little intimidating but they don't have to be.
I recall many times in youth group where we would be tasked with praying for each other or worse, in front of everyone!! For those who are shy, introverts, visitor, or a brand new Christian this can be very scary and may turn them off to the whole idea of prayer.
Here in YWAM we have weekly intercession days where we spend 30-45 mins praying on behalf of local ministries, countries and people groups around the world, our home nations, or just each other. Most of the time we simply break up into groups of 3-5 after we have heard some information about the topic/group and we spend time praying over prayer points given or waiting on the Lord to hear His heart on the subject.
Occasionally these times are a bit more interactive. Here are a few ways that we make that prayer time a bit more fun!
HOWEVER
There are many times where we gather corporately to intercede or pray on behalf of someone else. These times can be a little intimidating but they don't have to be.
I recall many times in youth group where we would be tasked with praying for each other or worse, in front of everyone!! For those who are shy, introverts, visitor, or a brand new Christian this can be very scary and may turn them off to the whole idea of prayer.
Here in YWAM we have weekly intercession days where we spend 30-45 mins praying on behalf of local ministries, countries and people groups around the world, our home nations, or just each other. Most of the time we simply break up into groups of 3-5 after we have heard some information about the topic/group and we spend time praying over prayer points given or waiting on the Lord to hear His heart on the subject.
Occasionally these times are a bit more interactive. Here are a few ways that we make that prayer time a bit more fun!
Speed Prayer:
Speed prayer is kinda like speed dating. Yup, you read that correctly! Speed dating!
Basically what you do is split the group into two equal teams. You can do this by birthdays, ages, nationality, or just have everyone pair up.
One group will form a circle facing out and the other will form a circle facing the inner group. Each person should have someone directly in front of them.
There are several ways to go from here. With big groups you can have the inner & outer circles move simultaneously such as the inner circle moves to the right 5 times and the outer circle moves to their right 3 times.
For smaller groups, just have everyone move to their right once.
Each time you change "partners" you introduce yourself (if you don't know the other person) and then share any prayer needs you may have. Spend about 5 mins praying for each other (10 mins total). Switch & Repeat!
That's it.
Variations:
If you are comfortable with your group you can also do what's called prophetic prayer times. In this case, you would switch partners like normal but instead of sharing a prayer need, you would spend a few minutes seeking the Lord and then praying whatever you feel like He is saying. Now, this isn't for every group. This type of praying can be very intimidating even in Pentecostal churches because there is the fear that you will not hear God or that you will say the wrong thing. But I believe that everyone hears Him, they just may not recognize that it's Him.
Basically what you do is split the group into two equal teams. You can do this by birthdays, ages, nationality, or just have everyone pair up.
One group will form a circle facing out and the other will form a circle facing the inner group. Each person should have someone directly in front of them.
There are several ways to go from here. With big groups you can have the inner & outer circles move simultaneously such as the inner circle moves to the right 5 times and the outer circle moves to their right 3 times.
For smaller groups, just have everyone move to their right once.
Each time you change "partners" you introduce yourself (if you don't know the other person) and then share any prayer needs you may have. Spend about 5 mins praying for each other (10 mins total). Switch & Repeat!
That's it.
Variations:
If you are comfortable with your group you can also do what's called prophetic prayer times. In this case, you would switch partners like normal but instead of sharing a prayer need, you would spend a few minutes seeking the Lord and then praying whatever you feel like He is saying. Now, this isn't for every group. This type of praying can be very intimidating even in Pentecostal churches because there is the fear that you will not hear God or that you will say the wrong thing. But I believe that everyone hears Him, they just may not recognize that it's Him.
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Balloon Prayers:
Balloon Prayers simply require balloons and sharpies. That is all.
Everyone gets a balloon and a sharpie. They anonymously write a prayer request on the balloon and blow it up, tie it off (or you can blow them up, tie them off and then write on them).
Once everyone has written on a balloon and they are ready to go, everyone gets in the middle of the room and kinda like playing hot potato, you play some music and launch the balloons in the air. Keep batting the balloons into the air until the music stops. When the music stops, everyone grabs a balloon and spends a few minutes praying for that request.
Play the music again and repeat! Repeat as many times as you like. Make sure to pop all the balloons & pick up the pieces when you are done!
That's it. This is a great activity for any size group, small or large.
Everyone gets a balloon and a sharpie. They anonymously write a prayer request on the balloon and blow it up, tie it off (or you can blow them up, tie them off and then write on them).
Once everyone has written on a balloon and they are ready to go, everyone gets in the middle of the room and kinda like playing hot potato, you play some music and launch the balloons in the air. Keep batting the balloons into the air until the music stops. When the music stops, everyone grabs a balloon and spends a few minutes praying for that request.
Play the music again and repeat! Repeat as many times as you like. Make sure to pop all the balloons & pick up the pieces when you are done!
That's it. This is a great activity for any size group, small or large.
Prophetic Prayer:
A great way to make prayer times interactive for small groups is Prophetic Prayer with some construction paper.
To begin, gather some construction paper and some markers (you can also use white paper and pens/pencils but I think the colored construction paper makes it more fun). We then had each person grab a piece of paper and then draw their hand on one side. Make sure you remember your color! This will help later.
Then spread the papers out around the room and have each student/person grab a marker and go to each page. They will pray over that person and then write down any encouraging words, scriptures or messages that they hear or think of while they are praying.
Continue this around the room so that each paper gets prayed over and written on. When you are done and every one has had a chance to pray over each paper, have each person/student find their own (if they've remembered their color this will be a little bit easier and they can match their handprint).
Spend some time reading the encouraging words and scriptures. Have the students share out any that really resonates with them. Students can take these home with them as a reminder that God is speaking to them.
Tip:
One way to help with finding their own paper at the end, using a pencil gently write their name or initials in the corner on one side. This needs to be faint as it is best when this is done anonymously.
To begin, gather some construction paper and some markers (you can also use white paper and pens/pencils but I think the colored construction paper makes it more fun). We then had each person grab a piece of paper and then draw their hand on one side. Make sure you remember your color! This will help later.
Then spread the papers out around the room and have each student/person grab a marker and go to each page. They will pray over that person and then write down any encouraging words, scriptures or messages that they hear or think of while they are praying.
Continue this around the room so that each paper gets prayed over and written on. When you are done and every one has had a chance to pray over each paper, have each person/student find their own (if they've remembered their color this will be a little bit easier and they can match their handprint).
Spend some time reading the encouraging words and scriptures. Have the students share out any that really resonates with them. Students can take these home with them as a reminder that God is speaking to them.
Tip:
One way to help with finding their own paper at the end, using a pencil gently write their name or initials in the corner on one side. This needs to be faint as it is best when this is done anonymously.
Thankful Tree:
One thing we love to do during November is a Thankful Tree. Sometimes this is an individual project and other times this is a group effort. Sometimes it's big enough for the whole wall and others it is just an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.
I used my cricut machine to cut out various leaves in construction paper (you can laminate for a more sturdy version). You can also pick up some pre-cut leaves on Amazon or at a local teacher store, sometimes the dollar store also has them in the teacher/school supply section.
We had each person choose a leaf and then wrote things they were thankful for on their leaf and then taped them to to the wall (we used sticky-tack).
Throughout the month, have students go & thank God for the things on the tree, it could be their own or someone else's. Such a great way to remind us to be thankful for all things big & small.
I used my cricut machine to cut out various leaves in construction paper (you can laminate for a more sturdy version). You can also pick up some pre-cut leaves on Amazon or at a local teacher store, sometimes the dollar store also has them in the teacher/school supply section.
We had each person choose a leaf and then wrote things they were thankful for on their leaf and then taped them to to the wall (we used sticky-tack).
Throughout the month, have students go & thank God for the things on the tree, it could be their own or someone else's. Such a great way to remind us to be thankful for all things big & small.
What are some ways that you make prayer and intercession fun and exciting with your family, friends, or groups? Share them down below, I'd love to hear about them and maybe implement some things with our youth group.
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