This past week the Level II (E1) and 3rd/4th grade children had their first opportunities to plan the communal prayer time held at the conclusion of our Atrium session. The oldest children in the Atrium were asked to plan prayer around the Gospel passage John 15:5. They chose opening and closing songs and wrote petitions that fit with the Parable of the True Vine. The following are several sets of petitions that were written by the children:
For our Church, that people will listen to the Gospel about the Vine.
For our Atrium, that kids hear God, the True Vine, as they pray.
For our families, that if they are pregnant God will make a place on the Vine.
For the people who don’t remain that they start to remain.
For our Church, that more people tell about God so the Vine can grow.
For our school, that we get a new building to help our Vine grow.
For our families that they have grace and bear more fruit.
For the poor, that they turn to God when they are suffering.
After listening to the Gospel during Communal Prayer, the children pondered what God was telling us in this Scripture:
– “The fruit is the Light because Jesus is the Light.” (1st grade girl)
– “We have to remain because if we don’t God can’t prune us and then we can’t bear beautiful fruit.” (3rd grade boy)
- “It takes a plant a long time to bear fruit so maybe our fruit is our holiness that you see when you get to heaven.” (2nd grade boy)