A short while ago I was teaching my 5th and 6th grade Sunday School kids a lesson on prayer. We had our typical lesson on what prayer is and why we pray but I also had a surprise for them. Each one of them were going to make a Prayer Jar. It was a really fun project that challenged them to use their imagination and also think about others. Prayer Jars personalize prayer. And I’ll let you in on a secret….THEY’RE NOT JUST FOR KIDS!!
Mason jars are a very popular item for DIY projects. I have seen many ways of making Prayer Jars but I was looking for a method that didn’t require a lot of clean up. Plus, since I only have these children for one hour per week I wanted to be able to work on our jars for 2 or 3 weeks.
Most Prayer Jars I’ve seen have been painted on the inside. Cute, but not practical for a church project. Foam sheets to the rescue. I actually found some at Walmart that were smaller than the regular size sheets. Yay! Less cutting. I chose to cut the foam to size and insert them into the mason jars prior to taking them to church. Definitely saves time. You don’t need to glue them. Just form them into a circle and insert them into the jars. Then I allowed the kids to choose the jar with the color they wanted.
Here’s some of the things I gathered for them to use. HINT: Head to Dollar Tree for inexpensive but durable supplies. Some of the things I used were left over from other projects. Look around and see what leftover supplies you might have on hand.
- Mason Jars
- Sticky gems/jewels
- Sticky decals
- Sticky Bible verses
- Markers
- Ribbon
- Raffia
- Jumbo Craft Sticks
- Glue
- Burlap
- Foam sheets
I found that sticky decals and gems worked best for decorating the jars. We did try using tacky glue for some things that didn’t have a sticky back but they didn’t stick very well. Again, you can get a nice assortment of sticky decorations at Dollar Tree. You can use hemp, ribbons, burlap, and raffia to make each jar unique. The variations are endless.
I wanted the kids to have equal opportunity to pick out their jar decorations. So I made it into the game. They drew numbers and the first person chose first and so on. Then I would change it up and mix up the numbers for redrawing. We did this for choosing their jar color and each type of supply we used. Everyone got a chance to be first at some point in the night.
You can add a banner to label the jars. Even something simple like the word PRAY. You can use cardstock to make triangles to write each letter on. Then glue the triangles to twine and wrap around the jar.
The final step is to add jumbo Craft Sticks to the jars. Use the craft sticks to write specific prayer requests, positive sayings, Bible verses and things to be thankful for. Here are a few ideas:
- “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” Col 4:2
- List 5 things you are thankful for
- Pray for a family member
- Pray for our country
- “Be still and know that I am God” Take a moment of silence to reflect
- Pray for a friend
- Pray for yourself
- “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13
I encouraged the kids to pull one stick from their jar each morning and follow what it says. And I am happy to report that they were excited when they came back the next week to share that they had taken the time to do this.
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