Submitted by
S. Daly

Age Group
8-14

Aims
To encourage the children to reflect on the meaning of prayer
To give the children time to pray in silence

Script
1. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Good morning everybody.
Today's assembly is about prayer.
Here is Mr. Brown. He has a lot of children who are always asking for things.

2. Hello Dad. My bike's got a puncture. Will you fix it for me?

Mr. Brown: Er...

3. Hi Dad. Can I have a new computer? My friend's got one.

Mr. Brown: Um...

4. Dad, you said you'd take me swimming today. Can we go now?

5. Hello Daddy darling. I need a denim jacket. Everyone at school's got one.

6. Hello Dad. Could I have some pocket money please? I want to buy you a birthday present.

7. Dad, would you do my homework for me? I can't do it.

8. Hi Dad. If you let me have a dog, like David next door, I promise I'll be good. I'll do the washing-up for a month.

Mr. Brown: Oh, give me strength!

9. We have all said things like that to our parents. We are very good at asking for things. We even make bargains with them. We are not so good at listening to their answers though.
Sometimes, we don't even let them answer.

10. Sometimes, we behave just like that when we talk to God.
We talk to God when we pray. We can pray aloud or in our heads.

11. When you talk to someone, it is polite to listen to their answer.
It is the same when you pray. You should be quiet for a while, so you can hear what God is saying to you.
You will hear what God says, in your mind, if you give him a chance to answer. He will never stop listening like Mr. Brown did - and he will never stop answering our prayers.

12. However, most people would agree that praying is a difficult thing to do. Saying prayers is easy, like saying the alphabet. You can do that without thinking too much.
But praying is more difficult. You have to think about what you are saying - and you have to mean what you are saying.

13. Lord, thank you that we don't ever need to feel alone. We can always talk to you. Amen.

14. Lord, you can hear all of us, even when we are all praying at the same time. You are very powerful.

15. You always answer our prayers, Lord. Sometimes you say yes,
sometimes you say no - and sometimes you say wait. Help us to accept whatever answer you give us. Amen.

16. Dear God, sometimes when I pray for something, you don't give it to me. Maybe you know that I don't really need it.
Help me to know the difference between what I want and what I need. Amen.

17. Father, when we pray, you know what is in our hearts. It is no good saying prayers with our mouths, when there are bad thoughts inside us. Help us to be honest with ourselves and with you. Amen.

18. Dear Father, I hear people talking to you, just like you are in the room. Of course, you are in the room.
I know I can talk to you like talking to a friend, like having a conversation.
I can sit here quietly and wait for you to say something to me.
You speak to me through my thoughts,
through what people say or do to me,
and through the beauty all around me.
Help me to understand what you are saying to me. Amen.

19. Let us now pray for a while in silence...

20. You may have found praying in silence difficult. It is not always easy to find the right words. Even the Apostles found it difficult, so they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
He taught them the Our Father.
There is a saying - "When you sing, you pray twice," so we are going to sing the "Echo Our Father" - girls leading. (Songs of the Spirit number 100)