Begin a Prayer Chain

Last week’s activity was on the complex side, so this week we wanted to offer you something simple yet meaningful: create a paper chain of all of your family’s prayers.

All you need is paper, a stapler (tape or glue will do in a pinch), and something to write with. Cut your paper into one-inch strips – “hot dog style” (with your paper oriented vertically) or, if you think your prayers will be wordy, “hamburger style” (with your paper oriented horizontally). Construction paper is ideal because it comes in so many different colors, but you can also use any other “fancy” paper or even snag some white printer paper and decorate one side of it.

Next, think of the things you’d like to pray for! It might be useful to color code your prayers – consider using a different color for different types of prayer (i.e. thanksgiving, intercession) or for the different subjects of the five-finger prayer (those close to us, those who point the way, our leaders, those in need, and ourselves). You might also color code by family member. In the end, though, there’s no wrong way to do this, so if you’d prefer to just cut a stack of paper strips and choose them at random, that’s okay too!

Your prayer will go on one side of your strip, either written out word for word, as just a few words or a phrase (i.e. “people affected by the fires on Maui”) or even as a picture (you may want thicker strips for this option). Modify however you need to so that everyone in your family can participate.

Put your chain together by linking your strips together one by one and stapling them closed. Then pray your way down the chain! You can add to it whenever you’d like, and create your own ritual around adding new prayers and praying the ones you have. Your chain never needs to be “complete,” but if you ever reach the end during your family’s prayer time, just start right back over at the beginning. Every time you look at your chain, appreciate the connections you’ve created – and maintained – through the act of collecting your prayers in this way.

As always, we’d love to see your prayer chains! Share them with us in person or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.