Activity: Carefully stacking stones to make a balanced tower.
Resources: Some stones or pebbles of various sizes, or any collection of small to medium objects you can stack together to form a tower.
In the Bible, people often setup stones as reminders of the things that God had done for them. Sometimes they used one very large stone as a landmark, other times they stacked smaller stones up to form a cairn, a kind of tower. They were reminders of how God had helped his people in the past to give them courage to see how God would help them today.
For today’s prayer activity we’re going to make our own stone cairn. If you have a garden at home, you can search for some stones to stack. Smooth pebbles work best, but you can use anything you can find. If you don’t have a garden, perhaps you can search for some stones by going on a walk with your family members for your daily exercise. (just remember not to take stones from people’s gardens!)
If you can’t find stones, don’t worry! You can use things you might already have at home. Part of the activity is the searching and finding of things to stack.
When you’ve collected some stones or other objects, find a good place to make your cairn, somewhere flat is best. Next, take your time carefully building your tower. As you take each object in hand, try to think of something that God has done for you. Think about these questions:
What good things in my life has God given me? (friends, family members, our skills and abilities, the food we eat etc.)
Has there been a time when God has helped me?
Has there been a time when I’ve seen or heard about God helping others?
Has God used me to help the people around me?
Can you remember any promises God has made to us? (to always be with us, to always hear us etc.)
What is God like? How does he treat us? (Is he kind? Loving? Patient? Forgiving?)
Carefully place your objects one on top of the other to build your cairn. Building a cairn takes careful work, it takes patience and perseverance. It’s okay if it falls over, just try again!
You might like to do this in silence without any distractions so you can pray quietly, you might like to put some quiet, reflective music on to help you focus. When you’re done, spend a little bit of time thinking about how God has already been there for you through difficult times. Ask God to help you remember that he is with you now, today.
Follow on:
Is there something you can do today to help remind those you live with that God is able to help us? Maybe you could read a Bible story together? Maybe you could share a song that helps you feel close to God?
