PSK #2: Prayers of Blessing

Week two happened to fall the week before a great mission trip our church is going on to Guatemala. There couldn't have been a better week to do blessing!

We started out with some parachute games, and a few other running around games as our lesson was shorter this time. Then we opened our bibles to James 3:5-6, 9-10. We talked about how we can either build people up or destroy them by how we talk, and how we've all been hurt or uplifted by other people's talking about or to us. Then we had the kids define blessing and cursing in their own words, before giving them the following definition:

blessing - anything that you wish upon someone that builds them up and causes them to grow.

cursing - anything that you wish upon someone that causes them to fall, or would hurt their feelings if they knew.

We talked about how all throughout the bible, God gives blessings on people, and people give blessings on each other. We talked about Abraham, and Mary, and Adam, and how their blessings came true, and how blessings made in God's name ALWAYS come true.

Activity #1: I brought paint chips, 2 8x10 black frames, and some sharpies, and two pieces of construction paper. The kids each wrote a message for the people going on the trip to Guatemala on the paint chip (a blessing), and then another blessing for the people in Guatemala who will be blessed by our team. We made a collage on the construction paper with the paint chips, then put them in the frames. Each kid gathered around and placed their hands on a photo frame as we war-prayed (everyone praying out loud, at the same time) for the Guatemala trip. The kids LOVED the war praying!

Activity #2: While all of the above was going on, I pulled one child aside at a time and blessed them in the name of the Lord. I said a quick prayer of thanks for the children and their special gifts before hand, and then blessed them each to go be warriors for Christ in their own special way, ending in the Numbers blessing, "May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he make his face shine upon you and give you peace."

We then played human foosball until it was time to leave. We were going to go prayer-walking (walk around the room and bless different things), but parents came early. This wasn't the kids favorite day, but it was still fun!