Prayer Requests

Yesterday morning during second hour of church, Joy and I taught the 4 & 5-year-old class. We normally teach every other month for the entire month. This month was our month off, but the teacher that normally does it, was not feeling well.

When we start class, we start with prayer requests. The things the kids come up with are quite humorous and sobering. When we first started asking for prayer requests, the kids didn’t know what a prayer request was. Now, they are really thinking of things they can pray for. Here are some examples of some of the prayer requests we pray for.

One child requests prayer every week for his mom’s back. She got in a car accident before he was born and hurt her back really bad. Another child asks prayer for some missionaries in China, her grandfather who had black lungs, but now has gray lungs, her tooth to fall out and her toenail or fingernail to finish falling off. Some kids want prayer for their various bumps, scratches, and bruises. Another girl asks prayer for her hamster who was bit by her sister’s hamster (who is now dead). A few times she asked us to pray for her grandmother’s broken foot to heal, and for someone in her family who didn’t feel well.

One boy always says, “Miss Sher, I have a question” and then proceeds to tell me a story. :) It’s quite humorous. He’ll say one time he was somewhere and all of a sudden he threw up. I then ask him if he’s feeling better and he tells me that he is, and that the throwing up happened a long time ago. Sometimes he’ll say that he fell or scratched his arm or knee.

Sometimes the kids will raise their hand and then tell me a story. After their story is done they expect me to write their name on the board with a prayer request, even though there wasn’t anything in the story that involved a prayer request. So, sometimes I will write their name on the board and we’ll just pray for that child.

Yesterday, while asking for prayer requests, we got a lot of the usual scratches, cuts and bruises stories. Then one boy said that he went to his Mimi’s house and went swimming. Then he proceeded to tell us that he is allergic to water, because when he went under the water it went up his nose and then when he came back up from the water he sneezed. So therefore, he’s allergic to water, because when it’s up his nose he sneezes. :) Joy & I had a really hard time not chuckling out loud. I was debating with myself as to whether or not I should burst his bubble and tell him that he wasn’t allergic to water. Well, I figured I better tell him, so that he would know and the other kids would know in part what being allergic to something is. I said, “Well, if you were allergic to water, you wouldn’t be able to take a bath, or a shower or drink water. The reason you sneezed when you were swimming is most likely because the water went up your nose.” He was pretty speechless after that. I felt bad that I burst his bubble, but it had to be done.

After we get everyone’s prayer request on the board, I then ask for volunteers to pray for some of the prayer requests. I normally will let whoever would like to pray, pray for some of the prayer requests and then I will close in prayer. The kids are getting better at paying attention to the prayer requests and wanting to ask the Lord to help in the different areas. It’s so awesome to hear a little child pray for what’s on his/her heart. They’ve even picked up on some of the things that I say when I’m praying. For example, I try to remember to thank the Lord for all of the boys and girls who were able to be at church that day and to pray for the ones who are missing. Well, one little boy yesterday when he was praying thanked the Lord for all the boys and girls who came to church. I was amazed, even though I know that they are watching me and listening to the things I do or say at all times. It’s always a great reminder to be on the alert because I have little ones who are watching, listening, and copying the things I do.