Children's Time: Jelly Bean Prayers (Lenten Prayer for Children), March 23, 2014

Children’s Time: Jelly Bean Prayers as Lenten Prayer for Children 

Today, I would like to share with you an interesting prayer you can pray during Lent. We have heard Veronica read the message for us when we gathered around the table,

“Pray like no one is watching you. Fast like no one is watching you. Do good like no one is

watching you. God knows.”

Can anyone share with us how you understand the message?

Wonderful. 

Have you seen the bag I brought?? It’s somewhere around here! Here it is. 

I wonder what we’ve got in the bag – and how can it help us to learn a prayer.

(Open the bag – a bunch of jelly beans…)

Do any of you like jelly beans?

What kind of things can you do with jelly beans?

(We can eat them. We can decorate a Gingerbread house. We can try different flavour combinations. We can make pictures! What’s great about jelly beans for me

personally is that they have different colours!)

Could you sort out the jelly beans in front of you by colours?

Red

Green

Yellow

Orange

Purple

Pink

Okay - well done!

Now, can you choose one jelly bean of your favourite colour?

Could you tell us which colour you have chosen?

Great.

Now, when we use these jelly beans for a Lenten Prayer, each colour is given a special

meaning.

Red is for Christ… a sacrifice.

       Sacrifice is quite a big word – Can anyone explain to us what ‘sacrifice’ means? (receive answers.) Giving up for others. Showing how we love Christ and the people we love by our actions.

Green is for the shade of the palm tree… Doing a good deed.

Yellow is for God’s light … Kindness to others.

Orange is for prayers at twilight … bed-time prayers.

Purple is for days of sorrow …. Saying sorry to someone, saying goodbye to someone you love.

Pink is for each new tomorrow … Forgiving others, forgiving yourself.

I made small copies for you to keep… (give them to the children.)

When we do these things, making a sacrifice, doing a good deed, being kind to others, bed-time prayers, saying sorry to someone, forgiving others, they can be our prayers and will strengthen us and bring us closer to God and to one another.

Feel free to eat the jelly bean on your palm or not to, it’s your choice, but remember to do the good deed you have chosen as often as you can as your Lenten prayer. God bless you.