At Shine, we believe that spiritual practices are essential to forming a solid foundation for a life of faith and obedience to God. Spiritual practices are activities that help children and youth—and indeed all of us—to pay attention to what God is doing in our lives and in our world. By doing—practicing—these activities, we become open and able to see God’s movement in our lives.
Many of the spiritual practices found in Shine sessions focus on prayer and teach children and youth that prayer can happen at any time and in many ways in their everyday lives. However, there are other ways of being in the presence of God. Learning to encounter God intentionally through play, work, relationships, and other activities helps us to remember that God is present in all aspects of our lives.
Our posts this month will include tips for connecting with God through spiritual practices. We’ll also comb through the Shine archives and share prayers and practices that you can try with your group. We’d love to pass along your favorite prayer practice, inspirational moment, funny story, or quotable quote from your time leading children and youth to connect with God. Please submit your prayer practice or story to blog@shinecurriculum.com by October 16 for consideration.
For today’s blog, we are sharing a simple prayer practice using a paper chain that you can do this week. These devotions were first shared in the Fall 2017 teacher resource, Prism. (The quoted scriptures have been updated to the NRSVue version.) Read, reflect, pray—and may you be refreshed for your ministry with children and youth!
Daily Devotions for Teachers
Thursday
Acts 2:16–17 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”
If a young child says something about God, many adults smile at each other, wink, and talk about how cute it is. But children can be profound if we listen. The words from the prophet Joel teach us to pay attention to the insights of others—from young or old, from sons or daughters. What are your children or youth telling you today?
Reflect: Write the names of the children or youth you spend time with regularly on paper strips and link them together to form a chain. Use your chain as a prayer reminder to give thanks for and ask God’s care for each one.
Prayer: God, help us to see and acknowledge the movement of the Spirit among our children and youth.
Friday
Genesis 8:22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
The days in the northern hemisphere are starting to grow shorter. Autumn signals a change but does not usually trigger fear. We know that other seasons will follow; beyond winter will come another spring and summer. This promise, which God’s people cherished in memory and scripture, is not as obvious as you’d guess. Their neighboring cultures and others around the world often harbored fears that winter would conquer without a spring. We can hold God’s promise of the changing seasons as true and reliable.
Reflect: Consider God’s gift of the sunrise and sunset each day. Imagine the chaos of not having these familiar rhythms to the day. What rhythms and routines have you established in your own work, family life, and spiritual life? In what ways do those routines and rituals help you in your work, family life, and relationship with God? Add a link to the beginning and end of your chain while thanking God for the gift of the sunrise and sunset to mark each day.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for the security of your promises.
Saturday
Genesis 13:8-9 Then Abram said to Lot, “. . . If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
When dividing a cookie with a friend or sibling, were you ever told that one person would divide and the other person would pick first? Children and adolescents resist this wisdom. They want to both divide and choose. Adults resist too. Sometimes we must make a division of our time and energy. Recall a time in your life when you felt divided. How did you discern the priority for your time and energy?
Reflect: Add your name to a link and pray for wisdom to both care for yourself, your relationship with God, and the children you care for.
Prayer: Dear God, in this moment I offer you my undivided self.
Sunday
Genesis 21:2 Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.
Abram and Sarai’s story begins with God telling them to abruptly pick up stakes and move. And God made what seemed an impossible promise, but it all came to pass. Have you lived long enough to see God’s promises come true in your life? Has your life had some twists and turns like Abraham and Sarah’s? Are your children or youth aware that it can take time for dreams to come true?
Reflect: Think about God’s surprises in your life and write one or more on a link in your chain as a reminder to give thanks to God.
Prayer: Give me patience, O God. Help me know that my timing is not your timing.
Monday
Genesis 33:14 “Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
Jacob wants to proceed, not at his brother’s pace but at the pace of the children. The late Christian educator Rosella Wiens Regier emphasized this verse during a conference presentation. She pointed out that the pace of the world can be difficult for children, seniors, and those with disabilities. No matter the speed of the twenty-first century, there will be times when we need to proceed at the pace of our beloved children and youth so that we can all arrive together.
Reflect: Who in your life needs a slower pace? Write their name on a link and pray, asking God for ways that you might help them slow down.
Prayer: God, help me slow down and walk at the pace of those around me.
Tuesday
Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him an ornamented robe.
Jacob’s problem probably wasn’t the gift he gave to Joseph. It was probably the love, attention, and time he didn’t give to his other children. Singling out this one son only made Jacob’s other children realize how much they were unloved. Demonstrating love to members of a family takes more than strict, legalistic fairness. It requires a constant stream of love expressed in words and actions.
Reflect: Have you experienced sibling rivalry or jealously among friends? Write the names of your siblings or friends on a link and include them in your prayer.
Prayer: Loving God, help me to share my love fairly and freely.
Wednesday
Genesis 45:5 [Joseph said,] “And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”
Joseph’s story with its ups and downs is not only entertaining, but it also provides the biblical backup to the assertion that God works through the bad times as well as the good. Joseph clearly sees God’s hand in what has occurred. He tells his brothers that thanks to God’s guidance, all has turned out for the best. They must not blame themselves. He sees the pain and anguish of his years through the filter of self-discovery.
Reflect: Take a look at the paper chain representing your family of faith. Say a prayer of gratitude for all those who are part of your life, who have helped you grow, made you laugh (and cry), and inspired you.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for walking with me through good and bad times. Help me to see your hand in my life, in my parenting, and in my teaching.
