Last week, our Schools team transformed St Peter’s RC Primary School’s library into an interactive prayer space. Prayer spaces enable children of all faiths and none to explore life’s questions, spirituality, and faith in a safe, creative, and interactive way.
As the children entered the room, they were greeted by six activity zones, decorated with fairy-lights and bubble-tubes to create a sense of amazement and peace. Each zone gave the children opportunities to stop, pray, reflect, and be still. They were asked to think about things that they might feel sorry or be thankful for, things they might want to see changed, and any big questions they would like to ask God. The children asked questions like ‘what is the meaning of life?’, ‘when you die what happens?’, and ’is it possible to hug God in space?’. They were also given the opportunity to think about the character of God by stepping into a throne room where they read various biblical names for God and responded to the space by making a crown of their own.
The final zone was ‘Be Still’, which was a space where the children could take time to be still and listen. The team wanted the children to understand that not only do we talk to God when we pray, we also should take time to listen to what God is saying to us too. Prayer is like a conversation, it would get a bit boring if we did all the talking! A group of year 2 children sat for a few minutes in that zone and, with their eyes closed, waited to hear what God would say to them. Suddenly, a child opened their eyes and, in utter surprise, they excitedly announced that God had said their name, which was followed with another child saying that God had also said their name, then another the same. A group of year 4 children sat in the zone the next day and were talking about how God talks. One child asked “can we talk to God if we are in another country?”. The child thought that God was just in the UK! The team explained that God was everywhere and we can talk to Him anywhere! The children were astonished! As some of the children were still at awe that God could possibly be everywhere, one little boy said “so that means that we never have to be lonely”. This moment affirms why the team do what they do. They do it for the one child that may have an encounter with God. An encounter that they have never had before. A realisation that they never have to be lonely because there is a God that loves them so much that he wants to have a relationship with them.