Catholic youth listen and talk to God.

Prayer is happening all around us, all the time. Walking to school, while brushing your teeth, listening to your iPod, or having a snack, you can pray at any time, in any place.

In religion class, prayer should be a part of every lesson you teach, whether it’s an opening or closing prayer, or sprinkled throughout the session. Throughout the year, introduce your students to different kinds of prayer and teach them that there’s always a way to talk and listen to God.

A prayer table in your classroom gives you a center for prayer and is a good classroom project.

Traditional Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, Grace before Meals and other staples of the Catholic faith are often taught at a young age.

The debate over the importance of memorization notwithstanding, most people would agree it’s important for children to learn basic prayers as soon as they’re able.

You can help young children learn their prayers by:

• Printing the words in large print and cutting the sheet into strips. Mix up the strips; the children put the prayer in order, line by line.
• Printing out the prayer with blanks. The children fill in the missing words.
• Lining up several children and having them each say a portion of the prayer.
• Sending home a calendar chart. Parents can add a sticker every time their child says his prayers.

Intercessory Prayer

Intercessory prayer is not praying to the saints, but instead asking them to intercede for you and take your prayers to God. Much like we ask for help when doing something important, we ask the saints to help us with our prayers.

Some instructive intercessory prayers are St. Theresa of Lisieux’s Novena Rose Prayer and St. Anthony’s Prayer.

Meditative, Contemplative and Reflective Prayer

Prayer can be concentrating on thoughts about God or simply resting quietly in His presence. These may seem incongruous to the loud, boisterous young people in your charge, but they can be done!

To introduce these to your students, let them spread out so they’re not close to other children. Tell them to get comfortable and close their eyes. Without the outside influence of their peers, the giggles and fidgeting will be kept to a minimum.

For meditative prayers, check out the Guided Meditation for Youth series of books.

Prayers of Petition

At Mass, we pray for people and things, often starting with the Pope and world leaders, and ending with people in our parish who have special needs.

In your classroom, introduce a prayer of petition by having your students say “Lord, hear our prayer” after your petitions. Later, let the students add their own petitions.

Prayers of Thanksgiving

If every time you talked to God you asked for something, that wouldn’t be good, would it? Encourage your students to end each day with a prayer thanking God for his gifts.

Prayers of Praise

Reading the Psalms, singing a song, even marveling at the wonders of nature are all prayers of praise.

Tell your students to stop in the middle of the day and silently praise God. Every time they walk outdoors, praise God for giving us a world that meets our needs.

The Rosary

The Rosary is a Catholic prayer that helps us reflect on the mysteries of Jesus’ life and to pray to Him through Mary.

For some rosary projects you can do in your classroom, see Children’s Rosary Projects.

Prayers for Young Children

For some simple prayers for the very young, see Prayers for Young Children.