The Lord's Prayer, Part Two!

I received a great question on Facebook in response to my last post on The Lord's Prayer!   Toni wanted to know what work the children did when they were younger to prepare them for this one. I thought I would respond to her question on the blog for you to hear as well!

We have many works that are indirect preparation for understanding the Lord's Prayer. For example, starting at age 3 we spend a lot of time meditating on the kingdom parables.  What is the kingdom like? It's like a tiny mustard seed that grows and grows, and is a shelter for the birds.  It's like a precious pearl that the merchant sold everything to have, and so on. So when we look at "your kingdom come" the children already know a lot about the kingdom and they desire it! 

Also in the 3-6 year old atrium the children have come to know the Good Shepherd parable.  While working on the Lord's Prayer, I can ask "Does anything here remind you of the Good Shepherd?"  The children themselves are able to lift up the love and care of a Father as being like the Good Shepherd, and "daily bread" as being everything the sheep need to live, even the Good Shepherd himself given in the bread and wine. 

When we talk about sin and forgiveness in the Lord's Prayer, the children can remember their work at Level Two with the True Vine parable.  They understand that sin is something that blocks the sap which runs through the vine to the branches, and that forgiveness opens us up to God again. 

There are other amazing connections the children make, but you get the picture! Thanks for the great question Toni!