Thursday, February 23, 2012

Try This! Prayer Beads for Lent

At our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, we made prayer beads to use during Lent. Having a string of beads can be a wonderful way to encourage prayer and can help you grow closer to God in this holy season.

The prayer beads we made have a stationary bead on one end, called the Lord’s Prayer bead. This bead can be a reminder to start your day with the Lord’s Prayer. Our bead chain includes ten movable beads that can be pulled and will stay in place so that you can keep track of anything that you are doing (or not doing!) this Lent. Carry the beads in your pocket and let them remind you throughout the day of your desire to pray, and of God’s desire to be closer to you. At the end of each day, move all the beads away from the Lord’s Prayer bead and let the next day be a new beginning!

Here are some ways that you can use your beads. Pick and choose from these ideas, and find other ways of praying with your beads on your own. (Leave a comment with your ideas below!)

  • Use the beads to keep track of your prayers during the day. Each time you find your beads in your pocket, take them out, move a bead, and say a prayer.  You may like to make a commitment to pray ten times each day. Move a bead each time that you pray. 
  • Choose one specific person or thing to prayer for during the day. Move a bead each time that you pray for that person or thing. Watch how your prayers change over the course of the day.
  • Use the beads to keep track of good deeds that you do in Lent. When you are kind to a friend or family member, when you help a stranger, when you share something with someone in need, move a bead and pray that God will bless the other person and will continue to help you to be a blessing to others.
  • Use the beads to keep track of sacrifices you are making in Lent. For example, if you are giving up gum, move one bead every time you reach for or wish you had a piece of gum, and say a prayer asking God to be your desire and your strength.
  • Use the beads to keep track of any Lenten discipline that you are taking on – such as reading the Bible, or being kind to a sibling. Move a bead each time you do the activity. Pray that God will give you inspiration and strength to do all that you hope to do this Lent.
  • Assign specific prayers, types of prayers, or people you want to pray for to the beads and say your prayers in a row, like a rosary. Check the Book of Common Prayer for prayer ideas.
  • Share a smaller string of beads with your young child, and make a plan with him or her to pray together several times each day. Let the child move a bead each time you pray together. 

May God bless you and may you be a blessing to others this Lent!

Children in atrium will have the chance to make prayer beads as a work this Sunday. If you would like to make a bead chain at home, easy to follow directions for sacrifice beads can be found at The Little Ways. I have adapted these slightly, as I have described and pictured above. Photos from Shrove Tuesday will be coming soon!


****Two wonderful blogging friends of mine, Sheila at Explore and Express, and Storyteller at Wonderful in an Easter kind of Way are collecting links with ideas for preparing for Easter. I am listing this post in their Lenten Link-Up Party. Click here to see all of the great posts they have collected!  

9 comments:

  1. This is a lovely idea. I hope we find time to try it! Thanks for sharing all you are doing. I keep telling Jim that if we end up north of Pittsburgh near my parents we may have to make a little pilgrimage to visit your atrium.

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    1. I'm so glad you like it (I was hoping you would!) I would love to see you in my neck of the woods and show you around our atria. I'm keeping your family in my prayers as your new plans evolve! Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Thank you for this! I have never seen a rosary or prayer beads with movable beads before. What a nice idea. You give so many different good suggestions for how to use them that off the top of my head I cannot think of another.

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    1. Thanks Storyteller! Sorry it took so long to get linked up! I've never done it before. I just added today's post as well. Thanks so much for the link up!

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    2. I wonder if you'd give me permission to use one of these photos (with a caption crediting you or your photographer - just tell me the wording) in my summary post today.

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    3. How nice! You are welcome to use either photo. They are both mine. I don't care about the wording - just link back to the blog and I'll be so happy!! :) Thank you!

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  3. Leslie, You always have such beautiful ideas! I will definitely do this at some point with my kids. Thank you for sharing with us!

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  4. Leslie, this is a great idea! I have marked the post to come up in January 2013 so I will have plenty of time to plan for this on Last Epiphany! Thanks so much for your careful work!

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    1. Thanks Browniesmoke! I'm glad you like the prayer beads! What system do you use to create a "tickler" like that? I need something like that! :)

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