Classroom prayer can be a vital part of connecting with the God about whom students are learning. It’s a way of stressing that they need God’s help to apply the lesson to their lives. And, it’s a way of fellowshipping with one another as students come together, praying for one another. Yet, teachers may run into some issues with prayer in the classroom.
Question Related to Prayer in the Classroom
How can we get shy people to pray aloud?
One thing we don’t want to do is force people to pray. A negative experience will only serve to reinforce their reticence to praying in front of others. Guard against putting someone on the spot to pray aloud, unless you know it’s truly okay with the person.
Don’t assume students don’t want to pray. They may want to pray, just not publicly. With that in mind, occasionally have silent prayer wherein you ask students to talk with the Lord silently. When doing that, watch for letting too much silence go by but also allow enough time that they can actually pray. A few moments of warning before ending this time allows students to finish their thoughts with God.
Start with small, simple, and least threatening ways for them to pray. As they become more confident and comfortable, their willingness to pray aloud should increase. Don’t expect everybody to be ready to pour their hearts out to God in public.
You’ll find seven suggestions of small, simple, and less threatening ways to get people to pray in the Bible Teacher’s Handbook of Frequently Asked Questions which also asks and answers this question about praying in the classroom:
What do we do if students view prayer time as dull or boring?
The handbook covers 48 other issues related to Bible teaching asking a total of 153 questions.
You may also be interested in these resources listed at: Teaching Students to Pray