F CHRISTIAN PRAYER - Religious Education Hub

Christian Prayer Foundation Year

Year Levels Focus:

Prayer is a way of talking to and listening to God that enables us to grow in a loving relationship. (TCREK006)

Aims:

Growing to fullness of life
Growing as a creative and spiritual person
Being a person of hope and resilience
Participating in the liturgical and sacramental life of the faith community

Content Statement:

Students will be supported to be open to a loving relationship with God and will engage with prayer as a listening experience and an experience of talking to their loving God. They will learn that prayer changes us. They will be introduced to simple practices that help us enter into prayer, for example, stillness, awareness of breath, images/symbols, music, gesture/movement. Students will be invited to express prayer in a variety of different ways. They will be encouraged to use their own words to praise God, to give thanks and to present needs. They will confirm use of the Sign of the Cross as a means of both entering prayer and a prayer itself and will become familiar with the formal prayers, Our Father and Hail Mary.

Prayer is to Christianity what water is to the ocean, what breath is to life, what love is to life’s meaning. Prayer simply is our relationship with God become conscious, deliberate and concrete. It is more a way of being than something we do.

That is why prayer needs to permeate the entire Catholic curriculum; and function in the RE curriculum the way RE functions in the Catholic curriculum overall. Why? Because unless there is a lived experience of encounter with God on God’s terms—and that is what Christian prayer is—then it is simply impossible to talk meaningfully about God in a Catholic educational context.

Prayer is vital. That is why God wants us to pray: because God desires to draw us into a fuller relationship; and praying is simply how that is done consciously, deliberately and concretely in and for us.

At its most basic and essential, the word pray means “to ask”. Learning to ask for what we truly need, when we are ready to receive it, is the key to life and true happiness. Because everything that is, is a free and beautiful gift, grace, learning to ask and receive is the most important lesson we have to learn.

Asking and receiving the gift that is life, being and meaning is the heart of our relationship with God, because grace—God’s gift of himself to us—is the purpose and meaning of life. Prayer therefore points to the deepest truth about human nature itself: we are made for the gift of union with God.

In GNFL this understanding of prayer is developed with emphasis on these theological principles:

Prayer is about desire—ultimate desire: the desire to become one with God. In prayer we enter into a relationship with the One who intensifies our desire for being. In prayer we find ourselves loved into being in a way that invites us to participate in our own coming-into-being by liberating our desire from all fear, rivalry, selfishness, violence and malice—and therefore, from the power of death itself. Prayer must always be honest if it is to be true prayer, because by praying honestly we discover ever more deeply the ultimate nature of our desire, the desire for God.
Prayer is our way of participating in God’s work of uniting us with himself. The ultimate expression of that work is the liturgy, “the work of God”, the public act of the Church’s communal prayer as thanks and praise, “the source and summit of the Church’s actions”.
The central prayer of the Church is the Eucharist. At the most profound level, the Eucharist has to do with Christ alone, who prays for us: he puts his prayer on our lips, for only he can say, “This is my Body … This is my Blood”.

URL link to Theological Conversation chapter (PDF).

Element	Core Doctrinal Concept	Catechism Reference
Christian Prayer	1. In prayer we can talk to God. 2. In prayer we can listen to God. 3. Prayer can be expressed in different ways.	2559 2664 2663

Element

Core Doctrinal Concept

Catechism Reference

Christian Prayer

1. In prayer we can talk to God.

2. In prayer we can listen to God.

3. Prayer can be expressed in different ways.

2559

2664

2663

Knowledge and Understanding

TCREK006

Our loving relationship with God grows through prayer.
In prayer we are present to, listen to, talk to our loving God.
We can pray in many ways.
Simple centring practices can prepare us for and support us in prayer.
Through prayer we learn to show God’s love to others.

Christian Prayer

Prayer is a way of talking to and listening to God that enables us to grow in a loving relationship. (TCREK006)

Elaborations

Inquiry and Communications

Questioning and Theorising

TCREI001

Responding to questions with thoughts, and naming feelings, ideas and decisions (TCREI001)

Elaborations

responding to open questions about where God is present in the world
expressing feelings and thoughts about God
making choices about how to act towards others and ourselves
cultivating self-respect by showing mutual respect

Interpreting Terms and Texts

TCREI002

Listening to stories to learn about characters, words, concepts and values relating to love (TCREI002)

Elaborations

listening to biblical stories and wondering about their deeper meanings
role-playing biblical and other stories (e.g., stories from the lives of the saints)
using Godly play dolls to play creatively with biblical stories
learning about things that were different about the world Jesus lived in as a child from the way things are now

Communicating

TCREI003

Sharing observations, thoughts, feelings and ideas (TCREI003)

Elaborations

taking turns to let others speak in prayer time
taking turns and listening to others’ thoughts and ideas about how God is love in us, our families and the world
visualising and imagining stories about Jesus that show us God’s love for us and acting them out
naming the ways that Jesus shows us how to love one another because God loves us first, and making models, drawings or installations to express this to others
taking turns to share thoughts and reflections about how God loves us
taking turns to share thoughts and feelings about how we experience God’s love in others and in the world

Discernment and Making Connections

See: Identifying and Reflecting

TCRED001

Using senses to name important words and feelings (TCRED001)

Elaborations

using senses to name feelings
using sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch to provoke responses that identify and reflect on big ideas and significant feelings

Judge: Evaluating and Integrating

TCRED002

Listening and responding to others’ ideas and thoughts. Pondering, and wondering and asking questions about our world (TCRED002)

Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia

Elaborations

listening and responding to others’ ideas and thoughts about God’s love
pondering, wondering and asking questions about how we experience God’s love in our lives
drawing some conclusions about how Jesus teaches us to be open to God’s love

Act: Responding and Participating

TCRED003

Applying ideas about what could be done to model for others some loving choices (TCRED003)

Elaborations

naming behaviours that reflect being loved by God
implementing plans and processes that promote self-respect and mutual respect
sharing with others what being loved by God feels like and how it changes us

Achievement Standards

By the end of Foundation Year, students bring their sense of wonder to God as Mystery, as giver of all life and as love, revealed in Jesus, friend and brother. Celebrating God’s love and mystery in the church community, they describe the sacraments as celebrations of God’s presence. Students value both the uniqueness of the human person and the oneness of the human family. They engage with the Word of God through Scripture stories that tell of his love; they identify ways of both experiencing that love in people and in their world and, in turn, sharing it through their own loving actions. They experience prayer as talking to, listening to, and growing in loving relationship with God.

Students will be encouraged to use their imaginations when engaging with Sacramental signs and the Parables of Jesus.

Students listen, engage with and respond to sacred texts and stories, reflect on characters and concepts and share observations, thoughts, feelings and ideas. In diverse ways they express their emerging understanding of and engagement with the teachings of the Catholic Church, with Sacramental signs and with religious events and rituals. Through reflective practices, they develop ways of making loving choices that express care for self, for others and for their world.

Threads:

Pre-unit assessment

Using the Teaching Strategies Book (To Know Worship & Love) as teacher reference: Individual and then group Y chart – what does prayer look like, feel like, sound like (keep these for comparison at close of unit).

Learning Hook

Explore images of different types of communication. Explore images of people engaged in different prayer experiences in a variety of times and places.

Children engage with a “Prayer Spaces in schools” event and then write, draw or share orally their experience of the prayer space and what they know and understand about prayer: where to pray, who prays, how do we pray, what can we learn from prayer?

Surface

(Giving language, facts, and basic concepts structure to lead into deeper learning)

Key Vocabulary: conversation, petition (prayer for own needs), intercession (prayer for others), praise (recognising the wonder of God as Mystery) sorrow/ repentance (thinking again), thanksgiving, blessing, posture, kneel, genuflect

How does prayer help me know and grow in God’s love?

List / Illustrate different ways and places in which people pray alone and together

I wonder when people pray? View on YouTube: I will pray or Any time, any way I will pray.
I wonder how people pray? View on Youtube: How do we pray? (Crossroad Kid's Club).
As well as nurturing silent prayer, introduce singing and movement as forms of prayer.
Brainstorm the different purposes of prayer. View on Vimeo: Prayer (referenced in Understanding Faith, Unit 13, Part 1, Pg 3).
Students create a poster reflecting all the forms of prayer that come to mind for them.

Name some of the purposes/forms of prayer

I wonder why people pray? I wonder if God listens to our prayers? On YouTube view Why do we pray? and What is prayer? (Crossroad Kid's Club).
Share stories that support students to consider different situations that could suggest a prayerful response: e.g intercession, petition, sorry, thanks, praise. The story A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Phillip and Enid Stead may be useful.
Establish a class “start" and "close of day” prayer, or introduce the practice of praying with thanks before and after meals.

Recognise and share in praying the Sign of the Cross and the Our Father

See Understanding Faith: Unit 13 Part 3 Pg 8 Interactive for the Sign of the Cross or the book Making the Sign of the Cross by St Columban's Mission Society.

List, demonstrate and undertake some practices that support prayer

I wonder who and what can help me to pray? Use a Godly Play script and process to co-create the class prayer focus centre.
Set up a familiar routine for daily prayer eg. A Gathering action, a Focusing action, a Reflecting action and a Responding action.
Introduce, demonstrate and support students to practise strategies that promote coming to stillness: a breathing technique, the use of a focus point or image, the use of colour, aroma or sound/music.
Visit the church/chapel to pray and consider the range of sacred spaces and places.
Share the story of Jesus’s disciples asking Him to teach them to pray.
Share a story of a the school’s patron saint and prayer.

Deep

(Learning experiences that lead on from beginning experiences to questioning more deeply and exploring ideas in different ways to lead to making connections between faith and life)

When, where and how do we pray?

Demonstrate and explain how coming to stillness support us towards prayer

Provide practices: mind and body, special places, using God’s Word.
Offer the opportunity for a quiet prayer walk, encouraging slow movement.
Share a story of Jesus praying; offer the opportunity for a guided meditation in which the students join Jesus as He prays. See Understanding Faith, Unit 13, Part 2, Pg 5 Praying with Jesus: Guided meditation.
Use brief Psalm /Gospel texts as mantras.
Students compare different practices and indicate the ones most helpful personally. Show preferences visually. Discuss.

Demonstrate the gestures of the Sign of the Cross and explain how this blessing leads into prayer

Explore the practice of blessings. Consider and practise the Sign of the Cross, the Sign of Peace, “God bless you”.
Incorporate blessings into class routine. Grace before meals.
Slideshow: Grace Before Meals Understanding Faith Unit 13, Part 1 Pg 8.

Engage with both vocal and contemplative prayer

View on Vimeo and sing song Because you love me referenced in Understanding Faith, Unit 13, Part 2, Page 2.
Discuss the video and invite students to explain how praying is like having a conversation with God.

Share thoughts, wonderings and feelings about God’s presence in prayer and in life

Students interview family members or others about how they pray and about any favourite prayers or ways of praying. Responses are graphed and discussed.
Students discuss these responses and develop their own statements about their experiences of praying and about how prayer affects them.

Discuss how Jesus is our model in prayer

Explore Understanding Faith Interactive: Scripture references of Jesus praying. Different types of Part 2, Pg 3.

Use prayer stems to create person prayers of praise, petition, thanks and sorrow

Students use a 'prayer stem' to create different types of prayer eg. “Dear God, I am sorry for…”; “Loving God, I praise you for…”; “Dear God, I thank you for..”; “Dear God, please help…”, “Dear God, I ask You to…”; “Dear God, ….”.
Prayer Wall: students create prayers through drawing and writing.

Transfer

(Learning experiences that help students engage with deeper understandings that can be applied in their own lives)

How does prayer change my life?

Contribute to the preparation of Ritual Prayer and participate with reverence

View on Youtube A Gift to You (Everything I have…) or I light a candle by Andrew Chinn.
In groups, students design a prayer service.
Each group has a specific role, guided by the format.

Draw from prayer experiences a message that shapes how they care for others

View, consider and discuss Loving and Unloving Actions Interactive on Understanding Faith: Unit 13 Part 1 Pg 13.
Engage in reflective prayer with scripture and life scenarios. Develop own responses for action.
Y chart – what does prayer look like, feel like, sound like (to be compared with the chart recorded at the beginning of the unit).