My Love for Jesus Christ Grows When I Pray

3rd Week Sharing Time Idea for September

From: Little LDS Ideas

Encourage Understanding: (from the Primary Outline):

Divide the children into small groups. Have each group read and discuss the following scriptures, looking for what the
Savior teaches about prayer: 3 Nephi 18:19–20; Doctrine and Covenants 19:28, 38; 88:63–64. Emphasize that the Savior
teaches us to pray to Heavenly Father in His name and that this helps us feel closer to Him.
Before Primary type up a few key words (or put the scripture into your own words) from each scripture, for example,
-Always pray to Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ’s Name. And whatever you ask for, if it is right, and you believe that you
will receive, it will be given to you.
-Pray out loud and pray in secret. Pray always and great shall be your blessings.
-Draw near unto Christ and He will draw near to you.
For Sr. Primary you could type/write up a few questions that have to do with each scripture. After each group has read
their scripture ask a question. Don’t tell them which group has the answer; have them figure out which one it is. Some
examples:
-Who must we pray to and in whose name?
-How should we pray? Should we only pray by ourselves secretly?
-Who should we draw near to?
-What will be poured out unto us if we pray always?
Prayer
I liked the idea in the outline of making a chart with the columns. I am using that idea, but changing it just a bit. Here’s
my idea.
On a chalkboard, bulletin board or poster, make a chart with 4 columns.
The first column: ‘Our Dear Heavenly Father’. The second column: ‘We thank Thee’. The third column: ‘We ask
Thee’. The fourth column: ‘In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen’.
Below I have included some pictures of things that we may pray about. Before primary, print and cut out each picture
(some have 2 because we can thank and ask for it). The day of your Sharing Time, before all the children arrived, tape one
of each picture under some of the chairs.
For Sharing Time: Talk to the children about the importance of prayer, and by praying our love for Jesus Christ grows.
Tell them that there are many things that we can pray to our Heavenly Father about. You could also tell them that there is
an order for prayer. We begin by saying, ‘Dear Heavenly Father’, then we ‘Thank Thee’, then we ‘Ask Thee’, then we
close by saying, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.’
Then tell the children that you have hidden some pictures underneath some of the chairs. You will choose one child at a
time to look under their seat and find their picture. Once they have their picture have them come to the front and decide
whether it’s something we ‘Thank Thee’ or ‘Ask Thee’. Some can go in either column. For those that have 2, only hide
one under the chair. When they add theirs to the column tell them that they could also ask/thank for this, then add the
second one to the other column.
You won’t have enough pictures for each of the children, so if you pick a child that doesn’t have a picture under their
chair, let them choose the next person.
After they have found a picture and placed it in the correct column, you could have everyone repeat with you ‘We thank
Thee for…..missionaries, food, my home, etc.’
I had another idea that you could also do with this activity. Since the topic of the week talks about how our ‘love grows’
when I pray. I thought of having a very small heart beside my chart. After each child adds their picture to the chart you
could choose another child (one without a picture under their chair) to come up and add a larger heart on top of the
smaller one. By the end of the activity your heart will have grown. You can show the children the heart and tell them each
time we pray our love grows, just as this heart grew today.
Read one of the scriptures that was discussed earlier and then bear testimony of the importance of prayer.
Prayer Chart: I have also attached a prayer chart that you can give to each child. Challenge them to pray every
morning and night for 1 whole month.
 Clipart came from: Sugardoodle, FreeLDSArt, & Microsoft Word

The Weather The Weather

(rain, snow, sunshine) (rain, snow, sunshine)

Our Home Our Home

The
The Sick
Scriptures
Food Food

Peace, safety, or
comfort

Our Savior
Jesus Christ

The Beautiful world

we live on.
 Our Prophet Our Prophet
Pres. Thomas S. Monson Pres. Thomas S. Monson

Our Family Our Family

The Missionaries The Missionaries

The church/
the gospel
To choose
the right
 My Prayer Chart

Month

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Everyday that you say your prayers color in the little boy and the little girl. Color in the little boy for your morning prayers and the
little girl for your nightly prayers.