Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Pathway to Peace

Tomorrow's lesson plan for my 8th grade CCD class is entitled "Pathway to Peace..." I am excited! We're going to discuss and share about various forms of prayer.

I've put together a list of things I have used and still use to cultivate a healthy prayer life (when I take the time to pray, that is...) both recovery and Church based prayer...

First we're going to read a little bit from out texts on prayer as it relates to the Catholic Church. Then we'll get right into the meat of the lesson talking about some types or forms of prayer: Petition, Gratitude, & Praise. We'll continue on with a brief discussion and study on how Jesus prayed during His life on earth, followed by a breakdown of the Our Father and a discussion of how Jesus taught us to pray.

We'll continue our list of useful prayers with a discussion of the Serenity Prayer in it's entirety. Then I have selected some Scripture passages: (Mt 6:5-8; Mt 6:25-34; Mt 6:19-21; Mt 6: 24) to discuss and share on to conclude the session. I have some great Paul Winter music (Indian Flute & New Age music recorded in the Grand Canyon) to play in the background while we're discussing the list of specific prayers and Scripture...

Here's a couple of the Scripture passages:


Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,and he will direct your paths.
Proverbs 3, 5-6

Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks,
the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8

The points of the lesson are to get them familiar with some helpful prayers and styles of prayer, get them comfortable with prayer in various forms and teach them to pray as Jesus prayed.

I cannot wait to teach it! Hopefully, they will be into it but I wont hold my breath lol I am hoping to give them some prayers and techniques they can take away and use right away in their own prayer lives.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

My friend is a CCD teacher too and I think it is so great. What a gift.

Have a great weekend Scott!

Gwen~