Creative Prayer: Pantomime Prayer

Focus: Communicating to God through actions

Before You Begin:

No prep required this time!

The Prayer Time!

When your family gathers to pray, have each person think of one prayer or praise they would like to express to God. Then say:

“Think of a way to pantomime, or act out without using words, your thoughts to God. For example, if you want to apologize to God for doing the wrong thing, you might kneel and cover your face with your hands. If you want to thank God for being at work in your life, you might stand and applaud.”

Give everyone a moment of “think-time.” Then your family can proceed in its prayer time in one of these ways:

Everyone can pantomime his or her thoughts to God at the same time. In this way, each person is concerned only with his or her own prayer. Or,
One family member can begin by sharing his or her prayer and how it can be expressed. Then the entire family can pantomime the prayer of this person, corporately praying without words. Next, another family member can share and again pantomime your prayers as directed by this person.

When this time of prayer is over, say, “We need to remember that our lives and actions are prayers to God just as much as are words are. Let’s be people who pray with our lives this week.”

Finally, brainstorm with your family one unique way to express thanks to God in pantomime. Close your time of creative prayer by offering thanks together using this physical expression.