How to Create a Paper Chain of Prayer

originally published on HisWordMyHeart.org on 7-15-2019

Today, I’d like to share a practical way that you can let that lesson carry over into the school year.  I call it paper chain prayers, and although I’m going to show you how to make these for back to school, you could also use them for any upcoming event or rite of passage.

NOTE: If you should see this later in the year, feel free to use this method to create a family prayer jar instead. Simply cut out strips of paper and fold them up, and stick them in a mason jar, and then pull one out each day to pray over a specific need for your child.

How to make a paper chain

Back when our firstborn started Kindergarten, I began the tradition of creating a simple paper chain showing how many days were left in the last week or two until the first day of school.  We continued this tradition over the years, but combined it with our desire to pray for the upcoming school year. 

For those unfamiliar with creating a paper chain: take a few pieces of construction paper and, bearing in mind the number of days you are making links for, cut equal (or somewhat equal) widths of paper strips.  Make a ring with one strip and tape the ends together, then link the next strip into the previous ring and tape the ends, continuing with the rest of the paper strips.

Paper Chain Prayers

On those little strips of paper that made the chain, I asked my boys what hopes they had for the year ahead – what they were excited about, what fears they had, etc. – and wrote those each on a strip of paper.  When they ran out of ideas, I would suggest another area they perhaps hadn’t thought of, like: What about your classroom, teacher, friends, special classes, subjects to learn about, etc?

I remember the first year my middle boy went to school... My oldest already had some ideas on what to write down (having been to school before), but I was surprised at the sweet thoughts my middle buddy came up with.  Both boys’ hopes ranged from silly to deep.  Here are a few of the prayers they came up with, along with a few of my own to start you and yours thinking:

Please let there be pictures of ice cream in my classroom.

Help my classmates to be happy.

Let me have a fun teacher, not scary, that doesn’t yell at me.

Help my teacher to learn about God.

Let my friends be in my class.

Help me to take turns and share.

Help me choose to obey my teacher. 

Prayer is pretty simple, friend, but the blessings are great.

Our Father tells us to pray, believing He will answer.  What a joy and privilege we have to teach our children to pray and watch for our God to answer.  That year when I walked my oldest into his brand new first grade classroom, and he realized that he knew and fondly remembered his teacher from her leading smaller group instruction for his Kindergarten class, and I saw his face…

Oh, and I cried when I walked out of that colorful and inviting classroom and saw the chart his teacher had designed for tracking her students’ growth in sight words – ice cream cones with multiple colors of scoops to add on top, each for a different set of sight words. What a sweet blessing to see my Father answer my little boy’s prayers. Years later, and I still tear up remembering that sight and considering my Father's great love for my boys.

As we are faithful to pray for and with our kids and teach them how to pray, our Father will continue to show Himself faithful and worthy of all glory and honor and praise.

If you are interested in a visual reminder to do all things for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) throughout this school year, consider my Classroom Wall Art for your home, office, classroom, or homeschool room!

Be sure to comment below and share how God has shown His faithfulness in answering your children’s sweet prayers.