Prayer in Our Life- Lesson Two- How to Pray: Listen to God Opening Prayer Practice the sign of cross,

metany into church, and begin prayer with Trisagion. (Holy God 3 times). Lesson When we were together last, we talked about praying when we are alone. Who can remember something about this kind of prayer from our last lesson? We said that God wants us to have a relationship with Him. Prayer is the way we remember that God is always with us. We also said that we should talk to God every day and we mentioned the different kinds of prayer. Today we are going to learn that prayer is also listening to God. When we pray by ourselves, we pray quietly, silently, listening to God. We do not just pray with our lisp or even in our mind. Deep prayer can become part of us, in our hearts. We need a special place to pray alone, as Eastern Catholics, we have a name for this, do you remember? An icon corner helps us focus our thoughts on God and concentrate in our prayers. As we close our eyes, we can imagine the saints and angels surrounding us and helping us to pray. In this special place, we can learn to listen to Gods voice. Where do we hear Gods voice? 1. In our hearts, as a thought or guidance 2. In the Bible when we read at home 3. During the Epistle and Gospel at Liturgy In the Old Testament, we hear a story of a child just like you who heard God speaking to him. Lets hear the story. 1 Samuel 3-10 Samuel heard Gods voice when he was still and quiet. In the same way, we can pray, Speak Lord, for I am listening. Lets practice being quiet. 30 seconds, silence. 30 seconds, listen to the sounds around them. 30 seconds, stand silently with arms to God. Say Speak Lord, for I am listening. Break into groups 1. Little kids make their own icon corners 2. Big kids do Bible searches, write down scripture verses