September Devotional: Prayer Flag Project
By Major Ronda Gilger
Coeur d’Alene Kroc Center, ID – Northwest Division
Note: This is a devotional that incorporates a time of prayer and a craft.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:11
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit speaks on our behalf with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your prayer requests before God. Philippians 4:6
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2
I want men (and women) everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. I Timothy 2:8
Believing that the world can be changed with prayer, and understanding that our prayers carry the full intent of our hearts and minds to the throne of God… we choose to pray. We choose to move in close – to our Father….to sit in his presence and practice the spiritual discipline of prayer through an “activity” that will unite and focus us.
There are two options for the Prayer Flag Project:
1) The prayer flag banner can be made individually as a “take home” which may become a part of each person’s ongoing prayer life.
2) The prayer flag banner can be made to hang as a larger banner- in your chapel or entryway, a worship center or group room. As each person comes in they are invited to take part and the project is ongoing for a month or several weeks until the banner is filled with “prayers. You may have a journal there where people can write their prayer requests if they want others to join them.
The simplest directions are included on the handout which can be printed to give to all those participating.
Setting the Scene: Play worship music to create an atmosphere conducive to prayer.
Set up a “materials” table. Twine can be precut and placed at each participant’s seat. Strips of fabric can be precut or torn and placed in a few baskets where the women can choose the fabric they choose to add to their Prayer Flag.
Read each verse about prayer. Ask your women to share a time in their lives when God answered prayer. They may share as a group or as a united group. Encourage your women to keep a Prayer Journal- so they can see the ways in which God is working in their lives. “How He is answering their prayers!” You might even give each woman a small journal or moleskin and ask her to write down some of the prayers that she had as she created her Prayer Flag.
Close your time together in prayer for one another.
Directions:
1. Measure & mark 1-1.5” inch sections along edge of fabric using ruler.
Snip the edge at the marking” cutting 1/2” in from edge.
2. Tear fabric strips to get a rough, straight edge.
Cut strips to 15 “ (1”x 15”) or (1.5 x 15”)
3. Tie your fabric strip around the twine and Knot with a simple half knot in the center of the strip. *Use a fairly Sturdy Hemp twine measuring 36-40”( or longer if a group project)
4. Tie a small slip knot at each end so that it can be hung.
5. With each “knotted fabric strip” a “prayer has been added.
