What are the Spheres of Society? They are areas of influence or authority which shape a nation and the lives of those within it:
The Sphere of Family The Sphere of Economics (Science, Technology & Business) The Sphere of Government The Sphere of Religion The Sphere of Education
The Sphere of Media (Communication) The Sphere of Celebration (Arts, Entertainment & Sports)
There are other potential ways of looking at society, but these areas have been useful to us in both helping to focus prayer and in actively blessing neighbourhoods, towns, cities and nations.
Let's look at some creative ways to pray for the different spheres, particularly with children in mind, whether you are praying for your locality or a whole nation.
Preparation
Take time to come into God's presence and listen to him. Read Steps of Intercession for some ideas.
Questions to ask God:
* Lord, when you look at families/ businesses/ Government (or other Sphere) in this place, what do you see?
* What do you want to do in and through education/ the media (or other Sphere) in this neighbourhood/ nation?
* What is hindering your purposes in this Sphere?
* Lord, how can we see your kingdom come in this Sphere?
(The Lord may lead you to pray in wildly different ways than the below activities, but here are some ideas which may help).
Family
Dinner table
Groups take it in turns to sit at a laid dinner table and pray for unity, love, communication, security etc in homes and families. They could break bread and take communion together. A spare seat could be left, to invite Jesus to come and dwell in homes and transform families.
Broken Hearts
Laminate heart shapes of different colours and cut them into 5 or 6 pieces each. Groups put the pieces together while asking God to mend broken hearts and families.
Balloon Chains
Blow up modelling balloons and write or draw prayers on them for families you know (Sharpies work well). Twist them to form links in a large balloon prayer chain and hang it across your venue (or, if you're looking for a way to lead into outreach, walk with it as a group through your town - you'll create a bit of a spectacle- and invite passers by to add prayer balloons for their families).
Plaiting or weaving threads
Invite God to be woven into the fabric of family life in your locality or nation. Use a gold or sparkly thread to represent his presence amongst other colours as you plait or weave.
Economy
Can shy
Have a set of cans with words like "greed", "selfishness", "corruption", "debt" and "stinginess" taped to them. Have balls with words like "generosity", "stewardship", "fairness", "provision", "sharing" and "giving" stuck to them.
Some explanation may need to be given about how the cans represent what can go wrong in people's relationship with money and the balls are God's heart for wealth.
Make declarations as you aim, like: "Lord, replace greed with generosity in our banks" or "Lord, let debts be repaid and may you be the Provider in this neighbourhood". Younger children could just shout "Greed - no! Giving - yes!"
Heaven's Cheques
Pray "on earth as it is in heaven" for your nation's economy, or the economy of your region, or for household spending in your neighbourhood.
Use these "cheques" to ask God to release heaven's riches on earth, in the economies mentioned above.
Cheques could be written for:
Integrity (Honesty)
Generosity
Help for the poor
Economic sustainability (wisdom)
Innovation in wealth creation (fruitful ideas that make money)
etc!
Younger children might enjoy paying in their "cheques" to a "cashier" who says "Aaaaaamen!" with them, or putting them into a cardboard "hole in the wall".
Older/ all age groups could pin them up to form part of "Heaven's Bank statement" - where others can read and agree in prayer.
Government
House of Commons
This idea works for prayers for the British government - though other nations could set up a space that mirrors their own Government sessions.
Set out a couple of rows of chairs facing each other (like in the House of Commons). Participants are invited to sit, then one at a time to stand and make a declaration or pray a blessing on the government, eg
"Lord I ask that you would give our government wisdom in their most difficult decisions"
"Let our leaders be marked by integrity and fairness"
"May your kingdom justice be done in the House of Commons as it is in heaven"
"Bless our leaders with the strength and courage they need to serve our country"
... or prayers for current situations.
All other participants respond each time with:
"Hear, hear!"
MP
Display a picture of your local MP, with his/ her name, and a map of your constituency.
Write or draw prayers and send them with a letter to your MP - he or she will be touched!
Church/ religion
Body prayers
Play music and have everyone wander around the meeting space. When the music stops, call out a number - folks have to quickly get into groups of that number.
Then challenge them to create 3D shapes or sculptures together with their bodies. When in position, pray for 1 minute eg:
Beating heart (pray for the church to be moved by God's heart)
Cloud with falling rain (pray for revival/ renewal/ refreshing)
Human pyramid (pray for unity)
Throne (welcome God's rule and reign)
Balloon prisons
Use modelling balloons to create cubes big enough for a child to sit in. Have some children sit in the cubes, representing those in the Body worldwide who are imprisoned for their faith, while the others pray around them.
Use information on the persectued church to fuel prayer, eg:
http://www.opendoorsuk.org/resources/kids/
http://www.releaseinternational.org/prayer-alerts/release-international-childrens-prayer-sheet/
Prayer mats
Use rectangles of cloth laid on the floor as prayer mats to pray for the Muslim world. They don't need to face Mecca, but they could face the direction of a Muslim nation or community you are praying for.
Use information on the Muslim world to fuel prayer, eg:
http://www.30daysprayer.com/booklet_kids.php
Education
Clay prayers
Participants use modelling clay or play dough to create shapes like hearts, people or even brains! As they are modelling, invite them to pray for teachers and those who influence education.
Pray for:
God to shape education with his wisdom
The next generation to discover God's fingerprints in their lives, through education
Education would help children and young people fulfill their God-given potential
Whiteboard prayers
Simple - invite participants to write their prayers on a whiteboard like the ones in a class room.
Buried treasure
Bury 1 and 2 pence pieces in a sandpit. Invite participants to dig and find them, and as they do, to pray in ways like these:
Young people in local schools would discover their gifts
Children will discover more of how precious they are in local schools
Teachers will see their children with God's eyes
Teachers will look for, discover and encourage their children's hidden qualities
Media
Prayer Trumpets
Participants make simple trumpets out of paper/ card and sticky tape. They can choose different crates or sturdy boxes to stand on, labelled with different types of media (eg Internet, TV, Newspapers, Radio... or alternatively; Blogs, Social Media, News websites... or even more specific examples, eg; BBC, CNN, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed)
Participants shout declarations through their trumpets over the part of the media they are representing:
eg:
"Lord we ask that .............. (name of media) would speak out for those who have no voices"
"May .............. (name of media) stand for truth and honesty"
"May this newsgroup use their power and influence for right, not for themselves"
"May journalists in .............. (name of media) hunger for truth and find you"
Anyone standing nearby can shout "Amen!"
In the news
Carefully choose a selection of newspapers, or pages from newspapers, or articles from web news pages from the day you are praying, and spread them on the floor or over a table.
Particpants can pray for the situations they read about, for the journalists reporting and for the news company supplying the news.
Celebration
Graffiti prayers
Cover a section of wall with Lining paper or the reverse of some wallpaper. Supply felt tips or marker pens.
Choose which section of the arts you want to pray for with this graffiti wall:
Performing arts (eg theatre, dance, music) or
Literature or
Visual arts (painting, photography etc)
Participants ask God what that area of art reveals about him. Fill the graffiti wall with pictures, words, poems etc received in prayer. Pray that God and his kingdom would be revealed in these ways through the arts in your nation.
Penalty prayers
Set up a small football goal and have a ball ready. You will need a goalie who also helps facilitate prayer.
Players can be in teams of 3 or 4.
Players need to score as many goals as they can in 1 minute.
After the minute is up, they must huddle and pray for the same number of prayer points as goals scored:
Pray for:
Favourite sports person
Your local club/ team
Someone you play sport with who doesn't know Jesus
A national/ international sports event coming up eg World Cup, Olympics
Thank God for your favourite sport
The manager of your favourite team