Concept and mechanism of prayer - ability to concentrate

         Greetings and Opening Prayer

         Lesson Objective: get the young people to understand the value of prayer, its mechanisms (thought) and the importance of being able to concentrate in order to pray effectively.

         First: Distribute a candy to each adolescent, in the most spontaneous way possible. By doing so, the adolescents will receive and acknowledge the kind gesture without realizing it; albeit simple, this shows they just prayed.

         Second: Hand a puzzle to each adolescent. Stipulate that the young people will have 5 minutes to assemble the puzzle. The main objective of this activity is to exercise their ability to concentrate. During this time, the spiritist teacher should make loud noises as well as turn on and off audio equipment (radio), open and close windows, drag chairs around the room, etc... Once the time stipulated time is finished, observe the end results. Provide more time for the adolescents to complete the work if necessary.

Click here to see the model for the puzzle.

         Third: talk about the activity; ask how it is to be able to concentrate. Ask the young group to report a time when they lacked concentration in their everyday life. Remember also how important concentration is during prayer.

         Fourth: Ask what prayer is. Ask the group to find several concepts of prayer that are hidden under their seats (the spiritist teacher should hide these papers under the seats before this class begins). Get each of them to read the definitions found and write them on chalkboard or on a poster.

         Fifth: Question: Who shall we ask, thank and praise? How does prayer reach God? Remember that we are immersed in the universal cosmic fluid, which is the vehicle of our thoughts. Ask them about the importance of prayer. Place a prayer written in a piece of paper under a glass transparent plate. Place a little bit of water in the dish. Ask a young person to read the prayer that is located under the plate – the water doesn’t prevent him/her from reading since it’s transparent.

         As he/she reads the prayer, the spiritist teacher should drip dark paint slowly into the water, until it will become impossible for the young person to continue reading the prayer. The water colour will change, until it becomes impossible for the prayer to be read. Explain that the water represents the universal cosmic fluid and the ink represents our lack of concentration. If we are not focused, our prayers won’t reach your goals. Remember that a small thank you, coming from our hearts, is a prayer. The spiritist teacher can cite, as an example, the appreciation the adolescents showed once they each received a candy at the beginning of this class.

         Closing Prayer


         Bibliography:
         ’The Gospel According to Spiritism’, Chapter XXVII;
         The Spirits’ Book, Questions 658 to 666.

         Spiritist Teachers: Ricardo and Maria Cláudia

         Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.