What decisions have you made today?

What time did you get up this morning?

Who was the first person you spoke to?

What clothes did you wear today?

What did you have for breakfast?

Throughout our lives, we will spend a lot of time being thoughtful and making decisions. Your family spends time being thoughtful and making decisions too. These decisions concern matters such as what kind of food the family will eat, where the family will live, or how the members of the family will look after one another. Sometimes big decisions need to be made, such as whether or not to have an operation, or how we are to act in certain situations.

Let’s think…

How are decisions made in your family?

What part do you play?

So many important decisions are made in a family. The most important one is, ‘What kind of family do we want to be?’ Every family is different, and we know that some families all live together, while other families might have a mum and dad who live apart.

Let’s think and draw

Think for a moment about your family.

Draw a picture that describes what your family is like. Or draw a picture that describes how you would like your family to be.

Sometimes families also pray together. Prayer is a special way of being thoughtful and thinking about God. Prayer can also help in making decisions.

Let’s think

My family prays when…

The prayers my family like to pray are…

The place we pray most in is…

Perhaps your family has a favourite prayer that you pray together.

Jesus was a person who was very thoughtful. He thought about people and their needs. He thought about God. When Jesus thought about God and spoke to God, he was praying.

Jesus prayed often because he has to make important decisions in his life. In the Gospels, we read that Jesus always prayed before important events, such as choosing his disciples and before he was about to die. When Jesus prayed, he wanted to be alone so that he could be thoughtful before God.

Let’s draw

Illustrate one of these verses from the Gospel of Luke:

Jesus went to a deserted place to pray. (Luke 4:42)

Jesus went to a mountain and prayed all night and the next day he chose his disciples. (Luke 6:12-13)

Jesus prayed alone with only the disciples close to him. (Luke 9:18)

Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives before he died. (Luke 22:39-46)

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Jesus prayed because he is close to God and wanted to think about his life. Jesus asked himself: What does God want me to do? But he didn’t just ask himself. He asked God: What sort of a person do you want me to be?

Prayer is about being quiet and thoughtful about what is going on in your heart. Sometimes praying means thinking about Jesus and the things Jesus did. Sometimes it is being thoughtful about God and what is happening in our lives. When we pray, we are asking God to listen with us to our hearts and to guide us in our lives. Prayerful people are thoughtful people.

People pray in different ways.

Let’s think

I like to pray when …

My favourite prayer is…

When we were baptised, we became a member of a Church family that prays and reflects on what is happening in life. In Confirmation this will be deepened in us.

The gifts of being thoughtful and prayerful will be deepened in us when we are confirmed.

Let’s think

When I pray, these are the things I think about most:

This what I would like God to do in the world:

Make your thoughts into a prayer: