I love this prayer – that I ‘borrowed’ from the Christmas Service at St John’s Cathedral – so I gather it was written by Dean Peter Catt. (Thank you Dean Peter!)  I have changed the ending – to make it suitable for schools.

May the joy of the angels

The eagerness of the shepherds

The perseverance of the wise men

The obedience of Joseph and Mary

And the peace of the Christ-child

Be yours this school year.

I was thinking that a wonderful way to use this type of prayer is to link it to the Habits of Heart – thank you to The Rev’d Jonathan Whereat for creating the Habits of Heart.

It doesn’t really matter what Bible story you are reading! After you have read and studied the story –  encourage the students to write their own version of this prayer – linking the Habits of Heart.

For example – if you are teaching the story of Moses – ask the students to list some of the key characters of the story.

Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Jochebed etc …

Then match the characters in the story to the Habits of Heart.

May the courage of Jochebed

The hope of Miriam

The respect of Aaron

And the faith of Moses

Be yours as you journey through this school year.

This sort of lesson could be done at the end of every lesson to allow students to reflect on each story and see how the story applies to their own life. I would fill my classroom walls with these prayers. They could be so inspirational and a wonderful way to look for the blessings in every story! I would love to read some of the prayers that your students write!

Love and prayers

Vanessa