WORLD RELIGIONS FAMILY PRAYER SERIES
Welcome to the third (of five!) family prayer guides for world religions! Use this as a tool to help engage your kids in global intercession. Utilize components that work well for your family and don't worry about the rest! This shouldn't feel stressful, but an adventure into family prayer for the world!
This month we'll focus on Buddhism. The majority of Buddhists live in South and East Asia (in countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, and Japan). There are over 500 million Buddhists around the globe. While Buddha is a key figure in Buddhism, he is not considered a god by followers.
Family Devotion: God's Greatness
“From the east to the west I will be honored among the nations. Everywhere they will bring incense and clean offerings to me. I will be honored among the nations,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies” (Malachi 1:11 ICB).worshipping him. Later we will see that God’s plan ends this way as well. Today we get to see the beauty of God’s plan.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites would worship God through two ways—incense and offerings. When incense is burned it makes a good smell. Offerings are animals or grain given to God. Before Jesus came, these acts of worship could be done in one place—the temple in Jerusalem (Deut. 12).
But today’s verse shows that before Jesus came to earth from heaven, God had a plan. He planned for a day when people from across the world would worship Him in every place. God didn’t want worship to be available to only one people in one city. He wanted everyone in every city around the globe to know and praise Him. Since the coming of Jesus, worship is no longer in one place (John 4:21-24).
Did you notice something repeated twice in this verse? When something is repeated in a verse, we want to pay attention! Go back and re-read today’s verse to find it! That’s right: God’s name will be great among the nations! Our God is so great that everyone must know and praise Him!
But what does “God is great” mean? It means there is nothing or no one more important, stronger, or better than Him. He is the only One worth following. Only God can make our hearts happy—not being the best soccer player, getting the best grades, or having the most friends.
What we—and every person in the world—most need is Jesus. He is the best.
1) Pray for Buddhists to encounter a Christian who can share the gospel with them.
2) Pray for Buddhists to come to know God as their Creator.
3) God often works through healing in the Buddhist world to draw people to Himself. Pray for men, women, and children to encounter Jesus the healer.
2) The Yeti & the Jolly Lama: An old Tibetan tale told in a modern way. With a touch more religious themes, some debriefing may be necessary, but these are good conversations to have with our kids! (Ages 4 to 8)
3) Soul Lanterns: A Japanese girl explores the lasting impacts of the bombing of Hiroshima in her community. This book was translated from Japanese into English and allows readers to better understand how drastically the lives of Japanese people were forever changed in an instant. I would recommend reading this together so you can guide discussions as needed. (Ages 10 and up)
4) Meet Tenzen: A digital lesson about a Buddhist boy and how his beliefs differ from Christianity (elementary kids)
Buddhist Video
As a family, watch this short video (about 4 minutes!) produced by Pioneers (missions agency) for kids to gain insight about what Buddhists believe.
Prayer Prompts
Carve out a few minutes–on the drive to school, during breakfast, before bed–and lift up Buddhists using the following prayer prompts (and add to this list with your own prayers!):
2) Pray for Buddhists to come to know God as their Creator.
3) God often works through healing in the Buddhist world to draw people to Himself. Pray for men, women, and children to encounter Jesus the healer.
Activities
Below are some activities to see how religious beliefs intersect with culture.
1) Swing by the Weave website to meet Yeshey from Bhutan who lives in the snowy mountains, make your own mini bow and arrows to participate in a favorite Bhutan hobby, try Ema Datshi (Chili Cheese Stew), and learn two ways to pray for the Bhutanese.
2) Make fried rice using Wycliffe's Kids recipe and meet a couple missionary kids who live in Thailand.
3) Color the Sri Lankan flag using yellow, green, orange, and red. Then check online to see if your coloring matches the Sri Lankan flag! (Thanks Wycliffe Kids for this fun activity!)
4) Visit your local library and check out books from a country where Buddhism is practiced. Use this as a springboard to praise God for the diversity He's created around the world and pray for people who don't know Jesus yet. Consider using Wycliffe Kids Travel To Another Country printable worksheet to guide your research!
5) Make a Japanese Paper Fan! Visit the Crafty Classroom for the simple instructions to color and paint a paper fan! The first link includes three templates to choose from while the second link includes the instructions for the project.
6) Play Tee-Wong-Law (tire racing), a popular game for Thai kids. But instead of using a bicycle wheel, you could substitute a hula hoop.
Additional Resources
To keep digging deeper, here are resources to grow our understanding of different cultures where Buddhism is practiced. We want to openly talk with our kids about what others believe. For an overview of how to guide conservations about other religions with your kids, check out this Risen Motherhood article. As we increase our understanding, we can better pray for others. 1) The Floating Field: How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field: Desiring to have a place to play soccer, some Thai boys figure out a way to build a soccer field—one that floats! My eight-year-old really enjoyed this book and read it three times! (Ages 7 to 11)
As you go about this month, remember to pray for Buddhists! Be sure to come back next month when we learn about the Unreligious.