The Story of Esther hinges on an ordinary woman, in an extraordinary situation, having to show a great deal of courage. Although the name of God is not specifically mentioned in the whole of the book, Esther must be rooted in her identity as one of the people of God so that she can help to save them. This prayer activity will help children to visualise the amazing help and courage that God can bring.
You will need: A ziplock or sealable sandwich bag, water, sharp pencils and pens
Fill the sandwich bag with water (leave some space at the top) and seal it.
Talk about the times when we need to have courage. What are the things that scare us and we worry about having to do? The things that we worry will hurt us? Ask children what would happen if we poke a pencil in the plastic bag? Hopefully they will suggest that it will leak! Take a pencil and poke it all the way through the bag (see picture above). There is no leakage whatsoever. The pencil is like the thing we are scared of. We are worried it will hurt us (or make our strength leak away), but we can pray to God to give us the courage we need to get through.
Get children to take it in turns to think of things that worry them and to ask God for the courage to get through the difficult times. As a symbol of their prayer, ask the children to push a pencil through the bag of water.
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