Share Highs, Lows, and Concerns

We begin Confirmation class each week by sharing our highs, lows, and concerns for others through prayer. 

1.  Students first write their own high, low, and prayer concern from the past week in their workbook.  Writing it down gives students time to think and process, as well as a record of their prayers over time. 

2.  Then, we take turns sharing them out loud as prayers.  One person begins the prayers, and shares their high.  Everyone responds by affirming, “Thanks be to God.”  The next person in the circle also shares their high, and so on, until it comes back to the first person. 

3.  The first person next shares their low.  Everyone responds in empathy, “Lord, have mercy.”  It continues around the circle in like fashion. 

4.  The third time, the first person shares someone or something who is in need of prayer (intercession).  The group responds with either “Lord, have mercy” or “Thanks be to God,” as is appropriate.  This also goes around the circle, with the first person wrapping up the prayers, with these or similar words:

O God, we know that you are with us in our highs, and in our lows, and everywhere in between.  We ask that you would especially be with us here, during our time of Confirmation, that we may grow more deeply in our faith in you.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

In pre-Covid times, we placed a clear flat-sided marble at the base of a lit LED pillar candle when we shared our highs.  We placed a black flat-sided marble at the base of a small wooden cross for our lows.  These things remained in the center of our classroom table for the duration of our class each week, as a physical representation of our prayers.

This practice accomplishes several of our goals for Confirmation.  First, we learn more about one another, and grow closer to one another as a Christian Community of Care.  Second, we learn more about the leader’s prayer concerns, and that the leader can be trusted with our prayers as a trusted faith adult in their lives.  Third, we practice praying out loud, with the goal of becoming more comfortable with this by the end of our time of Confirmation.