A Prayer for Children: Handling Frustration

Experience the Power of Pause

Grrrrrr! You’re feeling something that isn’t happy, but what is it? Are your muscles tense? Your teeth clenched? Are you feeling annoyed and irritated? What about your brain? Is it short-circuiting when you try to think about what to do next?  

Good news: We know what this is! That means you have the power to name it and reframe it. This is frustration. And you can choose to take a power pause, right this minute, instead of rolling into anger, full steam ahead.

What’s a power pause? I’m so glad you asked. That’s when you stop to check what’s happening in your mind, your feelings, and your body. In this pause:

• You relax your muscles and take a few slow, deep breaths, exhaling all the way out.
• You get curious about what you’re feeling, where you’re feeling it, and why you might be feeling it.
• If you’ve felt frustration before, you might even figure out when you typically start feeling this way.
• You can also use this time-out to remember that you and everything that happens are inside God, which means God is right here with you and within you. 

A power pause gives you a lot of information you can use to help calm your body and mind inside, before you do anything on the outside. It also gives you back your power to choose what to do next instead of getting carried away by your emotions. It lets you move from reflexive reaction to reasoned response. It’s an opportunity to make peace where there might have been war, even if only inside yourself. Especially inside yourself!

How Feelings Help Us

Frustration isn’t a bad thing. It’s an alarm that lets you know you’re on the way to getting angry. It tells you something is out of balance. Emotions are your helpers, letting you know something needs your attention, your love, or your understanding. When you take a power pause, you stop long enough to understand what that might be. Then you can come back to your center instead of spinning out of control.   

The best news of all? The power pause is a tool we each have inside us. No one can take it away or keep us from using it, and we can do it anywhere, anytime we need to. You are in God and God is in you—as well as in every other person and situation.

We are all doing our best in every moment, and our best gets better when we reach inside for guidance from God when we’re not sure how to move forward peacefully. Bring your inner God-ness to the world outside and take divinely inspired action. You can do it! 

A Prayer for Handling Frustration in All Children

As I breathe in, I remember I am breathing the breath of God itself. I allow that God essence to awaken my best and highest self as I send loving energy to all children who feel frustration. I envision a clear and beautiful path ahead for them, and I feel myself bringing healing, peace, and love to anything and everything in my life that needs it right now. I am at peace, grateful for God’s healing and guidance.

A Shared Family Prayer for Handling Frustration 

As we join hands, we take a deep breath and open our hearts with love. Feeling the hands we hold, knowing the hearts they lead to, we send love around our circle, imagining its energy flowing to our right. We allow any tension or frustration to be bathed in that love, and we relax. Then we send divine love around our circle to the left, feeling new and inspired ideas for sharing peace and healing. Breathing together, feeling relaxed, and ready for whatever comes next, we feel gratitude. And we say thank you, God. 

Together we affirm:

Did you know? All children are welcome to pray with Unity Prayer Ministry associates.