Lakov is a poor cobbler who alongside his wife, Olga, lives a sad life. Their only son, Mikhail, is deathly sick and awaiting the Angel of Death. Having no other medical option, Lakov turns to his last resort—visiting the Old Wise Man who talks to angels and performs miracles. When Lakov explains to the Old Man the delicate condition of his son, he agrees to pray for Mikhail, in exchange for a pair of shoes for his grandson, Pavel. Yakov thankfully agrees and goes home to wait. The following day, a broken-hearted Yakov returns to the Old Man and reports to him that Mikhail is not better, but closer than ever to death. The Old Man sadly explains to Yakov that he discovered, upon reaching the gates of heaven, that they were locked. The Old Man promises to try again and Yakov leaves his home still sad, but full of hope. As soon as Yakov leaves the Old Wise Man’s home, he sends his grandson into the streets to find as many sinners as he can. The young man follows his grandfather’s orders and returns with seven quirky thieves. The Old Man then asks the thieves to join him in prayer for the recuperation of the cobbler’s son. At first, the thieves stare at the Old Man incredulous of his request, but when they see the Old Wise Man’s serious disposition they bow their heads and join the Old Man in prayer. The following day, Yakov returns to the Old Wise Man’s house with a new pair of shoes for Pavel and a sincere thankfulness towards the Old Man who cured his only son. When a confused Pavel asks his grandfather why the thieves were needed, he explains to Pavel that when sinners embrace good and leave behind their wicked ways, the gates of heaven are unlocked and swung open to their prayers.

This book serves as a wonderful prompt for a discussion on prayer. Students will complete a creative writing assignment about prayer and then share their thoughts with the class. They will then make their very own “prayer rocks.”

Students will complete a worksheet in which they will creatively describe a moment in their life when they feel their prayers were answered (RS 2/ PO3). They will also be given the opportunity to draw about their experience. When everyone has completed the worksheet, I will allow volunteers to share their stories with the class. Upon completion of the worksheet, students will be given a scrap of cloth, a piece of yarn, a “rock prayer,” and a rock. Students will then create their own prayer rocks.

• Prayer worksheet
• Crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc.
• Rock prayer
• Rock
• Yarn
• Scraps of cloth

• Doctor after doctor has told Yakov that there is no hope for Mikhail. What do you think Yakov will do to take matters into his own hands? (KNOWLEDGE)
• Do you think the Old Wise Man will be successful in finding a cure for Mikhail? (KNOWLEGDE)

• What is a cobbler? (COMPREHENSION)
• Who is the Angel of Death? (KNOWLEDGE)
• Why did Ivan (who was also a thief) demand Boris show respect to the Old Man? (COMPREHENSION)
• Why do you think Boris decided to return Pavel’s shoes? (COMPREHENSION)

• Have your prayers ever reached locked gates? How difficult was it to accept? (APPLICATION)
• In the story, Yakov gave Pavel new shoes in return for his grandfather’s prayers. What would you have offered the kind Old Man? (SYNTHESIS)
• Do you think the Old Wise Man’s prayers would have eventually been answered if he had not prayed with the thieves? (SYNTHESIS)
• As a reader it is very unexpected and surprising when the thieves bow their heads and agree to pray. Have you ever met somebody that did something you never thought they would do? (APPLICATION)

The children were very eager to share their stories with the class, so one thing I would change about my lesson is the amount of time—I would give the activity another ten minutes. I would also NOT let the children pick their cloth for the “prayer rocks,” it created chaos. I would give them all the same color cloth, or tell them “what you get is what you get.”

As a supplement to the book, I had the children complete a worksheet in which they answered the following prompt and drew a picture, as well. After they finished, the children shared their stories with each other.

Sometimes people think that miracles are these marvelous, unbelievable events that transform peoples lives forever. The truth is, miracles happen all the time and are always around us. They are little gifts from God that let us know he loves us and never leaves our side. They can be as small as finding a lost key, or as big as making a really sick person healthy again. Through prayer, we call upon God and he answers our prayers with these little “everyday miracles.” In the space below, write about a time when you called upon the Lord and he answered with an “everyday miracle."