I have a couple of students in my Religious Ed class who have asked me what the first prayer was. - Missy

Missy,

I love the question your kids asked!  It shows they are thinking about their faith in more ways than just "what the rules are."  They are trying to figure out how things fit together!  That means you are stimulating their thoughts about God too!  Kudos to both you and your students!!

So, in response to the first part of your question.  What was the first prayer?  ... Let me respond in the manner Jesus does:  He responds to a question with another question!   What is prayer? ...
Yes, it's conversation with God.   So ... it can be any type of talk with Him, right?   My answer would be that whatever Adam's first conversation with God was would have been the first prayer!  It could have been, "Wow, God, what an awesome thing you have done!  Look, I was mud/dirt/earth before You breathed life into me.  Now I'm the spittin' image of YOU!" 

I am assuming that this makes you a little frustrated.  That there is no clear answer to that question.  I can tell you that the Jews, God's chosen people from the very beginning have a special prayer they teach their children before they teach them others.  It is called the Shema  (pronounced SHAY  MA - accent on the second syllable)  It is the central prayer of their prayer book and many Jews pray it twice a day, morning and evening.  It comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 which stresses the command to Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and might.    It is so revered that they often put parts of it in their mezuzahs (those little prayer boxes next to their doorways - which they touch when entering)

The Shema goes like this:  "Hear oh, Israel the LORD is our God; the Lord is one.
You can read more about this on  Hebrew4christians.com by John J. Parsons  www.hebrew4christians.com/scripture/Torah/The_Shema/the_shema.html

Hope this helps you some!  Keep the questions coming!!