Archive for teaching children to pray

Teaching children to pray – step 2

Posted by Carey

· Wednesday, December 26th, 2012

This is part 2, in a series of posts on teaching children to pray… go read part 1 also…

1. Be real, not religious

There are a lot of ways you can be religious in your prayers that will NOT be of help to your children…

Using big, religious words because it seems that’s how prayer should be is not a good thing.

The truth is, prayer should be like talking. If you wouldn’t talk that way, don’t pray that way.

Your kids need to see genuine examples of what it is like to talk to God.

That doesn’t mean you can’t use “bible” words like sanctification, justification, etc. – but it does mean that if you are going to use them, you should help your kids understand what they mean.

If you don’t they’ll learn religion, not relationship with Christ.

Praying in flowery, fancy, rosy terms that deny the reality of the hardships of life is NOT good for your kids.

Your children need to know that it’s OK to talk to God about the hard stuff, no matter how hard it is.

But if you feel compelled to keep your prayers “sanitized” so they don’t get exposed to the hardships of the world, they’ll never learn that God is relevant to life, or that He cares about what they go through.

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Pray honestly about what you are facing as a family. Pray openly about the needs you have.

Your kids need to see by your prayers that God cares for everything, big or little.

2. Get outside your own world (intercession)

Help your kids know that prayer is not only about getting… it’s also about giving help to others. Here are some ideas about how you can do this…

Pray with your kids for people you know

If their friend’s mother is going in for surgery, pray with them about it. If their teacher is gone on maternity leave, pray with them for her and the baby.

God cares about people in all walks of life, and your kids need to know that.

They will learn it as you pray with them about those around them.

Pray with your children about missionaries and people in other parts of the world

Praying for missionaries does three things:

1) It teaches your kids that the spread of the gospel is important.
2) It teaches them that prayer is helpful to those in other parts of the world.
3) It teaches them that they can be involved in God’s work in history.

3. Talk about the God you are speaking to

Your kids need to know who it is they are petitioning. Here are some ideas…

Ask your kids what they imagine God to be like.

You’ll be amazed at what they have right, and what they have wrong.

Use their responses as opportunities to dig into the scriptures with them to help them get to know God better.

Talk about God with your kids when you are not praying

Make God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit members of your household. Include them in conversations on a daily basis.

Tell your children what God has been teaching you. Tell them when He convicts you of wrong in your own life.

Doing these things helps your children understand what God is like.

What have you found helpful in teaching your children to pray?

Categories : Parenting

Tags : children's prayers, parents pray with children, prayer for children, teaching children to pray

Teach children to Pray – step 1

Posted by Carey

· Friday, December 21st, 2012

Teach children to pray – step #1: YOU have to pray

As we all know, the “do what I say, not what I do” approach never works. By now you’ve probably heard me beat that drum (and I’ll keep beating it).

If your children are going to truly become…

eager to pray
genuine in their prayers
effective in their prayers
full of faith in their prayers

They are going to HAVE to see and hear their parents praying. That means YOU.

Teaching children to pray starts with these 3 elements of your own prayer life

Authenticity

When you pray, your kids need to hear more than rote, repetitious, religious sounding prayers.

They need to hear you expressing what is truly on your heart to the Father.

That example shows them how to be honest in their own prayers.

If they hear you pray about:

Illness

Financial needs

Family conflicts

Stress

and many other things

You’ll be teaching your kids to pray honestly, about the true concerns of life.

Consistency

Your kids need to know that prayer is an important part of every day of your life. They need to see that you lean on the Father daily.

Here are some ideas for times you can pray (and involve your kids in the prayers):

When leaving to go on errands (pray for safety)
When leaving the breakfast table (pray for the LORD’s guidance in your day)
When you hear news about a friend who is ill (stop and pray right away, for healing and for endurance)
When you see a beautiful sunset or sunrise (praise is a form of prayer too!)
When the family pet has to be put down (thank God for the enjoyment you all received from the pet, and for comfort in your sadness)

Do you get the point?

If you only pray when things get tough, your kids will realize that you operate independently of God most of the time… and they will follow suit.

But if you pray consistently, about the good and the bad things in life, you’ll teach children to pray in faithfulness and trust.

Boldness

Your children need to see that prayer is important enough to be said, aloud, any time of the day or night.

Calling on the Father should become as natural as any other conversation – to you and as a result, to your kids.

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#fbf06f” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Teaching children to pray begins with parents who pray (or are learning how to pray) – TWEET THIS [/dropshadowbox]

Depending on your faith background, this may be hard for you for various reasons.

Here are some suggestions:

Fight feelings of embarrassment about prayer.
Ask the Spirit to overcome things such as shyness, awkwardness, and discomfort.
Ask the LORD to help you remember to pray at all times.
Be honest with your kids about your struggle. Let them know that you are fighting to learn to pray more boldly… because prayer is important.
Don’t be afraid to ask God for the BIG stuff. Your kids need to see humble requests, followed by God-sized answers. Nothing builds faith like answered prayer.

Teaching children to pray begins with parents who pray (or are learning how to pray)