Prayers

Sitting in church today I found myself wondering how to teach my children how to pray. I find this has been perplexing for me, because I did learn how to pray in the conventional way through church and Sunday school, but I pray so much differently now.

The prayers that I pray now come during different times of the day, and in different ways. Sometimes if I’m having a difficult day they are for strength, understanding, and peace of mind. If I’m having a particularly great day, they are for continued happiness and health. I feel the older I get and the further into my faith I get, the prayers have become so much more powerful for my mindset.

In our church when the children go up for the children’s message, they pray after the Pastor or the deacon, and I feel this is showing them one way of prayer for sure. It’s not just children who do not know how to pray. I feel that there are probably some adults that do not know either.

The biggest thing I want to teach (which I also had to learn) is that prayer is not an essay. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. If you want to talk to God, ask him a question, tell him thank you for something, or if you just need to talk to someone without judgement. He is always there! There is no judgement period!!!

For me- prayer is about getting these things off your mind and into His hands. He will always want you to lean on Him. Give it to the Lord and rest.

I found a few techniques online that I wanted to share. There is a method that you teach them the acronym PRAY.

P- for Praise – or giving thanks!

R- for Repent- or asking for forgiveness!

A – for Ask – for help, strength, whatever you are struggling with!

Y – for Yield- asking please lead us down the right path.

I found this really helpful for me and the way I want them to learn how to pray. There is also a great website called ministryspark.com. They have a great article called 11 creative ideas for teaching kids how to pray. I suggest you give it a look. I found a lot of really great ideas on that article for different ages and teaching prayer.

Sitting and talking with my daughter, she definitely has the fundamentals for prayer. She can understand what she should be asking for and the ways in which she can pray, but she is not confident in it. This is what I can work on with her. The confidence that there is no perfect way to pray.

In Romans 8:26 the Bible states “ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

I find this verse to be so true. When I start to pray sometimes I do not know what I all need to pray for, but somehow the right words always seem to come.

Jesus said , “Let the little children come to me.” – Matthew 19:14

Let’s help our little to understand the importance of prayer, and how this can improve their mindset, hearts, and help them to remember He is always here for them.

How can we pray for our littles?

I always start by praying for their happiness and health. That the Lord bless them with everlasting joy, and that He may comfort them when they are going through hard times. We can pray for good social interactions at school, online and in all the parts of their lives. We can pray for their hearts to be kind to others, for those who are struggling in their lives and bring their worries to our children, and for all to accept that we are all here for one another.

We can pray for confidence, strength, understanding, courage, kindness, empathy, and compassion in our child’s hearts and minds.

Whatever your prayers may be for your children, I think you should tell your children that you are saying these prayers for them. This shows them that you are actively praying for their wellbeing. That you lean on God as they should. This shows them too, how much we think about them, love them, and want them to have an amazing life.

It’s hard to teach all these things, but you can do it! You got this!

– Kristy