Teaching My Kids to Pray

Prayer is an important part of my life.  I talk to God on a daily basis, several times a day. Sometimes it's to thank Him for all that He has blessed me with. Sometimes it's to ask Him to meet a need. Sometimes it's to petition Him on behalf of other's needs. He is always there and always listens. I know He cares because He loves me. 

It's important to me that my kids know how to pray too. I want prayer to be a part of their life and for them to know that they can go to God with their needs and trust Him to do what is right. I've found that with prayer, like a lot of things, it's best to lead by example. When a need arises in our home, we pray about it. If one of us gets hurt or is sick, we pray for them. Whichever of us takes the kids to school for the day, we pray for them on the way there. We pray openly at home and that is also the style of prayer at our church. The point being...our kids see and hear us praying. Praying for them, for ourselves, for others. And they are learning what prayer is all about.

It's become common for them to tell us of needs they hear about during the day and pray for those at night. We have a nightly routine before bed of gathering together either on the couch or in one of the bedrooms and praying together. We start out with the "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer and then each take turns praying our own prayer too. We also each thank God for something from that particular day. With kids, you never know what you're going to get...like "thank you God for the 2 hour delay from school this morning" ;-) or "thank you God for my toys"....but that's ok. God hears them and I believe He appreciates them thanking Him for the things that are important to them. And trust me, when I say that nothing will melt your heart like your 4 year old praying out loud for you....as in "help mommy's head to quit hurting" or "touch Daddy's back"...so sweet. 

And we are quick to point out when God has heard and answered prayer and thank Him for it. It's not that we want them to think they can take their "wish lists" to God and He will grant their requests. It's not like that. We just want them to grow up knowing that prayer works and it is something they should do. And we don't skimp on it when we have overnight guests either. Cousins or friends, whoever they have staying over is included in our prayer time. They don't always pray with us and that's ok. The good thing is that our kids are learning to pray comfortably in front of others. 

I can only hope that my kids will continue to value prayer as they grow up. It is a comfort to be able to go to God and tell Him anything and know He hears. I pray for my kids daily and I love it when they pray for me. And I'm sure God understands if they, every once in a while, thank Him for chocolate milk ;-).