In my last post I mentioned that praying with my children is one of the most important things I do as a dad. That post is better than this one, but in this one I want to look at a few practical ways to pray with your children.
Notice that I say "with" and not "for". We, no doubt, must pray for our kids but sometimes we have a hard time praying with our kids. The difficulty can come when they have trouble focusing or when they don't seem to understand what's going on. I encourage you not to worry too much about that. They will eventually understand more about how to pray, but praying with your children, or in front of your children, will deeply impact their prayer life.
When you pray with your kids is up to you. I suggest meal times and bed times because they are easy markers in the day to remind us to pray. But I also encourage you to pray, as Deuteronomy 6:7 says, "as you sit at home and as you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Walks and car rides are great moments to pray with your kids.
So, here are a few types of prayers to do with your kids:
Thank You Prayers
These prayers are easy for kids to participate in. Thank you for this food, thank you for being able to play with friends, thank you for the beautiful day, thank you for Mommy, thank you for the park, etc. These prayers are easy prayers for your kids and teach them that God is the Giver of all good gifts.
Help Prayers
For most of us this is the type of praying we remember doing as a kid. God help Grandma, God help our sick neighbor, God help my school friends, God help me not have bad dreams, etc. These types of prayers will help them know that caring about others is important. These types of prayers will reinforce that God is their Helper. And these types of prayers, even from little lips, work.
Ambulance Prayers
Kids love sirens. They often notice them before you do. When you hear ambulance sirens, stop what you're doing and simply say, "God, help whoever that ambulance is going toward and thank you for the people that work with you to help others." These prayers help your kids learn to pray for those they don't know. This prayer reminds them that prayer is to be done more often than dinner and bedtime. These prayers, like the others, help you in the same way.
Steeple Prayers
As you walk by a church building, pray for that church. Pray that they reach people with the Gospel of Christ, pray that they stay faithful, pray that they do good in the community, etc. These prayers develop an ecumenical spirit in your child. These prayers help them be cheerleaders for the Church and not simply their local church. These prayers encourage your kids to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).
Shema Prayer
This prayer is one that you do aloud over them. I've begun ending my prayers with my kids each night with the Shema prayer. The Shema is the ordinance God gave the Israelites to "love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5). Jesus said the two greatest commands are, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind... and... love your neighbor as yourself"(Matthew 22:37-40).
So each night I pray, "Help Anna love you with all her heart, soul, mind and strength, and love her neighbor as herself." With this prayer I am asking God to enable my children to do their greatest task. And, by praying this nightly, I am highlighting for my children their purpose in the world. My prayer shows them they are not aimless beings but people with a particular and massive purpose.
Pray with your children. If you are already, I hope these little big prayers are able to be added to your toolbox. If you aren't praying with your kids, then start today.
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