Did you have an opportunity to pray with your child using one of the creative ways to help children grow in prayer from last week? I’d love to know which one you tried and how it went.
While the ideas on the list are great tools for teaching, modeling, and breathing fresh air into stale routines, it’s important we understand that teaching children to pray requires so much more than methods and frameworks.
We are called to the work of helping our children understand the power of prayer. And that requires teaching them that prayer is an authentic and genuine conversation with God. It also requires helping them develop the habit of talking to Him in a natural way.
So, how do we go about it?
Tips for Teaching Children to Pray
1. SET A GOAL
Goal setting helps us keep our eyes properly focused. When it comes to teaching our children to pray, the goal should be to lead them into intimacy with God. The goal is NOT, mastery of a technique.
2. PROVIDE OPPORUNITY
To learn to pray, one must pray. Our children cannot grow if they are not given the opportunity to pray. Invite them to pray at church events, get togethers, in Sunday School class, and in prayer meetings. Offer genuine encouragement as you extend the invitation.
3. ASK
Before your children pray, ask them leading questions to help guide their prayer. Last week, we said that the repetition of basic prayers is a good beginning point for teaching the younger generation to pray, but we certainly do not want to stay there. These questions are a great way to spur growth in the area of prayer.
Ask things such as “What do you want to tell God?” “Is there anything you want to ask God for?” or “What do you want to thank God for?” These questions will help your children think about what they want to say before they pray. They will also help you prompt your children in developing a conversation with God that is authentic and natural.
4. TEACH
Be intentional. Supply direct teaching to children about prayer.
Your direct teaching may include the use of leading questions which, rather than telling children what to say, helps them think about the content and formation of their prayers.
It may also include examples such as the one Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew 6:9–13. (Note that Jesus prefaced His example by telling His disciples “This is HOW you should pray,” not “This is WHAT you should pray.”
Whatever methods are employed, teaching should help children discover how important and powerful prayer is.
5. ACKNOWLEDGE THE ANSWERS
Part of teaching our children about prayer is teaching them that God always answers our prayers with what is BEST for us.
We must help our children learn that God is not a vending machine doling out our every request. Nor that He always answers our prayers the way we want Him to. The powerful truth of His answers – YES, NO, WAIT – can be taught in several ways. Share biblical examples of God’s answer to prayer. Tell stories of God’s answers to your own prayers. Keep a family prayer journal recording both requests and answers.
6. CREATE A DIALOGUE
Talk with members of the younger generations about your prayer life. Share about the contents of your prayer. Explain the tools and prayer techniques you use. Confess your struggles and how God has helped you over come them. Encourage your children with testimony about what God is doing in your life through your time with Him in prayer. Celebrate your prayer praises.
7. USE POPULAR PRAYER “METHODS” WISELY
Methods for prayer abound. In fact, we shared several in our last two blog posts. While they can be a useful tool in teaching children how to pray, we must never make the method the goal.
They are helpful tools not stringent rules. When used wisely, methods can guide our prayers. They can also provide a framework for our prayers and supply us with examples of the things for which we can pray.
Poorly used, methods can lead to rote, repetitive prayers that lack thought and purpose.
8. MODEL PRAYER
Let your children hear you pray! Pray in front of your children. Pray with your children. The habit of prayer will not be formed in their lives if it is not formed in yours.
When you pray, be honest, real, and humble in your prayers. Let your children hear your sincerity. Help them see that their prayers should not sound like anyone else’s, nor should they sound the same every time they pray.
And as you model the attitude and content of prayer for your children, don’t forget to model the posture. Yes, we generally teach children to bow their heads, fold their hands, and close their eyes for prayer. But this is not a prescribed posture. We do this to help our children keep from being distracted during prayer. Be sure to model different postures of prayer for their benefit.
9. DEFINE PURPOSE
Help your children understand that prayer is not a ritual. So many go through life checking prayer off their daily to-do list as though it is a prescribed religious procedure. Something that must be done to be in right standing.
One of the best ways to help children get to the place where they pray sincerely to God is to help them understand that prayer is about spending time with God. And for children to reach this place, they first need to develop a real and intimate relationship with Him. Part of your teaching must include teaching your children how to spend daily time with God in His Word and in prayer so that this relationship can grow.
10. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
With our busy family schedules, it is easy to fall into the habit of praying only at certain times. Mealtime prayers and bedtime prayers are wonderful routines for anchoring a family. However, they should not be the only times we pray together.
Praying only at certain times reinforces the idea that prayer is a ritual. Dig out of that rut by praying at different times during the day and for different reasons. Consider praying together first thing in the morning. Shake up routines by praying during or after a meal. Invite your children to join you in a prayer walk around the neighborhood or to pray with you as you fold the laundry. Help them come to learn that prayer is a conversation that can be held at any time day or night.
