Teaching Your Kids the Power of Prayer
Photo by Carlos Magno from Unsplash
As Christian parents, we routinely pray with our children before meals and at bedtime. Oftentimes prayer can become a mundane task that is done with the family–or perhaps become an afterthought so that you can move on with your day. But let’s be honest, prayer is meant to be much more than a string of recited words. When we turn to scripture, John describes prayer for the believer as such, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-16.
Prayer is a powerful tool for the believer and it is an essential part of our relationship with the Lord. Let’s teach our children that prayer is a weapon that can be used to fight off fear, anxiety, worry, and doubt. Prayer is also a way to communicate with our heavenly father and express our thoughts, emotions and petitions. Kids need to know that they have access to these rights because prayer is not only for grown-ups or those who speak eloquently. In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said “...Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
Let’s empower our children with the confidence to go to the Lord in prayer. Here are some helpful ways to show our children the power of prayer:
Pray beyond mealtimes
Taking prayer beyond the dinner table allows children to experience prayer being integrated into daily life. It’s hard to see the dynamics of prayer when it is being boxed into routine time slots or over mundane things–Lord, thank you for peas and carrots, AGAIN.
Prayer is about spending time with God. Spending time with God is being in a friendship or relationship with God. It’s about talking to Him about anything and everything. It’s a two-way conversation that begins with us talking (praying) and listening (through His word).
Pray with your kids throughout the day. Often, I will say a quick prayer in the morning during our car ride to school or sometimes I’ll thank God in front of my kids when we receive a blessing. Show your children that prayer can be done any time, anywhere and for any occasion. Just like our kids can talk to us anytime about anything, they can talk to God whenever they’d like and wherever they’d like.
Start them young
Prayer can be modeled to your kids as young infants. This is where some of the habitual prayers, like at bedtime, can be a springboard to showing your children we can talk to God.
Our bedtime prayers have morphed since our firstborn was a baby. We used to rattle off blessings for sleeping well and eating well–all things just for our baby. Fast forward to today, bedtime prayers in our home have become a mixture of prayer requests from our 5 year old to prayers for our nation or things happening in our world. We allowed space for our family prayer time in the evenings to naturally flow depending on current events in our personal lives and in the world. Because we consistently pray for the needs of our family and others, our 2 year old will now remind us of anyone who is sick so that we include them in our bedtime prayers.
Share answers to prayer
Intentionally pointing out answered prayers is an invitation to your child to celebrate God’s goodness. How beautiful is it to bring your child alongside you to worship and give thanks to God?
I remember having fear and doubt when I first started to pray for bold things in front of my child. I was afraid that she would be crushed or lose faith if my prayers didn’t get answered. But I realized more and more that the act of giving my requests to God in front of my child was building a confidence of who God was…that if mommy would always ask God to give us comfort when we are not well, surely it is because God is someone who provides comfort.
Start with the little things and openly give thanks to God over every win. It can be a brief and simple “thank you Lord, you are so good…”. Even through small victories, kids can adopt a mindset of gratefulness and awe for who God is.
Sometimes it even helps to tell your kids what you’ve been praying for and how God has answered your prayers. Depending on your child’s maturity, you can even share current or past difficulties that you’ve had to rely on God through prayer. Sharing helps them experience God’s provision through your life.
Pray as parents
As we teach our children the importance of prayer, we should be praying as individuals. How is your prayer life? We all go through different seasons when it comes to our relationship with the Lord and it’s human nature to have dry seasons. But as you intentionally teach your children to pray, start with your personal time in prayer.
My accountability for prayer is by using a prayer journal where I can organize my thoughts. However, my husband likes to pray during neighborhood walks or while he’s winding down for the day and stretching.
As you maintain steadfastness in your prayer life, it will naturally overflow into your child’s. They will see the importance of prayer as you demonstrate its value in your own life. Over time, they will be able to experience the power that prayer holds.
