Most of us have heard, “The family that prays together stays together.” There is a reason for that. Teaching our children to pray is perhaps one of the most important ways we could spend our time. Of course, there is no five-step method, and all of us are still in the process of learning to pray (James 4:3).
I find it very interesting that the disciples asked the Lord to teach them to pray. His response was also striking. He could have said, “No, you can learn that on your own,” but instead, He took that opportunity to instill deeper truths that drew them closer to God and each other. If the Lord taught the disciples to pray, I think we would do well to follow His example and teach our children to pray.
The first prayer we all need in our lives is the prayer of the publican: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Children need to understand that God hears the prayers of those who belong to him, and that if they don’t repent and turn from sin there is no hope for a life with Him in eternity. Children also need to understand how to pray for strength to overcome temptation and to obey willingly (Matt. 6:13-15).
Teaching our children to confess their sins to the Lord can be a very humbling experience (James 5:16). We need to model this to our children. I don’t know how many times I have needed to apologize and take my child by the hand and ask them and the Lord to forgive me. When our children see our vulnerability, they also become humble and tender hearted. I wish I could say that we did this perfectly, but we still need a lot of work.
I am convinced that, as a family focused on the Lord and his purpose, we should share with our children some of the needs of our family. Sometimes the breadwinner needs to change jobs in his effort to provide. Or, as our family grows, they may need a larger house. So why not pray as a family for those things? Children should know that God is the one who cares for and provides for them. Our children never complained about having to live in an older house, because they saw God’s hand working in our lives. If we were between jobs, we included the children in our daily prayers for employment as well as for food and clothing.
We had special times set aside for prayer. Although we didn’t want prayer to become a ritual, we did want it to become a habit. We prayed before meals. Sometimes this was a quick thank you for the food and other times we also prayed for those who were in need—for the sick and lonely (James 5:13). We all need to develop an attitude of gratefulness. Thanking the Lord for the necessities of daily life reminds us that we must rely on Him even for our very basic needs.
We often let our children pray at mealtimes, as they needed to learn to pray aloud without embarrassment. It always gave me great joy when we had more than one who wanted to pray. We let each one pray who had a desire do so. At the start of a new school day, I asked the Lord to help us to treat each other with kindness and love and to enable us to learn new things. It was a relief to me that we could commit our day to the Heavenly Father. The children were encouraged to know that God would be there to help them over the rough places.
We prayed when we began a trip in the car. How nice it is to know that the Lord not only guides our footsteps, but also protects and directs us when we ride in our cars!
After our evening Bible studies and before kissing the children goodnight and tucking them in, either my husband or I spent time praying with them individually. This is a time that we could model praying for them and they could, in turn, pray as well. We shared struggles we were going through and prayed that we would be strong and rely on the Lord. What a wonderful way to end the day!
—Beth Johnson