Teach Your Children to Pray

Begin early to establish prayer in your children about big and little things. Dr Charles Stanley said, “The reason we should teach little children to pray about the little insignificant things (but significant to them) very early in life, is so they learn that if they talk to God, He will answer their prayers.”

The more they see and hear you pray, the more it will become a part of their lives. As you point out answers to prayer, the more they will want to pray.  Let your children hear you express to God your feelings (hurts, joy, love for God)

Be intentional in teaching them all about prayer.

Teach them what prayer is:

Prayer is simply talking to God about anything and everything just as they would with a friend.  Jo Bevington in her book, I Can Pray, described prayer as ‘feeling, thinking, listening, and talking to a very special Friend’. Your children need to know that their special Friend is always with them (Matthew 28:20 “. . . I am with you always. . . “)  Part of the joy of having Jesus with you everywhere you go is to realize you can talk to Him wherever you are, any time of day.

Teach them why we pray:

We pray because God tells us to (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and He is near to those who call to him (Psalm 145:18) God loves us and wants to talk with us just like we like to talk with our friends.  Praying is spending time with our best Friend, our Creator, who wants to spend time with us – wow!!

Teach them how to pray:

When His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them an example that we call the Lord’s Prayer or the Model Prayer (Matthew 6, Luke 11) We can lead our children to memorize it, but please help them understand it so it can be a prayer from the heart and not just a recitation.

There are 5 kinds of prayer covered in the Model Prayer:

Praise – Tell God “I love you”. Singing praises is prayer too!

Confession – “I’m sorry; please forgive me for . . .”

Thanksgiving – Give God thanks as you go about your day.

Intercession – Pray for others.

Petition – Ask God for help or for needs and desires.

Teach them when and where to pray:
Children can learn this from Jesus’ prayer life.  He prayed in the morning (Mark 1:35); He prayed all night (Luke 6:12); when He was alone (Luke 5:16); when He was thankful (John 6:8-13); when He was sad (Luke 23:34); when He needed to make choices (Luke 6:12-13).  He prayed in a garden, on a mountain, and on the cross.  Lead your children to follow His example and pray anytime and anywhere.  “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55:17)

 Teach them what happens when we pray.

God hears and will answer when we pray.  (“When they call on me, I will answer;” Psalm 91:15) The answer may be yes, no, or not yet – but God will answer!!! Point out that sometimes their dad answers with a yes, sometimes with a no, and sometimes with a not yet because he loves them and knows what is best. So it is with our Heavenly Father.  And we can trust that His answer is always best for us.

Give them prayer aides:
– With your older children, help them to start a prayer notebook divided into sections. Encourage them to write down praises; list things they are thankful for; name people to pray for; and list things to ask God to help them with or provide for them.  Encourage them to mark the date when God answers.
– A tangible way to establish prayer in a younger child’s life is by beginning a prayer box. Put in it pictures of people and things to thank God for.  Also include pictures that will be a reminder of things to pray about.  Look together through magazines to find pictures or draw your own. Let them pull out several pictures a night to pray about.  Mark these pictures with a ‘PTL’ or a sticker and the date when you see an answer and leave them in the box as a reminder to thank God for answering.

Create prayer reminders:
– Whenever your children use something that was a gift from someone, remind them to pray for the person who gave it.
– When you hear an ambulance, lead your children to pray for the person in the ambulance and for the people helping them.
– When you see a policeman or a soldier, say a prayer for their safety and thank God for their service.
– When you ride by someone’s house who is having a hard time or does not know Jesus, lead your children to pray for them.
– When watching a movie, pray for the people who are acting in it and for those who made it.
– When you go for a walk, thank God for things you see in His beautiful world.  Sing praises about it!

Remember the most wholesome experience in prayer is for your children to hear you express naturally your own love and confidence to God.  Your children will want to follow!!

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A New Year

Rev. 21:5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

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The children have all gone home and I now have time to reflect on the wonderful time spent together.  There were 13 people, 3 beagles, and 1 cat in our house.  It was filled with laughter, noise, chaos, some tension :-), hugs, eating, messes, movies, games, toys, and many of our Christmas traditions.  I loved every minute of it!!!!

The house is quiet now and I am trying to project for this new year my hopes and goals for myself, my marriage, and my children.:

I have chosen two words to focus on this year – intentional and peace:

intentional:
– in my prayers
– in time with God
– in my commitments
– in my relationships

The ‘I will’ verses are so powerful when you start talking about intentions:
Psalm 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Psalm 101:2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

peace:
–  peace with God through Jesus.
– peace within myself and peace with others.
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

My intentional prayer for each member of our family is that the greatest thing in each of our lives will be knowing God and making Him known. (Phil 3:8) (Mat 5:16) (1 Peter 2:9)

My intentional prayer for my husband is that he would feel surrounded by my love (Proverbs 5:19)

My intentional prayer for our grandchildren is that they would grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man as Jesus did (Luke 2:52)

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What Makes a Happy Mother?

Philip. 2:12-16

  1. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
  2. work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
  3. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,  
  4. holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

As I was running recently I was questioning if all the efforts to get up and out early to get a run in was really making a difference.  Then I heard the above scripture as I was listening to Philippians on my iphone.  My thoughts immediately went from physical to spiritual and from efforts for my physical health to my efforts for my children’s spiritual health through the years.

Paul’s source of joy and desire for his beloved Philippians should be every mother’s joy and desire for her children:

  1. That they would obey not only in her presence but much more in her absence
  2. That they would take charge of their own spiritual lives, allowing God to work in them His good pleasure
  3. That they would shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation
  4. That they would hold fast the Word of Life until the day of Christ so that she can rejoice that she has not run in vain or labored in vain.

This reminded of the time my sister and I decided to surprise Mom and Dad with new living room furniture as theirs was completely ruined from the pets they so lovingly allowed me to have all through my childhood :-). When Dad sat down on the new furniture he said with tears in his eyes, ‘We must have done something right to have children to treat us so kindly.’  I was thankful that we gave my Dad and Mom cause to feel they had not run or labored in vain.

Now on this Mother’s Day I want to say to my four beloved children, “Thank you for holding forth the Word of Life and giving your Dad and me reason to rejoice that we have not run in vain. We see yall taking charge of your own spiritual lives and shining as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.  Yall have made me a happy mother!!!!”

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
3 John 1:4

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Teaching Aid to Help Children Learn to Pray

Never stop praying. – 1 Thes. 5:17 
When they call on me, I will answer;  – Psalm 91:15
. . . men always ought to pray and not lose heart,  – Luke 18:1
Continue praying, keeping alert, and always thanking God. Colossians 4:2

“The reason we should teach little children to pray about the little insignificant things but are significant to them, very early in life, is so they learn that if they talk to God, He will answer their prayers.” Dr. Charles Stanley

Begin early to establish a pattern in your children to pray.  Teach them that prayer is simply talking to God about anything and everything just as they would with a friend.  Prayer can be saying thanks for something or asking for help with a problem.   Jo Bevington in her book, I Can Pray, described prayer as ‘feeling, thinking, listening, and talking to a very special Friend’.

With your older children, help them to start a prayer notebook with a list of things to be thankful for, things to pray about, and people to pray for.  Encourage them to make note of when God answers.

A tangible way to establish prayer in a younger child’s life is by beginning a prayer box. Definitely have pictures of people and things to thank God for.

 

Also include pictures that will be a reminder of things to pray about.  Look together through magazines to find pictures or draw your own.  For example:


Help me share with my friend


Help me go to the potty


Heal my neighbor’s dog

Mark these pictures with a ‘PTL’  or a sticker and the date when you see an answer.  Help your children know that they can trust God to hear and answer.  In Luke 18 Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up until the answer comes.  The answer may be yes, no, or not yet –  but God will answer!!!

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A Prayer for Mothers

Wow, Father, how can we ever thank you enough for calling us to the greatest profession in the world!! Forgive us when we get busy and distracted from this most awesome privilege of molding a little life for you.

Help us when we get weary from the unending tasks, to rest in the promise that in persevering we will see results from all our efforts:
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Help us not to compare ourselves with other moms, but to enjoy being the mom You made us to be:
Galatians 6:4 Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

Father, like you, we have no greater joy than to hear that our children walk in
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Help us to first of all love You with all our heart:
Deut. 6:5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Help us to surround our husbands with our love:
Proverbs 5:18 & 19 So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the girl you married – pretty and graceful as a deer.  Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love. (Today’s English Version)

Help us to be diligent to train our children in the Way they should go and consistently discipline them to be like Christ:
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go ,And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 29:15 To discipline and reprimand a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.
Galatians 4:19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,

Keep us aware that even as grandmothers, our jobs continue:
Deut. 4:9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
Psalm 71:18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation,Your power to everyone who is to come.

Help us to radiate with a meek and quiet spirit and with joy from having spent time with you:
1 Peter 3:4 You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
Psalm 34:5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;

And then as we radiate, help us to equip our children to shine as lights in the midst of a wicked world:
Philip. 2:15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

Thank you, Father, that all these things you have called us to do, You have promised to do through us:
1 Thes. 5:24 God, who calls you, is faithful; he will do this.

Thank you that when we are distraught by all our cares and anxieties, you will console us:
Psalm 94:19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.
1 Peter 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Thank you, Father, that as we fulfill this sometimes overwhelming responsibility and privilege of motherhood that you are with us, always perfecting that which concerns us, and ever gently leading us along the way!
Isaiah 40:11 And gently lead those who are with young.
Psalm 138:8 The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;

Matthew 28:20  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And ultimately, thank you for sacrificing your Son in the place of our sons and daughters so we all can come boldly to your throne to ask these things in Jesus name!!!

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

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