Inviting Your Kids to Pray

When was the last time you prayed with a child?

For me its on a daily basis. We pray with our kids a handful of times a day on a regular basis and then a few more times at random times. Let me tell you some of the regular times and share some of the fun things they pray for with child-like faith.

When We Read the Bible
One of the first things we do in the morning is read the Bible together. I used to just open up the Bible and read it but lately I've been modeling the need to pray before we read their Bible and after we read it. This has been a great way for us to teach our kids about some of the heroes in the Bible. The other day Leah moved the bookmark and said "Daddy, this is my favorite story. Please read it." Its great to teach your kids how to pray before reading God's word.

Breakfast
The next regular time we pray in our home is pretty quickly after we read the Bible. Our morning prayer is generally quick for the food and then we pray for our Compassion kids. I love hearing our kids grab what we've prayed. They pray for their kids to have food, to know Jesus, to be safe and to be healthy. I don't have to worry about my kids having food or being abducted but for our sponsor kids its a real issue and I believe God hears the prayers my 6 and 5 year old pray.

Walking to School
In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses encouraged the people to pray with their kids when they are walking. When we leave the house and get to the sidewalk I grab Sophie's hand and we pray. We pray for her day, for her to have wisdom, for her friend, her teacher and her principle. This is a time when I do the majority of the praying.

Dinner
After I drop Sophie off I normally don't see her until I come home. When we all sit at the table as a family we pray. Our girls have started praying for each item on our plate. Its great to hear them thank God for: macaroni, beans, water, forks, chicken, potatoes and bread. They make me smile when they pray for each item on the table.

Before Bed
The last time we pray together is right before bed. I used to pray or Charity would but lately I've invited the girls to start out our prayer time. Leah might pray for her brother to eat good to sleep well and its precious. Sophie has been generally praying for a cat. I wrap up our prayer time and then we kiss before bed.

These aren't the only times we pray.
We pray for fire trucks when we see them.
We pray when a tummy hurts.
We pray when someone gets a cut.

I'm convinced that my kids are going to learn about prayer from how I pray. We pray big prayers. We don't only just pray for food but we pray for God to move in big ways for others and I'm thankful to be able to do that.