My son, Sam, was praying the same old prayer again.
“Dear God, thank you for the wonderful, wonderful day we had today and let us have a wonderful, wonderful day tomorrow. Thank you for all the wonderful things you made for us…”
Now I love that he prays.
I love that he thanks God for “wonderful” things.
But it was obvious that his heart wasn’t in it.
“Sam… why not pray about the things that happened today or the friends that need prayer for sickness or sadness? Why not ask God to help you with things that you need to work on? Maybe dig a bit deeper. Make your time with God count!”
He looked at me and said the most profound thing. “Mom, it’s like eating new, fresh cookies.”
I waited trying to see where this possible rabbit trail was going.
He talked about how if we eat the same cookies over and over again, they get old and boring. When this happens, we end up eating them anyway because we’ve grown used to them.
“But,” he said, “We should eat new and fresh cookies every day.”
I sat there staring at him, because he… just… got… it!
“That’s like prayer, mom. We should say new and fresh prayers to God so they don’t become something stale that we say everyday out of habit.”
Wow… did that really just come out of my son’s mouth?
I wonder… What are your kid’s prayers like?
- Are they reciting the same prayers over and over again?
- Do they rush through them like they’re a chore?
- Do they pray with little passion or emotion?
- Are their prayers becoming routine and stale?
Maybe it’s time to breathe new life into their prayers.
Here are some suggestions to help your children have an exciting and fulfilling prayer life:
- Model it for them. When you pray, show them how to do it.
- Talk about things they could cover in prayer so they’re praying about current situations (issues with friendships, sick classmates, upcoming tests, etc.)
- Change your prayer position. Maybe start praying on your knees or holding hands.
- Find some appropriate scripture you can pray together over a situation.
- Teach your kids that talking to God throughout the day is prayer, too!
- Remind them there is nothing they can’t talk to Him about.
- In your own prayer time, ask God to establish a strong prayer life in your kids.
Let’s encourage our children to give God new and fresh cookies every day.
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REALITY CHECK: Help establish your children’s prayer life. Teach them how to pray, when to pray and why to pray.
©2012 careyscotttalks.com
Today devotional taken from my book “Raising Godly Kids.” Buy on Amazon today!
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Really great post Carey, building a strong prayer life and ensuring our son can come to God is something we work on and have worked on for a long time. We pray together during the day for people and situations. He will come to me and say, “I think we need to pray about ______.” and we do.
One thing we do that I encourage everyone to do with their children is to pray when you travel for the people you see. The emergency workers going to a call, the people working in the stores or in the other vehicles.
We also talk about the Bible and difference verses and how we can pray them over people.
The hardest thing to learn when praying with children, I’ve found, is to make sure their prayers seek God’s will and not pursue their own desires. It isn’t an “I want” list, but a “I care” petition and an “I need” request to their Lord.
You’ve got a really good book there Carey, thanks for sharing God’s gifts.
Shanyn… these are some great ideas on what to teach our kids to pray. Thanks for sharing them!
You are welcome! 🙂