SPIRITUAL TRAINING: Teaching your kids to pray

“. . .and God bless Hop-along Cassidy and Topper.” Hop-along Cassidy was an old black and white TV western; Topper was his horse. I was three and my parents were embarrassed. You see, they had invited our pastor to eat dinner with us, and I wanted to say the blessing over the food. Of course, that prayer has become my connection with that pastor even into my adult years. He has never forgotten; years later he chuckled the story to my college friends, much to my lighthearted embarassment. But neither have I forgotten that episode; my parents had encouraged me to pray when I was very young.

As our children grow up, it is the right thing to ask them to pray. In our home, each one had a day of the week that was his or her day to say the blessing over the meal, just part of our routine. There is no substitute for asking God for help. And many times God waits to be asked.

Philippians 4: 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Sometimes our kids turn the tables and teach us to pray. During a particularly stressful time, as a young dad, I was anxious and quite upset about numerous things, trying to figure out what to do, how to get things done. My five-year-old daughter Anna came joyfully into the room carrying her little children’s Bible. “Listen to this, Dad,” she said. “The wicked do not ask God for help. Isn’t that neat?” Then she turned on her happy little heels and left the room. But those words hung in the air, soaking into my spirit, altering my attitude, giving me the word I needed for the moment—pray.

Praying is saying to God, “I need you.” Failing to pray is saying to God, “I don’t need you.” And that is exactly what the wicked say. Which practice are we teaching our children?

Gathered tips on teaching kids to pray: Krista shared this idea in one of our workshops: “We are teaching our two-year-old to pray, ‘As I lay me down to sleep. . . ‘” This is how children learn. . .by rote. Teach them a memorized prayer: “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for this food. Amen.” Bedtimes, mealtimes are easy times to incorporate a short prayer.

Another time to pray is trouble time. Kris and Bob had taught their son to pray when he was in trouble. At age seven, he was in trouble; and as mom (Kris) entered the room, paddle in hand, Josh called out loudly, “DAD, DAD.” Kris said, “Dad’s at work; he can’t hear you.” Without missing a beat, Josh cried out, “JESUS, JESUS.” Kris tried not to laugh but couldn’t help it. Josh watched in wonder as Jesus delivered him from trouble—that time.

Question for next week: Share with us how you have seen your example affect your children and what they do. (Just click the white envelope below.)

SPIRIT TRAINING: Getting God’s Word into your kids

Patricia and I had this outrageous idea to teach our two oldest kids the scriptures by saying them together at each meal. The idea was to build the scripture into our routine, just a part of what we do. At the time, Patrick was almost three and Anna was four. We started with the 23^rd Psalm. . .THE WHOLE THING! We were so disappointed after several weeks of saying it together at each meal, and yet they still looked at us like two owlets, not even an attempt to say it with us. We discussed throwing out the whole idea when the Lord let us in on a little secret.

They were playing together one morning, Anna leading the way with her dolls and Patrick dragging one by the hair. Anyway, they decided to say the blessing before their pretend meal and they started with the 23^rd Psalm. . .THE WHOLE THING! We were stunned. It was the first time that we had heard them say it, but they did it. We knew we were on to something. Ever since we have made that practice of saying a scripture part of our blessing over a meal, one way of weaving scripture into our family’s day.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

In other words, weave God’s truth into your routine; integrate it into all that you do. Little bites are better than big mouthfuls.

My pastor Billy Duke shared with me once about the Bible his mom gave him when he left home. She had written on the front leaf: “This book will keep you from sin; and sin will keep you from this book!”

Psalm 119:11 “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Let’s be committed to helping our children hide God’s word in their hearts.

Gathered tips on teaching the scriptures: Bill and Susan Hightower love sharing after the mealtimes. Bill is very intentional in bringing to the table something of value to challenge his children to follow the Lord. It may not always be scripture; it may be manners or news items or situations that stimulate discussion.

We agree that it is a great time to train; and those short mealtime discussions accumulate over the years to shape the mindset of our children. Keep it short; think of it as planting seeds. If your kids ask questions that make it longer, that’s what you want.

Question for next week: Share with us the “who, what, when, where, and how” you teach your children to pray. We love to hear your ideas and pass them on.