Praying with your child is a valuable and precious responsibility. Both of my kids are teenagers now, and some of my favorite memories of when they were small come from prayer time. Here are five tips to get the most out of praying with your little one:1. Plan Your Prayer TimeIf you don’t plan for prayer time with your kids, it just isn’t going to happen regularly. It is amazing how kids can make anything take five times longer than it should. By the time you get dinner, bath time, and all of the other daily details taken care of, an evening can really get away from you. Make a plan for prayer time and stick to it.
2. Take Advantage of Impromptu Prayer Opportunities
Don’t compartmentalize prayer. The more we can communicate that prayer is something we set aside time for and a natural reaction to daily events, the better they will understand their relationship with God. So when you are on the way to Grandma’s and you pass by an ambulance with its lights on, take a moment to pray for the people involved. When your child is having a hard time with another kid at school, take a moment to pray about the situation.
3. Make a List of Things You Can Pray For
This was one of my favorite parts of praying with my kids. Get a little notebook and ask your child what you should pray for. Not only will it help them keep focused, it makes a wonderful keepsake. It’s amazing to look back now and see how much prayer time with my daughter was spent praying for neighborhood cats.
4. Discuss Answers to Prayers
When you keep a regular list of things you are praying about, you see God at work. Going over things you have been praying about regularly enables children to see the different ways God answers prayer. The point isn’t to tell your child how God is answering prayers, but for them to tell you. My son would often tell me how God answered prayers in ways that I was completely unaware of. It’s spectacular to see your kids growing more aware of God’s hand in their lives.
5. Teach Your Child to Incorporate Scripture into Their Prayers
Does your child have a memory verse this week? Are there some verses from your devotions that you can pray about? Help your child internalize God’s promises and character by praying those things back to Him. Teaching your kids to pray the Scriptures is a powerful way to make the Bible come alive for them.
If you are looking for ebooks to help teach your child about prayer, check out these wonderful titles from Vyrso:
- My Little Prayers
- My First Prayer Journal
- The Power of a Praying Kid
- Lord, Teach Me to Pray for Kids
- If I Could Ask God Anything: Awesome Bible Answers for Curious Kids