Teaching Your Child to Pray

The scriptures have numerous examples of couples that were without children praying for the opportunity of parenthood. The model of their praying is a good start for any parent in recognizing prayer as a continuing expression of trust and faith in God.

Expectant parents can and should start by praying for their unborn child and for their wisdom in preparing for that child’s birth. A significant number of pregnancies do not reach full-term for many reasons. Not all couples are able to have children. Many couples seek adoption opportunities and pray for those who might be open to that option,
enabling them to be parents. Expecting parents would do well to seek God’s guidance for each day’s challenges during pregnancies or adoption processes. Trust God to guide you and to help you to discern your capacities for both providing for and caring for a child.

Having children is not parenting them. That responsibility is continuous and ongoing.
The good news is that God’s love is likewise our best model for Christian parenting. God teaches us the meaning of steadfast love and faithfulness. Caring for one’s health before and during pregnancy is essential for a growing fetus. Childbearing itself can be dangerous for both mother and child. The best of modern medicine remains at times confounded by the failure of some pregnancies to thrive. Nonetheless, we can trust in God and his provision. Fathers are likewise accountable to be available and protective of their spouse. As we are gifted in the wonder and grace of new life, we receive and welcome those tender lives into our care. While often the concern of our prayers,
now we also must share in teaching them to pray and to understand God’s love for them.

Teaching your child to pray is not so much a challenge as it is an opportunity.
It is an opportunity for you to put into practice your own spiritual discipline of prayer
and to model that practice for your child in age appropriate ways. Teaching your child to pray is not just about teaching them to perform for your pleasure. Teaching a child to pray begins with your own conversations with God. As you pray, and as your children listen to you pray, they begin to discern the meaning of your actions and words.

Things that are helpful in teaching your child:

Begin with simple words shared at regular times. For exmple, praying before meals and at bedtime would be good opportunities and times for regular prayer.
Begin with a posture of prayer. Joining hands in a family circle during prayers at meals can benefit in helping busy fingers to be occupied and to help little ones focus upon the action taking place.
Be consistent. The most important part of teaching is consistency. Over time, as patterns are taught, we learn, and over time we grow in understanding and knowledge.



For Pre-schoolers…

Teaching a child to fold their hands and to bow their heads and to close their eyes in prayer is helpful in many ways. It teaches them to express their own attitude of prayerfulness…they can pray. It teaches them to give attention to God and talking to Him, overagainst being distracted by all the other activities that might be going on around. To begin with bowing heads and closing eyes while a parent prays is a great start. It teaches respect for God in bowing before Him as an expression of humility and love for him.
Teaching your child to pray might include teaching simple patterned prayers that they learn to repeat.
God is great. God is good.
Let us thank Him for our food.
By his hands we are fed.
Thank you, God, for daily bread.
AMEN

Thank you God for food and all our many blessings. AMEN

Prayers never need to be long in order to be heard or spoken. More than once a parent would do well to model sentence prayers in the middle of the busiest times and places. For example, Praying before traveling was a frequent memory of my childhood. Sometimes it was prayer for safe travel, at other times it included prayer for a good day at school. Other times, it included prayers for friends or family or neighbors with special needs. Teach that praying can be done in many different settings. Explain and show by example your readiness to talk to God about the most ordinary and extraordinary events and concern of life.

For Elementary Age Children...

As children grow older, they should be encouraged to begin their own initiatives to offer prayer. Taking turns praying before meals, or designating a different person each day to say the prayers at set times would be helpful. Help a child to move to this process naturally, by asking them about things they would like to pray about before hand. Help them to think about asking God for his help and to thank God for his blessings. Guide children to understand that our praying is also a time to listen for God’s voice to us. Share in reading from the Bible together. Read portions of the scriptures or share a special verse that was meaningful from your own devotional reading. Allow children to talk about their needs and concerns. These conversations around family devotional times will be some of the most remembered of their and your lives together. Often reading from a collection of Bible Stories for Children is helpful at this age, reading a different story each day. Talking about the story and helping children to understand it will encourage them to ask questions and to explore the Bible as they grow older. Giving a child their own Bible to read, especially in a readable translation, is especially helpful as you move into this age. Help your child to learn the books of the Bible and to identify chapters and verses. Encourage them
to underline important passages or to identify those sections about which they have questions. Teaching how to use a Bible at this age is very important to their lifetime of using it in the future. It also encourages reading in general. Children would also be helped by learning a model of prayer from the scriptures in the Lord’s Prayer.


For Teens and Young Adults...

Enabling youth to engage in personal devotional reading and prayer time is an important step in their faith development. Developing the capacity for having their own time for daily bible reading and prayer allows them to grow beyond the supervision of parents into independent learners and self-motivated seekers. Having the skills to explore the Bible and knowing how to use bible study tools like Bible Dictionaries, Bible Concordances, and Bible Atlases will encourage their growth and understanding. Teaching youth to read aloud from the Bible is also important at this age. It encourages their participation in worship and also utilizes their capacities to give instruction and guidance to others. Reading devotional classics and collections of devotional readings can also serve as a help for daily quiet times. Many one-year collections are available in a wide variety of formats. A good basic study bible in a readable translation is again a very helpful tool for growing in understanding of the scriptures. Many good examples are available. At this age, youth, while often shy about publicly expressing themselves, should be encouraged to share their thoughts and prayers publicly. In group settings, sharing sentence prayers around the circle, or in family gatherings for family devotions, the practice of praying can continue. Teens and young adults learn best from the examples of their parents. Parents who demonstrate a personal devotional life, encourage it among their household. Coming together and praying together are important with friends, with relatives, with strangers who are a part of the gatherings of your family. The Psalms are a rich source of private and public prayers and praises in their meditations and reflections upon life and God’s provision. Reading from them with regularity can be an excellent basis for growing both in faith and knowledge of God’s love.