How do I teach my kids to pray

A merry Thursday to you all!

And a poignant activity for you and yours today folks! Does a day go by when we are not faced by some new horror or tragedy in the news? Barely.

Christians have a responsibility to pray, we are entrusted with an understanding of the power of prayer and the duty to use it. Contrary to what the world tells us, we know that prayer has the power to change lives and circumstances. Most Christians will testify to the power of prayer in evidence in there own lives, so let us ensure we pass down this beautiful and awesome heritage to our children.

Of course, learning to pray is a challenge your children will face again and again as their understanding and relationship with God grows and changes.

How many parents and leaders out there have an experience of praying with our children which goes something like 'Thank you for my mummy and daddy, thank you for my house, thank you for grandma, thank you for my bed, thank you for my light and my walls, thank you for my rug and thank you for my cup...' and we notice the children's eyes drifting around the room, naming the items they rest upon in succession? Most I think!

Well, what a wonderful way to pray! I got to thinking about that and thought, 'That's not wrong, that's perfect! What a great foundation for prayer.'

In future, we'll look at some more ways of making prayer enjoyable and relevant to your children. But for today, why don't we just concentrate on saying 'Thank You'? Here's a little song I made with the Creation Crew kids which is about just that.
Why not get up and follow the actions? Enjoy!

Teaching kids to pray

Here's a lovely way of encouraging your kids to pray before bed!

Go down to your local flooring centre and ask them if they have any small carpet samples or off-cuts you can take away with you.  Choose something light, a pale off-white ideally.

Sit down together and sketch out a nice design before carefully transferring it to the carpet using permanent coloured markers.

Cut the carpet to a shape of your choice, and place it by your child's bed to kneel on while praying in the evening.

You just try and stop them using it.  Talk about empowering the child to take ownership of their faith!  Send in your designs, let's have a look!