5 Ways To Teach Kids To Pray
As parents, my husband and I have many desires for our children when it comes to their faith. We want them to KNOW the Word of God – truly, deep down, know the truths of God (that’s why we invest our energy in a daily family Bible time). We also want them to worship the Lord with all their heart. And even more so, we want them to surrender their life to God’s calling and follow Him where He leads. But maybe our greatest desire is to teach our kids how to pray. Not just how to say the Lord’s prayer, and not just knowing they should pray in certain situations. But we want them to know how to communicate with God, how to commune with Him, how to listen for His voice. And turns out, this doesn’t necessarily come naturally. As Christian parents, we can’t just pray and assume they’ll do the same; no, we must teach kids to pray.
But how?
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Make It Normal
Prayer doesn’t have to be a big deal. Don’t get me wrong – prayer IS a big deal. It ushers in the power and presence of God to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, move the mountains…and that’s just the beginning. There’s no bigger deal than prayer. And yet, God just wants to talk to us throughout our day. He wants to be part of our lives. He wants to hear from us and speak to us because He loves us.
Communicate that to your kids. Teach them that they can talk to God anytime, anywhere, and that He values their prayers.
Practical Application: When you hear of a friend, family member, or neighbor who is sick or needs help, invite your child to pray for or with them. Pray before meals and before bed. When they seem concerned about something, encourage them to pray about it. Sit down with them and ask them to listen and see what God is saying to them. Pray with them when they are sick or injured. For older children, encourage them to seek out opportunities to pray with/for people.
Use Prayer Prompts
Teaching our kids to listen to the Holy Spirit and be led in prayer by Him is an invaluable gift; after all, He is the one making intercession for us (Romans 8:26). However, it doesn’t hurt to prompt your child by giving them a category or idea to pray for. This opens their eyes to people, places, and things that they may have never considered praying for. A great time to use prayer prompts is during a family prayer/Bible study time. Or, for kids who can read, you can give them a prompt and an opportunity to pray alone for that topic.
Practical Application: Come up with a few prayer prompts and give your child the opportunity to pray for one each day. Use the 31 Days of Prayer cards from The Daily Grace Co. For older children, have them come up with 7 categories they would like to pray for, and choose one for each day of the week.
Give Them Opportunities To Lead Prayers
This one is easiest to do at home, because children feel the most comfortable with their parents and siblings. Give your kids a chance to lead a prayer. When it comes time to pray, maybe at bedtime or before a meal, just say, “Who wants to pray?” I can almost guarantee that you’ll have a volunteer. If not, pick a child to pray each night. Use your prompts if you need to, but let them pray how they want to pray. Their prayers may be repetitive. They may be trivial. They may not make much sense (hello, prayers from my 2 year old). But it’s laying a foundation of prayer in their lives.
Practical Application: Create a rotation for each child to pray throughout the week. Ask for volunteers to pray at different times during the day. Talk to your kids about when they would like to lead a prayer. For older children, encourage them to find one opportunity to each day where they can lead siblings/peers in prayer.
Ask Them What They Would Like To Pray For
This seems so simple, but it can be so powerful. Ask kids who or what they would like to pray for. Their answers may seem silly (pets are a common prayer topic with kids), but that’s what’s important to them, and that’s what we want to convey to them. God cares about what is important to each one of us. He cares about what we’re worried about, who we’re thinking of, and things that we see happening around us. This also gives you an opportunity to correct any wrong view of prayer that your child may have, such as using prayer as “vending machine” where they receive anything they pray for.
Practical Application: Allow time during your prayers for your child to choose what/who to pray for. Set aside a special time of day for “Kids Prayer Time”. For older children, allow them to decorate a journal, poster board, whiteboard, etc. with people, places, and things that they would like to pray for.
Put Them In Prayerful Environments
My husband used to host a prayer night at our church. The evening of the first Sunday of every month, we would meet together and just pray. We had a good turnout a few times, but what surprised me was that there were never any kids present, except for ours. Maybe we just have a different perspective, but I want my children to be in environments like that. Sure, it was hard. We only had one child at the time, but she was very young. She didn’t want to sit still or be quiet for very long, much less pray. It didn’t always go well. But she was there, and she was experiencing the presence of God. And that is what matters.
Don’t send children away when an environment turns prayerful – invite them in and give them a place. This is how we teach kids to pray – by setting an example and involving them. They are being shaped by each of these experiences, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.
Practical Application: Take your kids to prayer nights. Have family prayer times. Host a prayer night for your friends/small group. When the adults start praying over each other during church service, encourage your kids to join in. For older children, talk to your children’s pastor or youth leader about putting together a kids/teen prayer event.
It can be intimidating to think about how to teach kids to pray. Prayer is very important to God and to believers, and it’s something we shouldn’t take lightly when raising Jesus kids. At the same time, God loves our kids and just wants to talk to them. When we can communicate that to them and show them how special it is to connect with their Creator, it becomes a lot easier to teach kids to pray.
How do you teach your kids to pray? Is there anything you would add to this list?
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Raising Jesus Kids
How To Establish A Family Bible Time
Mama, Read Your Bible
