I’m so happy to have my friend Jessica Anderson from Intentional in Life guest posting for me today! Jessica and I met in a blogging group we are both in, and then she also graciously partnered with me last year in the launch of Lies Moms Believe. I hope you are encouraged and inspired by what she is sharing with us today!
This past year the Lord has been leading me to be more intentional with my parenting. One of the areas I feel called to be more intentional in is praying with my children.
Praying with your children is so important. As parents the Lord calls us to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) One of the ways that we can train up our children in the ways of the Lord is by teaching them about prayer, the importance of it, and how to pray. They need to learn how to communicate with God, and prayer is the ultimate way to do just that.
God gave us a mandate of training our children in His way, and the way is Jesus. It is vital that we teach our children about God and prayer.We are to teach them about who God is and what He has done for us, as well as share that the Lord desires to have a personal relationship with them. That is why it is imperative that we start to train them up in the Word when they are very young. Now I’m not saying that it’s too late to start if you have an older child or even a teenager. It’s never too late to start! It is just easier when they are younger because they are more receptive to receiving from the Lord. They are open to the truth and are more pure in heart. I encourage you to start no matter what age your children are at the moment.
Surrender your children to the Lord because they belong to Him and ask the Lord to guide you and show you how to reach your children’s hearts. When we surrender our children to the one that created them, that’s the best service we can ever do for our children.
Our Children Need to See Us Live a Prayerful Life
As parents, we need to set the example of what a personal relationship with the Lord looks like. Our children need to see us praying, worshipping and reading the Word. They need to see us live out God’s Word in our own lives.
We need to share with them the wonderful encounters that we experience daily with Christ when we stay connected with Him through prayer. It is important that we explain what the Bible says about prayer and why we should pray.
As their parents, we can give them the opportunity to pray for others, to pray for their family, their community, for themselves and whatever else they feel led to pray for.
3 Ways You Can Pray with Your Children
Pray together as a family.
It is so important that you pray together as a family. Praying together in unity is powerful! Lifting each other in prayer helps us love and appreciate one another more. The Word says in Matthew 18:20 (KJV) “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Wow!! Now that is wonderful! Being able to come together and pray for the family needs and seeing God answer those prayers is a wonderful testimony. Your children will see first hand the Lord working in their own lives and in their family life.
Pray individually with each of your children.
Making time each week to pray individually with each of your children is so important. By setting this time apart you are creating memories with him. You are giving him your undivided attention, which is priceless. This is the time where you will be able to connect with your child in a deeper, more personal way.
During this time you will be able to hear what’s in your child’s heart. You will learn about their concerns, topics they been wondering about, and answer questions that they may have. It’s the perfect time to be able to pray with them about their prayer requests and encourage them to pray for themselves. It’s a safe place where they can share their heart and practice praying out loud until they are comfortable praying in a group.
Pray for others together.
This is a great opportunity to encourage your child to pray for others that are not family members. Encourage them to think of other people they can lift up in prayer. If they are stuck you can brainstorm with them and write down the names of those that your children mention. You can even make suggestions to help them think outside of just people that they know.
Encourage them to think about all the different people that they come in contact with when they are at the library or the grocery store. Talk about how they can also pray for a state or country, those in leadership positions, a group of people, etc. Be creative!
How to Keep Track of All Those Prayer Requests
I would encourage you to keep a prayer journal. The prayer journal doesn’t have to be anything fancy - it can just be a spiral notebook. In your journal, you would write down the prayer requests, the date you started to pray for that request, and the date when that request was answered.
You can have a family prayer journal, each of your children can have their own prayer journal, and they can even have another journal that covers other prayer requests.
The idea is to be able to keep a record of all the prayer requests so 1) you won’t forget what you are praying for, 2) you will be able to look back and see all that the Lord had done, and 3) it will be a source of encouragement and testimony to know that there is power in prayer.
As we spend more and more time in prayer we can’t help it but grow in our faith and in our relationship with Christ. Oh, what a beautiful thing it is when we see our own children faith grow right alongside of us! Cherish those moments and enjoy seeing your children’s prayer life and faith grow each year.
Jessica is a follower of Christ, wife, and mother of three energetic boys. She writes about homeschooling, frugal living, motherhood, intentional living and everything in between. You can follow along on her blog, Intentional in Life, where her heart is to inspire and encourage other women to live an intentional life. You can also find her over on her Facebook page, in her Facebook group, and on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
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If you could use more encouragement for your journey of motherhood, I invite you to join me for my free 7 Day email course, Mothering by the Book: God’s Design for Motherhood. Sign up here and also receive a discount on my book, Lies Moms Believe (And How the Gospel Refutes Them!) as a little gift of congratulations for completing the course!
