I love God. He is my all.
And to understand how important and real He is to me, you would have to realize that to me, He is more real than the person sitting next to me right now.
Yes, He is the entire essence of my being.
And because of how much God means to me, I want my children to see and know and understand Who He is.
I cannot bear the thought of them not knowing He Who loves them more than anyone…
He Who created them, every tissue, every cell, just perfect.
My deepest desire is for them to experience God like I do.
I want them to know Him better than they know anyone else in their lives.
Yes, I homeschool and I LOVE that calling on my life.
I greatly enjoy teaching my children Math and Reading and Logic and Latin.
But what good would all that knowledge do if they don’t know their Savior and waste their lives with no eternal aim?
What if I never live a life that makes them want to fall in love with Jesus like I have because I was too busy making other things a priority.
No. That will not happen…not on my watch.
I teach my children to pray because to pray means: “to offer devout petition, praise, thanks, etc.; to enter into spiritual communion with God or an object of worship through prayer.”
The one greatest legacies I want to leave to my children is that I showed them Who God is and how much He loves them.
I pray for them to hunger and thirst after Him and Him alone.
When I am no longer on this earth, I want my children to say, “Mother was deeply in love with the Lord and her devotion to Him made us fall in love with Him, too.”
I want them to learn about God, about His Word, the history of the Bible and all of that.
But most importantly, I want them to know God well enough to be comfortable talking to Him like they would any other person.
Prayer is not just reciting words or poems, it is much more than just talking and talking, but it is a relationship.
It is seeking to know Him.
It is yearning for His presence and to hear from Him.
It is a two-way street. It isn’t a ritual, a dead practice.
Our relationship with God is alive, it is real and it is interactive.
It is splendid and more amazing than anything else in our lives and yet it encompasses all of our lives.
God is never compartmentalized in our lives.
He is intertwined into every thread in the fabric of our lives.
He is present. He is active at work. He is ever-present.
So why do I teach my children to pray while they are young?
Because as proud as I am to bring my children to God’s presence and say, “Father, I would love for you to meet my children,” I yearn more for them to love Him and want to know Him on their own.
And the best thing I can do is live it out.
I must be an example. I must make it a priority.
If God is not a priority in my life, then how can I expect my children to learn to make Him a priority in their lives?
If spending time with Him is not paramount in my life and if I don’t include Him in every aspect of my life, how can I expect my children to do that?
As much as I love teaching them subjects, I love even more spending time with them at the feet of Jesus, talking about Him and talking with Him.
Worship is the only thing we will do forever.
My prayer is that my children will feel God at all times and that they can talk with Him anytime.
Starting early, starting young, is so important.
Don’t wait.
Children can truly understand and feel so much.
Jesus mentioned how important it is to have faith like a child (Matthew 18:3).
Imagine how special it will be when a child gets to know He Who created her.
Imagine. How sweet.
So what can we do to teach our children to pray?
- Practice!
- Pray out loud with them.
- Pray a lot.
- Make it a natural thing.
- Explain what prayer is.
- Show them how easy it is.
- Take turns.
- Help out.
- There is no right and wrong in prayer. We make our requests known to God and while we practice, we may not have the perfect words, but we have no need for those. God knows what is on our hearts.
- All prayers matter, long or short.
- Praise their efforts after they pray.
- Pray some more together.
- Be a role model.
- Pray all the time, not just over meals and sickness.
- Include God in your conversations all the time.
- Read verses that talk about the Bible (yes, believe it or not, you can Google that)
- Show them that they aren’t talking to an imaginary friend, but rather to the Creator of the universe, the Powerful God, the one Who made them and He wants to know them.
- Pray so much that your children catch you praying regularly.
- Pray the Book of Psalms our loud.
- Make it a fun and enjoyable time. Yay, let’s chat with God!
Grab these tips in a free printable here!
You might also like:
The Lord’s Prayer in Spanish, Latin, English and French {Free Printable}
Leave a Reply