PRAYING WITH YOUR CHILDREN

What is prayer? We serve a God who is loving, personal and near to us. Prayer is our privilege as followers of through which we can have real conversations with God. When we pray, we can tell God what we want and need, but it is also so much more than that.

“PRAYER IS OUR INTENTIONAL COMMUNION (BEING WITH) GOD, THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, BECAUSE OF JESUS.“

Through prayer we focus our eyes on God’s glory and his kingdom. We ask him what he wants for our holiness and his glory. We respond to him in worship and thanksgiving, and acknowledge our complete dependence on him for everything.

There are different kinds of prayers found in the (this list is not exhaustive):

1 Praise (Ps 150, Matthew 11:25-26) - Proclaiming God’s glory and praising his name

2 Thanksgiving (Ps 136, Phil 4:6) - Pouring out thanks to God

3 Confession (Ps 51; :12) - Confessing our sin and asking for forgiveness

4 Intercession (Ps 122:6-9; Jn 17:6-26) - Praying on behalf of someone

5 Petition / Supplication (Ps 27:7-12; :39,42) - Seeking God, prayer of request

6 Faith (James 5:15) - Expressing trust in God

7 Agreement (Acts 2:42) - Corporate prayers

8 Consecration (Matthew 26:39) - Dedication or surrender to God

Why do we pray? God made us (and everything else in the universe) and we are dependent on God for everything. So, in short, we are made to pray. God wants us to pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17), but we also cannot help but pray. Through prayer, we run to our Father for everything, because there is no one who listens like he does, cares like he does, provides like he does, listens and answers like he does, or has wisdom like he does. PRAYING WITH YOUR CHILDREN

How do we, and how can we pray? Jesus’ disciples asked him how they should pray (Luke 11:1), and we can (and should) ask Jesus to teach us as well.

We are able to approach God because of what Jesus has done for us (Heb 4:14-16): God is holy and our sin separates us from him. But, Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sin, and because of that we can freely come into God’s presence and talk to him.

The Bible teaches us that we should pray: seeking God’s will above all else (Matthew 26:42); sincerely and simply (Matthew 6:5-8); without giving up (Luke 11:5-10); confidently (1 John 3:21-22); humbly and without any selfishness (Luke 18:9-14); in faith, trusting in God (Mark 11:24, James 1:5-7, :21); and act in obedience to God’s Word (1 John 3:22).

We can pray wherever we are, however we are and whenever we want to. But, the Bible mentions five specific postures we can have when we pray. We can pray when we: sit (2 Sam 7:18); stand (Mark 11:25); kneel (Chronicles 6:13; Daniel 6:10; Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60, 9:40, 20:36, 21:5; Ephesians 3:14); have our faces to the ground (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:35); lift our hands up high (1 Timothy 2:8). PRAYING WITH YOUR CHILDREN

Does God always answer our prayers? Yes! God promises to hear and answer our prayers. 1 John 5:14 tells us that ‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us’. God is a good Father who gives good gifts to his children (:7-11).

But, this doesn’t mean God will always give us what we want and the way God answers us is not always how we think it will be. Sometimes God answers us immediately, and other times he only answers after we’ve waited a long time. Sometimes God says ‘Yes’ and gives us what we have asked, other times he may give us much more or something completely different. Sometimes God also says ‘No’.

No matter God’s answer to our prayers, we should praise him and thank him. We can trust that whatever God does (or doesn’t do) is best for us and for his glory.

Some tips and tools for teaching children how to pray:

1. Model a life of prayer The greatest way we can teach children to pray is by modelling our own dependence on God before them. Most of what they learn and imitate will be through our own example to them. We won’t do this perfectly, but therein lies a great opportunity as we can model too.

2. Follow the ACTS/PRAY Acrostic (Though, a prayer can just include one of the aspects)

A - Adoration C - Confession T - Thanksgiving S - Supplication (asking God to supply our needs)

P - Praise God R - Repent of our sins A - Ask God to supply our needs Y - Yield to God’s will PRAYING WITH YOUR CHILDREN

3. Five finger prayer Each finger represents a kind of prayer (see above), or the following:

Thumb - Those closest to you, your family

Pointer finger - Those who point you in the right direction (Teachers, pastors, etc.)

Middle finger - Those who lead you (Government, our President)

Ring finger - Those who are weak and vulnerable (The sick, poor, elderly, those in pain, etc.)

Pinky - Prayers for ourselves, our own needs

4. Lord’s Prayer Use the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as a model:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name - We want the whole world to worship you alone and know that you are holy.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven - God, make everything in this world right and whole again. Help us to focus on your kingdom and glory, not our own.

Give us this day our daily bread - We ask you to give us what we need each day and we trust that you know what we need.

And forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors - Please forgive us for all the things we have done wrong, and help us to forgive those who have wronged and hurt us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil - Please help us to obey you and keep us from sinning. Help us to walk close to you.

5. News Use this only if it is appropriate, be sensitive to the needs and age of your child. Flip through a newspaper or online news and pray according to the headlines.

6. App Northpoint Ministries [ https://northpoint.org/family-prayer-app ] have developed a fun and interactive app to help you pray together as a family. It’s called Family Prayer and is available for Android [ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.northpointministries.npgo. familyprayer] and Apple [ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/family-prayer/id1451096694 ] devices. PRAYING WITH YOUR CHILDREN

7. Highs and lows Ask your child what the highs and lows of their day was, and pray in response to those.

8. Prayer box / Journal Decorate a box to place prayers in, or write them in a notebook - be creative and have fun with this! This is a great way to remember prayers and look back after a period of time to see how God answered them.

Artwork of girl prsying accreditation to : Moon Vectors by Vecteezy