And When You Pray - Teaching Children to Pray
- Becky
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 13 minutes ago
Sometimes prayer feels intimidating, even for adults! How do we help children learn to pray?
Prayer is talking to the Lord.
He invites us to come to Him. It is such a precious invitation.
One very familiar passage on prayer is when Jesus teaches what many today call the Lord's Prayer.
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:5-15 ESV
It is so important for us to remember that God is holy. Wonderfully, He invites us to come to Him. We come with humility.
There are some questions that might run through our minds about prayer. Let's look into these questions before sharing the P.A.T.H. Method of Prayer, Maybe you have other questions and though I don't have the answers, I know the One Who does. I'm so thankful we can talk to Him about these things too and that He gave us His Word.
Do we really need prayer?
Jesus prayed for Himself before He was arrested in the garden (John 17:1-5).
Jesus prayed for His disciples, as recorded in John 17:6-19.
Jesus prayed for all believers! This is such a comforting section of Scripture (John 17:20-26).
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
John 17:20-26 NIV
Will God answer?
James 1 reminds us to ask the Father for wisdom, confident He gives generously to all without finding fault. (James 1:5-8)
God hears us. I John 5:13-15 assures,
"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."
God may choose to tell us no, to wait, or yes. It is so good to know He hears us. That is enough. I can trust that His will, not mine, is best.
What should I pray about?
The Bible gives examples in many places, including ones we've already looked at. We can pray about many things including: for others, for ourselves, for God's glory and will, for wisdom, for our nation, and that we would not fall into temptation.
How do I pray?
Praying with eyes closed and head bowed is what many of us have been taught as a posture of focus and humility. Hannah prayed, pouring out her soul to God the Father.
"As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, 'How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.'
'Not so, my lord,' Hannah replied, 'I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.'"
I Samuel 1:12-16 NIV
Teaching Children to Pray
It takes faith to pray.
Luke 10:21 reminds us that God cares about the little children.
"In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight." Luke 10:21 KJV
To help families, Kimberly Payne shares the P.A.T.H. method of prayer to help children learn how to talk to God.
The P.A.T.H. Method of Prayer
Praise- Give thanks to God for who He is, not just what He gives us.
Admit- Tell God and ask forgiveness for things we did and said that were wrong.
Thank- Thank God for what we have.
Help- Bring our needs to God. Nothing is too big or small for God.
Kimberly explains that she uses this method to help her granddaughter pray.
You can hear Kimberly Payne speak about this and ways to help children memorize Scripture on the podcast 5-Minute Parenting with Karen Ferguson. https://www.karenferg.com/5-minute-parenting-podcast
Visuals help me remember things, so I thought this coloring sheet might help you and your family as well.
If you'd like to find out more about Christian author Kimberly Payne, here's her website: https://www.kimberleypayne.com/
The big idea is that we need to pray, we need that special communion with God. He enjoys hearing from us. As parents, you are your child's first and most important teacher. This call to parent is given by God. Deuteronomy 6 tells us to constantly be showing and teaching our children Who God is.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NIV
God is one. We are to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and with all our strength. In Mark 12:30 Jesus says this as well. Here it is in context.
"'The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.'"
Mark 12:29-31 NIV
Your child is watching you and learning from you. As you pray from a place of love for God and teach with a love for Him, your little one will see.
You are doing worthy work as a parent. However you choose to teach your child to pray, it is good. We might feel intimidated by the task of teaching children to pray. We can have confidence, knowing He loves us, loves our children, and is looking forward to us spending time with Him.
