Teaching Prayer Part 2

We previously discussed the ACTS acronym for prayer last week, and since it had so much to explain, I opted to save some other models for later.

1. ACTS
2. Praying through Scripture: Sometimes it is beneficial to open up to Scripture and pray it into your lives. It is especially easy to do through the book of Psalms. In the plights that the Psalmist lists you can substitute your own, the same can be done for praises and thanks (things you definitely don't want to skip over).
3. Praying together, one by one: This is simply starting off by praying from your heart, and going around the room all doing the same. This one is very important because it allows your child to see that you are comfortable praying with God, and talking with God, and that they can be also.

I pray that you've found these past couple of weeks informative in teaching your children how to pray and the importance of prayer. Though it may seem that bad habits are easier to make than good ones, the repetition of an action breeds habit. Stay tuned for discussion on selecting a Bible for your child to read and how to keep them interested.

Teaching Prayer

Last week, I discussed the benefits of praying with your children. But the question may have crossed your mind, "But how do I teach my child to pray?" The truth is? You teach your children to pray, but simply modeling that prayer is a form of conversation and that the Person they are talking with, hears them and responds through different ways.

1. The ACTS model of prayer
1. A: Adoration. Spend time talking about the attributes of God. Talk about God creating the heavens and the earth and all that is within them. Talk about how God sees everything all at the same time and that it doesn't overwhelm Him. Discuss that God hears every prayer. This way children experience the many things that God is and begin to understand that He's more than just one attribute that we focus on.
2. C: Confession. It is hard to focus on confession during prayer even as adults. But if you begin to cultivate this spirit within your children at an early age, they will begin to see that when they mess up, they can talk to a Forgiving God about what they have done and He will forgive them.
3. T: Thanksgiving. Through thanksgiving we thank God for the people and things that we have. Our response to all that God has given us should, at the very least, inspire our worship and praise, and should very well inspire us to respond by giving back.
4. S: Supplication. This is where we pray for areas where we long for God to work on our lives, and also in the lives of others. After we have entered into a spirit of awe, humility, and thanksgiving, what we find ourselves praying for very well may change from a laundry list, to just a few things. We soon begin to realize that we can rely on God for who He is and that He has our best intentions in mind.

Prayer

It is said that, "the family that prays together, stays together". The active choice to pray together as a family allows for their to be open conversation about nearly anything spiritual.

Through prayer you are teaching your child several things:

1. That prayer is an open, constant conversation with God that comes from the heart and does not require eloquence or "churchy" words to be effective.
2. That prayer surrenders self and trades self-will for God's will.
3. That prayer, as a conversation with God, allows a continual stream of trust and relationship to be built with the Master of the Universe.

How beautiful and simple are the prayers of the children here at the center. As we've made the move to allow the older children to "pray from the heart" before meals and during circle time, it is often quite convicting to move to praying for only the things that we really need and for which we are truly thankful. (Children are much more honest without reservation than we as adults tend to be.)

Stay tuned for different methods of teaching and modeling prayer to your children!