Cultivating The Habit of Prayer in our Young Children
It's never too early to start praying with your kids!
Prayer is an essential part of a child’s life, and it’s never too early to start. Here are some tips and resources on cultivating the habit of prayer in your little ones!
Where do we start?!
Praying with your kids can feel difficult sometimes. We are drained at the end of our days, and our brains feel empty. We may not know what to say or how to say it. Our kids may even dread the thought of saying their prayers at night. Don’t scoff at this… we have all felt too tired, too mad, too sad, too (fill in the blank) to pray.
But when we remember our primary goal in praying with our little ones is to help them feel confident in approaching God and cultivating the habit of prayer early, it can take some of the pressure off. Our prayers do not have to be perfect or profound… they just need to be said with these goals in mind.
Three Things To Include in Your Prayers and Why
I try to include three things in our nightly prayers: connection, gratitude, and selflessness.
Connection
Let’s start with connection. We want to nurture our children’s relationship with God, and we want them to know that prayer is a means of communication with Him and that he cares deeply for them at all times. Link is another word for connect, and that is precisely what we are looking to do here… link our child’s heart to God in a way that lasts throughout their lives.
How do we help foster that connection through our prayers? I use something from our day to connect with God.
For example, I may say, “Dear God, we loved watching you show us how the rain helped our sunflowers grow in the backyard today.” or “we are so lucky that You gave us Jesus to show us what forgiveness looks like… His example shows us how to forgive little brothers when they knock over our lego tower.”
We can use our prayers to show our children how God is weaved into each one of their days… which leads to them feeling connected to Him.
Gratitude
Next, we always look for something to be thankful for. Teaching our children gratitude is crucial on so many levels. A study presented in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that by 5 five years of age, children who experienced gratitude were happier (1). On another level, being thankful in our faith gives us a stronger attachment to God and appreciation for all he has done for us.
When applying gratitude in our prayers, again, I try to use something from our day. Even on our roughest days, gratefulness can shine through and helping our children sift through their days to find it will be helpful on so many levels in the long run.
For example, I may say, “Thank you for another Monday, another week to go to school, to learn, and to be with our friends,” or “ Lord, we are so thankful we can come to you after a long hard day because we know you always listen to us and comfort us.”
Selflessness
Lastly, because loving others is our greatest commandment, I set the example of praying for someone else. This is a huge theme in our house as of late because five-year-old boys have pretty big egos. So teaching my son to put others ahead of himself is at the top of my list.
When we show our children how to pray for others, we show them another way to care for them. When they don’t know how to show someone support, prayer can be the first thing they do.
For example, “God, we know that our friend Grace has a new baby in her house. We pray that the baby continues to be healthy, that Grace’s mommy heals well, and that Grace adjusts to having a new baby brother” or “Lord, we pray that Mrs. Smith feels better soon and can come back to school quickly.”
Pray without Ceasing
I do not mean this to be a prescription for your child’s prayer life. I don’t ever feel like prayers should be watered down into a script of what to talk to God about. But I have found that when teaching children, consistency and repetition can be the keys to cultivating good habits, and prayer is a habit I want deeply embedded into their hearts.
But above all… let your kids see how prayer leads your life. Pray with them, in front of them, and for them. As 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us: let them see you pray without ceasing. Watching you lead by example will be something they can return to as they grow.
Extra Prayer Resources for Your Children:
By: Laura Wifler
An excellent and engaging resource to use with young children.
By: Sarah Young
From the author that brought us all the lovely Jesus Calling comes a beautiful daily prayer book for kids.
By: Mark Batterson
An older lady at a church gathering with grown children suggested I pick up this book! A little unsolicited advice… download it to your phone for easy access.
References
(1) Nguyen, S., & Gordon, C. (2020). The Relationship Between Gratitude and Happiness in Young Children. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21(8), 2773-2787.
