Do your children know how to pray specifically and intentionally? Do they know how to use God’s Word to pray about their situation, life decisions or purpose? As Christian parents it is our responsibility to teach our children the power of prayer. As homeschool parents we have the opportunity to do so as part of our homeschooling journey. When we take steps to cultivate our children’s prayer life, chances are we will strengthen and grow our own.
Prayer is not one of my strong suits. That doesn’t mean I don’t know the power of prayer, I’ve seen God work miracles in my life because of prayer.
I like to think that it is because of the extremely busy season of life that I’m in right now, but if I’m honest I’m just not faithful in prayer. I want to be. I long to be. Even more so…I want my children’s prayer life to be so much more than my own.
That means I must get busy. My kids are teens now and our time together is short. I only have a few short years left to cultivate their prayer life.
Since I know that my prayer life isn’t what I know it could or even should be, while I will be striving to cultivate my children’s prayer life, I will also be working on my own.
My children’s prayer life needs to be grounded before they are out on their own. I should have been more diligent in learning and teaching this more intentionally long ago. Yet, I can not go back and looking back will not help me now.
I need to be faithful to cover my children in prayer today to prepare them for tomorrow. Once they are outside the walls of my home I will need to pray for them even more fervently because the world isn’t a safe place.
5 Ways to Cultivate Your Children’s Prayer Life (and yours too!)
- Teach your children how to pray
Prayer often begins when our children are very young, but they are usually short, sweet and simple prayers. As our children grow up, we need to ensure that they know how to pray deeply, intentionally and specifically.
Thankfully, this is one step that neither you nor I have to do on our own!
Helping Your Children Become Prayer Warriors walks you through teaching your children 21 different reasons to pray!
Including: Praying for forgiveness, the desire to obey, prayer that changes circumstances, pray about world events, praying for needy people, pray for knowledge and MUCH MORE!
You’ll also find two chapters dedicated to teaching you the basics of instructing your children how to pray and how to use God’s Word to pray.
There are over 175 scripture cards covering each of the 21 different reasons you need to cultivate your children’s prayer life!
You can cut out the cards out of the book, laminate them and put them on a ring, have your children write them for penmanship class, use them for memorization exercises and much more! *Please note, the scripture cards in the book are ESV.
How We Will Be Using Helping Your Children Become Prayer Warriors in Our Homeschool
I will be using this resource as our first Bible class curriculum for the upcoming homeschool year. While I have other resources I had planned to use, the Lord has laid the importance of cultivating my children’s prayer life on my heart.
Each of the 21 chapters will be used as our weekly focus for 21 weeks. For example: Week One we’ll be learning how to pray to the Father, Week Five we’ll be praying about big things, Week Fifteen prayers of Thanksgiving will be our focus.
I’ll read each chapter to my children on Monday. Our prayer life focus throughout the week will follow the weekly lesson. Then throughout the week they’ll be writing out each of the Bible verses for that week’s focus for penmanship practice. I will select one Bible verse that they will also write out on a 3×5 note card for memorization purposes each week. There will also be a lot of conversation surrounding the week’s focus as part of our homeschool Bible class.
- Begin each day with prayer
I’m making it a daily practice to whisper a prayer in the morning before I even get out of bed. It isn’t long, but I strive to make it intentional for the day that lies ahead of our family.
I am also encouraging my children to do the same each morning as well. I don’t want them to feel that I am hovering over them and I want them to learn to talk to God on their own, so I leave this part of their prayer life in their hands.
- Pray before each meal
We always have dinner together as a family, but breakfast and lunch are a hit and miss. So, I’m teaching my children (and myself) to pray before each meal, whether or not we’re all together.
My husband isn’t always home, so when he isn’t at the dinner table my son takes on the role of “head of the house” and prays over our meal. It has been amazing to see how God has been working on his heart just by listening to the words of his prayer.
- When difficulty strikes – stop and pray
I’m learning that when I’m facing difficulty with my kids that the first thing I need to do is stop and pray. Patience isn’t a virtue I have much of, so if I try to parent without the Lord I’m apt to lose the bit of it I do have.
Parenting teens is a whole different ballgame because of the emotions that often surge out of control.
By stopping and taking time to pray with my kids in the midst of difficulty (or after they’ve calmed down if need be), I’ve found that the peace of God takes over the moment and my children’s hearts soften towards me and the situation, allowing us to have productive, peaceful conversations.
- End the day with prayer
When our children are young bedtime routines and prayers are the norm, but as they grow up it can become a time that they believe they’ve outgrown. As Christian parents, we need to be faithful to end each day with prayer with our children.
This is the perfect time for thanksgiving prayers and ending the day with the amazing gifts of forgiveness, grace, mercy and love. If it has been a particularly difficult day, I remind my children of one of my favorite quotes from Anne of Green Gables…
Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it. – Anne Shirley
Cultivating your children’s prayer life is a blessing and an essential part of your responsibility as a Christian parent. Being able to include your children’s prayer life as part of your homeschooling journey is an added blessing!
How do you cultivate your children’s prayer life?
