One of the important aspects of raising godly children is prayer.

Most of our children cannot go past "Thank God for Mummy & Daddy" in prayer and while it is a good start we have to continue to teach them HOW to pray.

Here's a simple way to do that;

  1. Model prayer to them: Don't do a child's version prayer when you are praying for them during bedtime because you want it to be simple and I am not saying be speaking in tongues but model conversations with God, talking to God and not just "Thank you for Daddy and Mummy" they will do as they see. 
  2. Teach the Lord's prayer: When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, the Lords prayer was his response. Your 2 year old can repeat after you as long as they can tell you to "leave me alone" they can say God's word or say a prayer. This is the model of prayer and we have to let them know. 
  3. Let them pray: Let it be part of their morning and evening routine to pray, give them the room to pray and don't always say the prayer for them, let them learn and refuse the urge to 'correct' anything, as you continue to model how to pray they will continue to learn. 
  4. Give room to listen to God: This wasn't part of my list but the holy spirit dropped this in my spirit right now and I have to start doing this. One of my own major problems is actually settling down to listen to God's heart, how about if I start incorporating it for my child to let him understand that prayer is a 2 way communication. Of course for younger children you can't expect much but just model it and watch how they understand the concept as they grow older. Have some silence after talking to God to listen to what he has to say, older kids can write down what they hear from God too. 
  5. Be consistent and let God lead you: Consistency is key, you cannot pray today and not pray tomorrow, habits are formed by consistency, remember we are laying the foundation for the future of our children. Let God lead in every thing.
I hope these tips will help you teach your children to pray! 

Here's to raising godly children because that is what God wants. Malachi 2:15