Teaching our Kids to Pray

Teaching our kids to pray is a privilege and blessing for us moms as it is a Christ-honoring task. To raise up children who know how to pray is sowing into the future generations a people who would stand in the gap.

How do we teach our kids to pray? As for now, I can think of 3 words to do this: modeling, motivation, and consistency.

Modelling: Just as Jesus gave a model prayer to his disciples (Matthew 6:9-13), we should also model to our children how to pray. It may consist of memorized prayer for starters such as "God is great, God is good, thank You Lord for our food" for the young ones. But most importantly, is to pray with them, so that they will actually see how we talk to our heavenly Father. How will they pray if they don't see us pray?

Motivation: There is no greater motivation to pray than having received answers to our prayers. And this is a promise of Jesus in Mark 11:24 "Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." It is up to us to share with them the promises of God's Word to motivate them to pray. Then, when our kids see that their prayers are answered, they will be more enthusiastic and faithful in praying.

Consistency: Jesus said "when you pray..." (Matthew 6:5) meaning it is expected of us to pray. If we want praying to be a habit in our children, we have to encourage and initiate praying consistently with them. Then, when they have developed the habit, it would be something that they would do themselves.

Prayer brings blessing and power to the lives of the prayerful. Wouldn't we want our kids to be blessed and be a blessing? When the children are blessed, the mother is more blessed.