Praying with my children every day is one of my greatest joys in life. It’s a commitment my wife and I made early in our parenting. Each night before bedtime we read from the Bible and then get on our knees as a family to show our reverence for Christ and take turns voicing a prayer to God. My middle child demonstrated great insight last night in commenting that “when we get on our knees and bow our heads to God we show our booties to Satan and when we pray it’s like we shake our booties at Satan.” Well, Satan sure doesn’t like it when we pray to Jesus so when we get on our knees in prayer I guess it kind of is like mooning Satan. I’m not sure that’s Biblical, but I think it’s good theology for a 7 year old and we should all practice it more.
If you’re not praying with your kids each day you are missing out on one of the biggest blessings you could ever experience. You get to hear the tender hearts of your children expressed in prayer to the Lord and you will learn a lot about what is going on in the life of your child. You will learn about their struggles and what they are most thankful for. There have been times my wife and I have been so touched by the precious sweet prayers of our children that we get choked up and teary eyed. On other occasions we’ve been so tickled by some of their innocent yet humorous remarks and struggled to contain our giggles. We’ve also come to understand what Jesus meant by a childlike faith and some evenings feel we learn more from our kids than we’ve taught them. Maybe sometimes the prayers God enjoys hearing the most are the honest prayers of children.
If you aren’t spending time each day praying with your family I want to encourage you to start today. Starting a prayer time doesn’t have to be perfect. Trust me, I know evenings can be a crazy time trying to get your kids ready for bed. Some nights it’s a victory if you can just get them all in the same room. Keep in mind that conditions don’t have to be perfect and you can always come up with an excuse as to why you should start tomorrow. Just start today and make praying together a priority for your family each day. Don’t worry or get frustrated if your kids get distracted or the prayers are perfect. I can promise you they hear everything and there prayers will develop as their faith matures. Just do your best to model for them what a prayer should sound like. Likewise, don’t be afraid if your prayers aren’t perfect. You prayers will also develop and deepen over time. If you’re not sure where to start begin with the model prayer Jesus left us with in Matthew 6:9-13. The important thing is that you’re spending time together as a family praying and helping your children develop a relationship with God. Before long praying with one another will seem very natural and through praying together as a family you will see your child's confidence and security increase. So start shaking your booty at Satan today!
