What Everyone Needs to Know About Prayer

I recently told you about my mother’s superpower, prayer. You can find that post HERE. Prayer has been a hallmark of my mother’s spiritual life for decades and she began teaching me about prayer at an early age. When I was little, my mother began praying with me every night as she put me to bed. She would pray the Lords prayer each night as I listened. When I was about 4 or 5 years old (she’s not quite sure), our bedtime routine changed. You see when she started the Lord’s prayer, I insisted that I say the prayer. And I did, from heart, perfectly, on the first try. Your children are listening and learning. Our own grandkids have all picked up the same dinnertime prayer, “Thank you for the world so sweet.Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for the birds that sing. Thank you God for everything.” They take turns saying it at mealtime. Repetition is a good thing and praying is an even better thing. So, let’s take a look at what everyone needs to know about prayer.

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What Every Child Should Know About Prayer

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This week’s children’s resource is a book entitled What Every Child Should Know About Prayer, written by Nancy Guthrie. This little book really is a great resource even for adults who need to brush up on the reasons we pray, how to pray, what to pray for and being persistent in prayer. Each section has a scripture passage and a short prayer to pray. There are sweet illustrations and short explanations of each topic. You could use this book as a short after dinner devotion or even a bedtime devotion. Each lesson is very short and to the point. Let’s a take look inside to learn what everyone needs to know about prayer.

God Wants Us to Talk to Him

Guthrie divides her book into sections, the first is “God Wants Us to Talk to Him.” This might seem a new idea for you. After all, most of us view prayer in one of two ways. Either you see prayer as rote thing you must do in order to please God, or you view prayer as a way to plead with God for the things you want. But prayer is more of a conversation with God. It’s a time carved out to discuss with God the things that matter most to us and most to Him. Prayer is much more than rote. Through prayer, we bear our inmost feelings without fear of rejection or exposure. And prayer is more than a laundry list of wishes and desires. In prayer we open our lives to examination and correction by the God who loves us and created us. God wants to show us the ways that we can grow and become more like Him. He often uses that wonderful, quiet opportunity of prayer to comfort, correct, rebuke and teach us. Prayer is founded in a relationship with God.

The Psalms Give Us Words to Pray

In What Every Child Needs to Know About Prayer, Guthrie uses the words of various Psalms to guide us in knowing what to pray for. Psalms were written by people who believed in God. In the Psalms we see how people poured out their hearts to God. Some were joyful and thanking God for his great provision. Other people had heavy hearts, struggling with the things we all struggle with like fear, shame, loneliness, defeat and anxiety. What’s so great about the Psalms is that often times the Holy Spirit would turn the heart of the psalmist to see the grace, love, forgiveness, protection and hope that God had to offer. Right in the middle of the Psalm! Guthrie has included these precious prayers so that we, too can learn how to submit our needs to God and watch as he changes our perspective, if not our circumstance.

Jesus Teaches Us to Pray

Guthrie devotes another chapter in her book to The Lords Prayer. As you read this chapter to your own children, I hope you will no longer pray this particular prayer without thinking! That’s right, we know it well, but sometimes we pray it with other things on our minds. STOP! The Lord’s Prayer is filled with wonderful theology about who God is and our need for Him. By breaking down each verse of The Lord’s Prayer, you will have a better understanding of why we worship God. You’ll also see that God has an interest in helping us with our day to day needs. And The Lord’s Prayer points us to the hope of Jesus’s return! It’s a powerful little prayer, and it’s the prayer Jesus used to teach his disciples how to pray. Fun fact here, even Jesus’s disciples needed to learn how to pray. They asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus showed his disciples how to pray and he shows us how to pray, too!

Start Praying Today!

I hope you’ll take the time to refresh your prayer life this week. As you learn to pray, take the time to teach your children to pray. You want your children to be able to confidently reach out to God in their own time of need. This is a gift that will last them a lifetime. If you’re having trouble getting started, consider using What Every Child Should Know About Prayer. It might be the first resource you use in teaching them what everyone needs to know about prayer.

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