PRAYER
Recommended for ages 6+
Teach Your Child to Talk to God
THE PRIORITY
One of the greatest things you can do is to help your child develop a relationship with God by teaching them to pray. Prayer is how we communicate with and connect to our Heavenly Father. Nurture your child’s faith by praying together as a family and by guiding them in the practice of praying individually.
YOUR EXAMPLE
Allow your child to see and hear you pray on a regular basis. Take time to stop and give thanks in times when God blesses you or answers a prayer. Model prayer in times of difficulty or when seeking wisdom for important decisions. Pray for those in your family and others you know who are in need.
PRAYER TIPS
Use these ideas to help start prayer time with your child.
SENTENCE PRAYERS
Take turns allowing each person who is comfortable doing so to pray a very short, one sentence prayer. It can be as simple as “Please heal Uncle Paul.” “Thank you for giving Troy a new friend.” or “I’m sorry for losing my temper with everyone earlier today.”
FILL-IN-THE-BLANK PRAYERS
Use pre-written language to guide and focus prayer times such as the following starter lines:
- God, I love you because…
- Thank you, God, for…
- God, please help…
- God, I’m sorry for…
Prayer Tools & Ideas
PRAYER BOARD
Keep a dry erase board or the calendar below in a high-traffic area of your home and use it to note items the family is praying for together.
PRAYER JOURNAL
Consider purchasing a journal for your child to start recording prayers and how God answers them.
MIRROR PRAYERS
Using a dry erase marker, write a list of things to be thankful for or a list of prayer requests on your child’s bathroom mirror so he or she remembers to pause and pray after brushing teeth.
FAMILY ROUTINE
Making prayer a regular part of your family culture will help make it a normal part of your child’s life. Consider incorporating some of the following into your family routine.
MEALTIME
Briefly give thanks before you eat, then wait until everyone has finished to have a longer time of prayer together.
BEDTIME
The first person in the family to go to bed (usually the youngest) alerts everyone else that it is time for an end-of-day prayer together.
DRIVE TIME
As you start the engine, pause for a brief prayer together asking God to go with you and invite everyone to pray a sentence prayer for any concern about the upcoming activities of the day. This is a great routine to begin as you drive to school in the morning.
WALKS
Taking a walk together is the ideal time to pray. Or pause at the end to pray about what you discussed during your walk.
HELPFUL TOOLS
Take advantage of these resources as you begin the habit of prayer with your child.
YOUR CHILD'S NEXT STEP
As children get older, they become ready for additional steps along Milestones. Set a calendar reminder for your child’s next birthday to return to this page to select their next step. Thank you for becoming intentional about guiding your child’s faith journey!
