These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. ~ Acts 1:14
Brothers, sisters, mom, dad, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins…FAMILY! Many times those who are closest to us are the ones who are forgotten when it is time to pray.
We need to teach our children to pray for family. I don’t know if your home is anything like mine, but my kids love to pick on and squabble with each other. Most of the time it is harmless and fun, but other times it turns into all out war. Voices are raised, objects are thrown, and tears run down faces.
{Before you think I’m a bad mom for allowing such behavior, please know that there are discipline proceedings that take place when such actions are shown!}
I’m finding that in order to build harmony among my children, I need to lead them in praying for each other. And not only each other, but for extended family as well.
Our children can pray for –
- good health and safety of family members *by name*.
- US! Ask your kids to pray for your marriage, that you and your spouse would treat each other with kindness and love.
- specific problems other family members might be facing: exams, first day of high school, driving test, performance, job situation, etc.
In the process of teaching our children to pray for family members, you will become more active in the lives of the family as well. Ask for prayer updates and share those with your children. When a prayer has been answered, lead your children to pray and thank the Lord for his care. Help them to praise God when he does a gracious deed.
Prepare to Pray!
Have your children each get a sheet of paper and write down every family member’s name on it. Help them to write one request for each person. If you aren’t sure how to pray for someone, have your child ask him how you as a family can pray for him.
Once those are written down, have each child find a place to tape the list to the wall so it will be regularly seen. Sometimes the best place to put prayer lists are on the bathroom mirror!
Now Pray!
Encourage your children to pray for 2-3 people each time they see the list. And be sure to pray as a family. Try to pray as a family 4-5 times per week.
Click on the image below for all of the articles in this series.
{All of these verses link to BibleGateway. If you would rather choose a different version of the scriptures, then click the link and choose the version you want.}
