Let them pray

Prayer can be hard work and praying as a family can be even harder, I guess that's why people call it a discipline. The bible teaches that prayer is supposed to be done continuously so what does this look like with our kids? I mean they've got school to attend, homework to do, musical instruments to learn, friends to play with and that's just one day. Where does prayer fit in?

In my family we've had prayer times that look more like a wrestling match than chatting with God. I think my biggest challenge is often that I'm trying to get my kids to pray rather than encourage them to be with God and it becomes an activity where they have to stop being themselves and become grown up and less themselves. The bible says that it is with boldness we approach God who is seated on a throne. We see from the gospels that children don't have a problem with this but that the adults around them sometimes do. Mark says that Jesus 'took them in his arms and blessed them' (Mark 10v16). Leading our kids in prayer therefore should involve us teaching them that Jesus wants to take them into his arms and prayer makes this possible. It's a wonderful image for us as parents to have. So when children pray they should do so as children, knowing that God accepts them as they are and expects them as they are. 

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