Prayer in Practice: Week 1

Prayer, like anything, is best learned through practice. So I encourage you to pray intentionally with your kids this summer. Go beyond "thank you for this food" and "thank you for this day"! Open the Bible with your children and learn from its many examples of humble yet confident prayer! 

Our church's summer reading plan is designed to complement our series on prayer. (You will find it listed in the bulletin each week, and on the "read" page of our church website.) These passages are meant for both kids and adults, so some may be hard to explain to children. Below are tips on what to focus on with kids. 

Psalm 5 / Talking to God about people who hurt us

Focus: We can trust God to protect us.

Application: Children will take great comfort in knowing that God is just. Their need for justice is often expressed by their "tattle-tale" behavior. Parents might be surprised to learn that God invites them (and us!) to tattle... but only to him. He is willing to patiently listen while they tell him of their pain and fear and anger. Knowing this helps us not to take matters into our own hands. (See also Romans 12:14-21.)

• Potential Challenge: Does God "hate all who do wrong" as it says in verse 5? Yes and no. God loves everyone and has made a way for all to repent and be forgiven; but for those who do not repent, his anger remains on them. (See John 3:16 v. 3:36) Also, Psalm 5 was written before Jesus came. Jesus changed the way we pray about our enemies. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matt 5:43-45)

Psalm 63:1-8 / Telling God how much we need him

Focus: It is good to tell God that we remember how he helped us.

Application: This is a great bedtime prayer. Go through the day with your child and help them list the ways God has helped them. What might they need help with tomorrow? Focus on attitudes rather than circumstances. (Example: God help me forgive someone who was mean to me. Not: God please fix that person who was mean to me.)

1 Kings 8:22-30, Mark 11:15-17 / Praying in God's house

Focus: God wants us to come to church eager to pray.

Application: God cannot be contained in a building, but he has always had a special place for his people to come together to pray. Does it surprise them that God has promised to listen to our prayers? Does it surprise them that Jesus got angry when people came together to make money instead of pray? We don't come together on Sunday to make money, but we may still have the wrong attitude. What are some reasons we go to church that have nothing to do with a desire to pray and worship with our church family? (Play, eat snack, just have fun, talk to our friends.) It is easy even for good things to make us forget our real reason for coming together. What does it mean to pray "for all nations?" What nation have they prayed for at church? (America, Bangladesh, Mexico) Pray with your kids for those nations at home, too. 

2 Kings 19:8-19, 32-36 / We pray to a real and powerful God

Focus: Our God is alive, real and powerful.

Application: Talk with your child what might happen if they decided to pray to one of their toys instead of God. Would the toy listen? Answer? Have the power to do anything? What if they decided to pray to a person? Say, their favorite teacher? Could that person hear them? Would that person have the power to help them? Talk about why it is important to pray only to God: he alone really has the power to help us. When made-up gods fail, the one true God does not! Consider purchasing "You are God Alone" from iTunes or get the mp3 from Amazon. It is our main summer worship song, and you may want to sing it together.

• Potential Challenge: There is only one true God; He alone answers prayer. This is a terrifically unpopular statement, and it can be dangerous in the hands of a boastful child (or adult!). Talk to your child about this truth with compassion for those who have not yet understood who God really is. Yes, God wiped out the Assyrians because they did not believe in him, but he was not happy about it. God wants everyone to know him, and that's why he has us still living on earth instead of with him in heaven! "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

Jeremiah 32:6-41 / We pray to a God who changes hearts

Focus: Even if we turn away from God, he will find a way to bring us back to him.

Application: Okay, this is not a bedtime story. It is confusing and scary, so study carefully if you present this to your kids. Otherwise, you may want to just read verses 36-41. Explain that a long time ago, God's people stopped loving him and began to do terrible things. God could not allow them to keep being so evil, so he allowed another country to win a war against them. He allowed his people to be taken from their homes so they would stop their terrible sin. But he also gave them a promise: one day he would bring them back and change their hearts. And he did! God still changes hearts today. Do you know people who do the wrong thing? Pray for them; God can change their hearts. And when you keep doing the wrong thing and feel you can't stop, pray and ask God to help you. He can change your heart, too!

Nehemiah 1, 2:1-8 / We pray to a God who influences leaders

Focus: Even though we are not powerful, we pray to a God who is!

Application: What a great story this is for kids! They are utterly powerless and at the mercy of those in authority around the clock. But their God is not! What a comfort it is to them to know that when they pray, God can even influence those who are in charge. Knowing this empowers them to be respectful and obedient, and yet courageous as they share their hearts with adults. Remind your child to pray for you, for their teachers, for their country's leaders. And yet, Nehemiah did not ask for selfish things. Help the talk about the kinds of things that they think God would want to see in their leaders and in you, their parents. Listen humbly, our children sometimes see who we really are better than we do.