More on Train Up a Child

Wow! What a summer! We have had a very busy and wonderful summer! As I came through the summer, it became increasingly difficult to carve out time to write on my blog and know that it would be coherent! It was a wonderful summer, but now we are settling back into the school routine, so I will try to be more regular. Just a word about our activities of the summer: We had a camping trip to South Carolina for almost two weeks in June. In July we took a train trip to Denver for a week. And in August we had our family (13 of us in all now) camping trip to Southern Indiana for part of a week. In between we entertained guests from Minnesota, Ohio and Indiana. So I was planning for activities most of the time except when we were actually doing the activities! It was great and we praise the Lord for the opportunity to spend such a wonderful and satisfying summer!

I am going to go on with my discussion of characteristics we want to train into our children as a result of the admonition in Proverbs 22:6. We often hear or quote that verse, but I wonder how often we sit down to think about what we should actually be training into our children. I have discussed the concept of being sure of their Salvation and making sure they understand their need to “fear the Lord”. We also discussed how to teach your children how to have some Biblical discernment. Today, I would like to encourage you to make sure your children understand the importance of having a regular and meaningful prayer life.

So why should we teach our kids the importance of prayer? Well, there are many verses in the New Testament that tell us of the benefits of praying and Jesus Himself taught us the pattern for prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. So the first and main reason for teaching our children to pray is because it is a Biblical command. Some other reasons include the fact that we are to be thankful and this is done in prayer. We are also to confess our sins which is also accomplished by prayer. Confession is actually included in “The Lord’s Prayer”. We are also to pray for those “who despitefully use you”. We are to pray for the sick. We are to pray for our government leaders. And there are many other specific reasons for praying.

As I look back over my life, it was my grandfather and my parents who were probably the most influential in my life in the area of prayer. Children are not born with an innate understanding of the need for prayer. It is something that needs to be taught, both in words and by actions. I have heard it said that one of the main reasons children walk away from the faith of their parents is the fact that parents teach concepts to their children and then the children don’t see the teaching in action in the lives of their parents.

So how can we as mothers play a role in teaching this concept of prayer to our children? Under most circumstances, we are with the children a higher percentage of the time than anyone else, so we have a large responsibility to teach these concepts to the kids. The obvious thing for us to do is to pray with the children each and every day. Make prayer a part of their daily activities. Teach them everything you know about prayer and then search the Scriptures to find all you can about the reasons for praying. Then pass this on to them. Pray for things as a family and make a big deal when God answers! I truly believe from my experience of raising children that one of the things God does to build the faith of a child is to answer prayers for them regularly! Let the children know that you (and their dad if he prays with you) pray for them regularly and that there is no circumstance that is too small or too big for you to take it to God in prayer! Take them to Prayer Meeting and let them hear other adults pray. Can you remember the older Godly men and women in your life that prayed in Prayer Meeting and sounded like they were speaking face to face with the living God?

Finally, it is important to pray at every meal, before going to bed and any other regular time during the day that is convenient for you and your family, but it is also important to make prayer a living part of every day and include God in every decision and every challenge and every need of every day! This will speak volumes to your children of how important prayer is in your life and this will go a long way in making prayer a very important part of their lives!