Prayer

Praying with your child builds trust—in God and in each other

Prayer is how we communicate with and connect to our Heavenly Father.

Prayer

One of the greatest things you can do is to help your child develop a relationship with God by teaching them to pray. Nurture your child’s faith by praying together as a family and by guiding them in the practice of praying.

Disciple@Home

Prayer

Carefully curated resources for Disciple@Home. Check out all the books and other resources to help in your next step through your family discipleship journey.

Podcast
The power of family prayer

As parents, prayer is one of the most essential tools we have to guide, nurture, and protect our children. Join Danny & Rebecca as they sit down with prolific Christian songwriter Tony Wood to discuss how intentional, heartfelt prayer can shape your child's spiritual growth and strengthen your relationship with them.

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Will Jr. Davis
Pray Big for Your Child: The Power of Praying God's Promises for Your Child's Life

Pray Big for Your Child helps parents unleash the power of praying Scripture for their children. It opens the door for bold, audacious prayers that change lives. This book includes a powerful thirty-one-day prayer guide and twelve around-the-clock reminders to help parents pray for their children throughout the day. Pray Big for Your Child teaches parents how to confidently use the most effective parenting resource available--prayer.



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Mike & Amy Nappa
Creative Family Prayer Times: 52 Fun Ways to Pray Together

Creative Family Prayer Times is collection of 52 innovative prayer ideas to help you add meaning to family devotions. Divided into daily, monthly, and yearly activities, these hands-on, creative ideas will bring a change of pace to what you already do during family prayer.

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Prayer builds faith

Nurture your child’s faith by praying together as a family and by guiding them in the practice of praying individually.

  • Be an 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.

  • 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

    Prayer Board: Keep a dry erase board a the calendar included with this kit 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 prayer concerns on your child’s bathroom mirror so he or she remembers to pause and pray after brushing teeth.


Family Routines

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 in 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 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 the matters discussed during your walk.
Discipleship Resources

Ready for more?

Head back to “The Journey” page to check out even more resources!

The Journey