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Teaching Children to Pray.p65
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Short Description: to pray from their heart. The formula for success, how- ... Too often we teach our children to pray out loud, in prescribed settings, at certain times. ...
Content Inside: BY SUE WASHBURNTeaching children to prayLet your kids see you in prayer--get caught praying!We all have images of children at prayer. Eyes closed,hands folded, faces serene. They look quiet, contempla-tive and content. Like a Hallmark card or a PreciousMoments figurine.Then, of course, there is the reality. Eyes open, thenscrunching shut, hands twisting, bodies squirming as theytry to emulate their parents or other adults they see inprayer. Parents shush them, push their heads down andtell them to quit fidgeting and pray.As parents we want to teach our children how to tuneinto their spiritual selves, to share with them the depth ofwour own faith. We want to show them how to give thankswwand praise and find comfort by developing a personal.pcusa.orrelationship with God. But it is such an important taskthat many of us feel intimidated.g/spiritualformationIt is easy to show kids how to bow their heads, foldtheir hands and recite memorized verses. But manyparents feel awkward when it comes to teaching childrento pray from their heart. The formula for success, how-Part of daily life:ever, is really quite simple: To teach kids the power of prayer, let the kids see"The ritual of prayer isyou in prayer. Get caught praying!not just in the wordsWhat is prayer?but in the time andplace -- at the table,Prayer is simply our ongoing conversation with God--a two-way conversa-before bed, outsdie intion, although the responses may not always be obvious. There can be an ebbnature. This allowsand flow to our prayer life depending on the circumstances of our daily living.kids to understand isAt times we may give thanks and praise; at other times we ask for help. Onpart of the events insome occasions we may be joyous; at other times we are furious. Whatever thetheir daily life."situation, it is important to keep the conversation open and honest.-- Mary Lou FerrisMost of us assume prayer is a formal, verbal recitation. But it actually canoccur in many forms--a silent meditation, a joyous dance, or an abstractartistic expression of love for God. We need to encourage our children toexpress their prayers in ways that are natural for them rather than conforming to our adult ideas of prayer.Too often we teach our children to pray out loud, in prescribed settings, at certain times. We teach them totalk and not listen. We fail to embrace their exuberance, their uninhibited enthusiasm.Sue Washburn is a Pittsburgh-based free-lance writer living in Apollo, PA. This article is courtesy of PresbyteriansToday June/July 2004, pages 25-28.Office of Spiritual Formation, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)1
