A Praying Mom – Part 5
I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing from our guest bloggers all week.
I sure have learned a ton on the idea of being a
PRAYING MOM.
Thank you Ashley, Rachel, Barbara and Regina!
My hope was to give you many ideas and ways to think about prayer.
Whether it’s FOR your kids, WITH your kids or ABOUT your kids.
My intent was never for you to conquer all of those ideas.
For those that easily get overwhelmed or spiritual guilt – please don’t go there.
Just take one idea or thought and give it a shot.
To finish up the series, I wanted to share some thoughts on
TEACHING OUR KIDS TO PRAY.
As I think about these two little girls and how they relate to Jesus…
I want them to know the creator of the Universe is their friend.
He made them and knows them so well.
He cares for them and wants to know what’s on their heart and talk to them.
I have the opportunity and chance to model this for them through
PRAYER!
Susan Yates says some awesome things about this topic
(and many other things in the book)
in a book I love called “And Then I Had Kids”
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
“We want our children to feel a freedom to talk to Him about anything.
We want our children to feel a freedom to talk with us about anything.”
“God always answers out of love with three answers. Yes, No and Wait.
It’s helpful to teach our children the different ways God answers our prayers.”
“In addition to giving God our immediate concerns,
we ought not to forget the power of natural, spontaneous thanksgiving.”
(She suggests a notebook or place to record answered prayers)
PRAYERS AT MY HOUSE
Many nights, I’m trying to get them in bed so fast that I don’t lose my cool
and we all live to tell another day.
I’d like to say there is an eloquent prayer each night.
“Thank you for Larson, please give her KINDNESS with her sister tomorrow
and mommy more PATIENCE.”
Amen.
Try not slam the door… and lights out.
And, then some nights, Ella has shared some things when I asked,
“What made you happy? or sad?”
so it looks like this…
“Lord, thank you for making Ella just as she is. Oh I love her smile and her hair and her glasses. Thank you for how she loves her sister and takes care of her. I pray you will help her find a new friend tomorrow to play with at school. Thank you for our new house and our new neighborhood. We love you so much. Amen.”
Sometimes, she will pray and sometimes she will not.
Sometimes it’s awesome and sometimes it’s silly.
I don’t care. I don’t want to get mad or overact.
Over time, she will keep listening. And start modeling.
Lastly, I want my kids
INVOLVED IN FAMILY PRAYERS!
Not emotional or way too stressful ones that weigh their hearts down,
but like our move to Orlando.
I want them to know that we count on God and trust Him with our family’s decisions.
I also want them to stop and pray in the car with me
(even just listening while I pray)
for a friend when I get a text about a situation.
I also want them to see me stop and pray in Thanksgiving when we notice God’s goodness in our lives.
I don’t do this always, but I can have a wish list.
Again, NO GUILT… just being aware of all of this heightens our awareness.
It gets our wheels turning and I BET you might just might pray a little differently one night this week.
I’ll leave you with my girls’ school prayer that we just love.
They sing it at meals and I love what it says. I hear them singing it often throughout the day.
