Teaching Kids GratitudeSample

Mentoring Prayer

“Who’s going to start prayer this morning?” After two beats of silence, Scott glances in the rearview mirror. “Hannah, why don’t you get us going today?” As he backs the car down the driveway, they start their prayerful ride to middle school.

As the parent who handles school drop-off for his kids, Scott stumbled onto Family Prayer Commute (that’s what he calls it) during a rough morning. In a car filled with tension, he decided to pray—out loud—a blessing over each member of their family in an attempt to reset attitudes and reboot the day. As he prayed, the atmosphere shifted from irritated to apologetic, with “I love you” and “I’m sorry” being exchanged in the drop-off lane.

Encouraged, Scott continued this new routine. He broadened his prayer to include loved ones and friends and then assigned each child a turn to pray. He has two golden rules for Family Prayer Commute: (1) he does not criticize or critique anyone’s prayers (which must be longer than “God bless us”), and (2) they practice the prayer time consistently (during every morning commute).

Rather than simply telling his kids how to pray, Scott shows them. He models prayer in how and who he prays for, smiling softly as his kids have—unprompted—started adopting his patterns and practices.

It’s through this process that Scott modeled how to pray for an enemy. And while that is perhaps too strong a word to wield against this person, she was actively and intentionally sabotaging a loved one at work through rumor and gossip. Scott prayed God would intervene with blessing and presence in this woman’s life, while also asking that her tongue would be stilled from wagging against their loved one. His kids picked up that prayer with an age-appropriate understanding of what was going on, praying most mornings for God to intersect her life with blessing while also thwarting her plans.

We want people of all ages to understand the power of prayer as well as feel comfortable praying aloud. Scott’s idea creates a safe space to practice both. I appreciate when someone freely shares a tool for developing spiritual habits, and we’ve adopted our own version of Family Prayer Commute.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

How do you practice prayer with loved ones? Might a variation of Family Prayer Commute work for you? Be sure to include thanksgiving for the ways God has blessed you.