The Daring DadSample

Prayer can be so intimidating. What if you say the wrong thing? What if you pray too long or too short? What if your prayer doesn’t make any sense? Praying for our meals is pretty easy though. You just repeat the same thing you heard your parents pray, and you pray the same way every time. We have all cried out the “Jesus, please help me!” prayer at some point in our lives, but then most of us climb out of the valley and forget about that tense point in our lives. And then there is pride. If I pray, it shouts out to the world that I need help. Wave the white flag. Tap out. Give up. How often do you pray? Do you pray for yourself? Your wife? Your kids?

Jesus modeled prayer. He prayed before big decisions, like before he chose the 12 disciples. He regularly withdrew from people and prayed. R.A. Torrey wrote that Jesus prayed early in the morning as well as all night, that he prayed both before and after the great events of his life, and that he prayed "when life was unusually busy.” I find it hard to pray consistently with my wife and kids. They know the worst of me. They know when I fly off the handle. They see when I don’t act like Jesus. Prayer is intimate. If you want your relationship with your wife and your kids to be intimate, start to pray with them and watch as the Holy Spirit brings you closer together.

I DARE YOU to pray with your wife and kids today. Grab them. Hold them close. Maybe just start with this prayer: “Jesus, thank you so much for ____________. Protect them. Help them fall more in love with you. Help me lead them in the way you have called me to. Thank you for dying for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen”