Prayer is an important part of our relationship with God.  It is the way we communicate with the Creator. As children are taught how to comb, speak, dress up, calculate, or how to be responsibility and much more, prayer should be among the essential things a child learns.

Like how you take time to impart discipline and character, prayer is a process; it is not something kids learn in a day, but if you persist, it becomes part of them. If you haven’t taught your child about prayer yet, maybe it is not too late if you follow these steps today. 

Pray from anywhere. Train children to pray from anywhere, for example; school, home, bedroom, classroom, or playground, they ought to know that God is always present, anywhere, anytime. Encourage them that God listens to prayers even when they are not in church or Sunday school. By doing so, they will know the value of prayer.

Praise or worship first. Through songs of praise and worship that you can teach children every day, they can be able to worship God, as it would help prayer to flow, while meditating on the words. Prayer should be a moment prepared specially for God and an individual, as they pray; kids should be stopped from destruction that is why it is important to pray while the eyes are closed.

Prayer doesn’t have a format. If a child thanks God for life, protection and guidance today, encourage them to pray for the sick the following day, then they can ask for knowledge and understanding the other day, this will open their mind and help them grow spiritually. Prayer should come from the bottom of the heart but not said for the sake of it. Keep it short and simple. Kids get bored easily, that is why their prayer has to be short as possible. They can pray like, "Dear Lord, thank you for today, protect us as we are going to sleep, amen.” This is prayer.  There is no where it is written of how big, or how small, prayer should be. As long as you are talking to God, then it is prayer.

Lead by example. A child will yearn or be obsessed to pray if they see you pray. You cannot cheer them to pray yet you never pray with them. You can pray aloud as they listen, this helps those who haven’t yet started talking to learn how to pray. However, those who know how to talk can repeat after you. The school-going kids can be able to pray on their own with some guidance needed though.

Make designs and writings. Through fun, kids learn fast, give them a chance to write their prayers on paper and pin them on their walls, so that each time they view the writings, they are able to pray. Songs can also be prayers, as long as they centre on God’s greatness. Kids can also be heartened to read gospel books, especially those about prayer. When you keep your kids in the path of the Lord, they will never depart from it even when they grow.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw