Establish Spiritual Intimacy Early with Your Children
As an intentional parent, one reason you want to pray daily for your children is to give them wisdom about how important prayer is for them. But how often do you pray with them to get this knowledge across?
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Praying with your kids, starting when they’re young, accomplishes two significant things:
1. Children see prayer as personally significant.
In our home, bedtime prayer with the children was a nightly ritual. Donna and I tucked them in, then asked what they wanted to pray for. Responses included:
- Other family members
- Issues in the news
- Events in their own lives
We made sure they knew everything was worthy of prayer. We led off in prayer for those needs and then had our children pray. This established spiritual intimacy and a deeper emotional bond with our children.
2. They learn that prayer is a normal part of the Christian experience, not just something relegated to church.
When you take time to consistently pray with your kids, they see that prayer is an everyday form of communication with God and one that deepens their emotional bond with Him.
Plus, when prayer is a normal part of their childhood, it’s more likely it’ll be an essential element of their lives when they’re grown.
Remember, there’s nothing much more intimate than praying with your children. And when you pray together as a parenting team, it’s powerful!