Teaching your kids how to pray biblically is an important way to train them up in the Lord. Start with eight types of prayer from Scripture.
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22:6, ESV
This is a guest post from Danika Cooley.
One of the most important commitments we make as Christian parents is to disciple our children. We train them up in the way they should go in the fervent hope they will not depart from it. We lead them through God’s Word so they will know our amazing Creator God. In Scripture, they also learn about God’s great plan for salvation, and about his commands for followers of Jesus. We teach them to meditate on and memorize God’s Word. We also teach them to pray. If you have ever wondered how to teach your children to pray biblically, you are not alone! Thankfully, the Bible teaches us the expectations we should have when we pray and the right heart attitude for prayer. Scripture also gives us plenty of examples of real-life Bible heroes praying to our amazing God.
Teaching Kids How to Pray Biblically
It’s so easy to allow our family prayers to default to praying only for our beloved grandma, or to just thanking God for our food. These are good prayers, but Scripture teaches us to pray a number of different types of prayer. As we train up our children, we want to teach these prayers to them–and help them practice praying each type of prayer. What kinds of prayer should we teach to our children? We can start with eight biblical types of prayer:
- Praise | We adore God for who he is.
- Thanksgiving | We thank God for all he has done.
- Confession | We admit our sin to the God who saves us.
- Supplication | We humbly ask God to provide for our needs.
- Intercession | We ask God to meet the needs of others.
- Deliverance | We cry out to God for help in times of trouble.
- Lament | We bring our sorrow to God, our comforter.
- Guidance | We ask for God’s help in determining his will for our lives.
Each one of these types of communication plays an important role in our relationship with God. Our kids can learn to go to him in every situation with every one of their concerns, needs, and with all of their gratitude. Kids love stories, and the Bible is full of stories of God’s people doing just that: going to our very real God with their very real needs. I love that Scripture often shows us God’s answer to the prayers of Bible heroes, as well. What a faith-building experience for us, and for our kids, to read the true biblical stories of a praying people. Teaching our kids to pray biblically is an important part of training them up in the way they should go. Leading them to Scripture to learn to pray is the perfect way to help them learn to take their needs to our great God.
Danika Cooley’s 60-day devotional, 60 Scriptures You Can Pray, is packed with thoughtful explanations of biblical prayer and practical application. It is the tool you need to learn more about prayer–straight from God’s Word. The devotional makes a great family read, as well. Danika is an award-winning children’s author and Bible curriculum developer. Her popular Bible Road Trip™ curriculum is used by tens of thousands of families. Learn more about 60 Scriptures You Can Pray and grab free journal pages and a letter for your women’s Bible study here.
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