A Child's Prayer

One of my fondest memories growing up in a Christian home was the morning and night devotion, this is where we come together as a family to praise, read the Bible and pray. Though, I am only now appreciating it looking back in time, as I didn’t always look forward to it then. I remember in the mornings, the prayer bell rang just as I was changing my sleep gears, just when I was about enjoying that deeper level of sleep! It would be a struggle to get out of bed and I'd mumble through the praise and worship. I would long for when it ended, and I could quickly drop to my knees for the prayers which would give me the chance to bury my face in the soft cushions where I could resume my sleep, of course enduring/totally ignoring annoying nudges from whoever is next to me who has noticed my silence or heard my quiet snoring and is trying to wake me up!

Night prayers brought about its own annoyance, the bell could go when you are just about finishing an interesting movie and that was when we did not have a pause button to stop and resume what you were watching on the telly 📺
I look back now and all I have in my heart is gratitude for being raised in that kind of home and having that experience. I didn't know it then; it seemed annoying at times; I surely didn't keep up with that kind of dedicated prayer life through university but it was my foundation and what I always went back to especially when I hit rocky roads.

I realised that as soon as my kids could string words together into a sentence, I began to teach them to pray by making sure I prayed with them as often as I could. I encouraged them to pray by asking them what they are most thankful for and that made it easy for them. You don't know how grateful they are for their beds, toys or even special TV shows!
Honestly, I love listening to them pray and the kind of things they pray for.
It is usually during prayers that I get filled in on what their school day had been like; praying who a friend that hurt them and how they have chosen forgive even though they did not say sorry; friends who weren't in school and praying for them to be ok; friends who had specific injuries or illnesses and praying for recovery.
They pray for their teachers every night and the things they really appreciate them for.
I live for our prayer time. Listening to them is a real eye opener for me.

'He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.' - Matthew 18:2-3 NIV

I notice this has not only helped my children's relationships and their outlook on life but mine as well.
Kids don't take things to heart; they are so forgiving which is how we should all be. They show so much gratitude for the littlest joy you give them, you'd think you gave them the moon and the stars! We should be like that.
I know children will go ahead in life forging their own paths, fighting and overcoming their own battles but feeding them with God’s word will empower them with needed tools to do so. My prayers is that whatever questions they encounter in life, they will be able to dig into their knowledge of God's word to find a satisfying answer.
I had my own battles and oh the paths I forged! I always found my way back to God. Always found my way back to the cross where the price was paid for my redemption.

A few years ago, I encouraged them to also join in for daily bible reading, where we takes bible texts and discuss what we think it means to us and relate it to the present.
This helped my relationship with God as a child by giving me a chance to read and discuss things that weren't clear to me and if it brings back warm and joyful memories, it will do the same for every young child so that when they are older, they have these memories to pull from.
Allowing them explore what they read and voice out their understanding or questions helps you to see where they are at, in terms of the other things they see and hear outside.
In these times we are in, there is just so much you can hide from your kids, especially when most of them use electronic device for learning and other activities.
Knowing that, there must be a way to engage them and give them a medium to voice out their thoughts. If I ask mine how their day has been directly, I get the quick 'fine, thanks' and that's all sometimes.
You will probably need to push further to get another sentence. To be fair, sometimes they will remember and volunteer some information about some event that happened but now I just wait for it to come out during prayers.
If you are wondering, Yes, karma is paying me back: I get the grumbles and the looks when I say it time for prayers especially if games are on, or they are watching telly or maybe they are just not ready. It ticks me off a bit but then I remember I did the same at their age, so I let them be.
There are even moments when a sleepyhead is fighting their way through the devotion and you have to pass it to someone else to conclude! And yes, they long for when their faces can hit that cushion and their 'Amen' gradually fades away as sleep claims them!

Teach your kids to pray, not just for family but for their friends, classmates & the world.
It fosters compassion, forgiveness and the ability to love and accept the different way God made us, this will hopefully make the world an easier and safer place for us all.
We should be doing all we can to raise a better generation of kids whose beliefs include compassion for their fellow man regardless of their differences and that we are all vessels that has been created to honour God through the life we choose to live while here on earth. Hopefully one that has God written all over it.

Love always. xx
Ige