P. R. A. Y. E. R. Acronym

Use the following to teach your child how to pray through the prayer model that Jesus taught (also known as the Our Father prayer pattern or Lord’s Prayer).

Praise

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.” This is an opening line of praise. It speaks of God who is both high above us (in heaven) and lovingly near to help (Our Father). In this petition, “hallowed be thy name,” we are praising God how great and holy He is, but we are also asking God to show the whole world how great and holy He is.

When teaching your kids to pray, ask your child to complete one or more of these sentences when they pray with you…

• “Lord, what I love about you is…”
• “Lord, I thank you for…”

Remake

“Thy kingdom come.” God’s kingdom is anywhere where He he treated and honored as the king. Some day, His kingdom will come to the earth when Jesus returns and He remakes the world into His perfect kingdom again. We should pray that this day will come soon. Until then, Jesus said the kingdom has already come near to us, so we pray that he will remake us into people who honor Him as the king. We also pray for the needs of the world and not just ourselves.

Ask your child to complete one or more of these sentences when they pray with you…

• “Lord, I look forward to the Day Christ returns because…”
• “Lord, remake me into someone who…”
• “Lord, I ask that You (insert a world need here)…”

Attitude

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Doing God’s will starts in the heart. Real obedience isn’t just a matter of doing what God tells us to do; we should love what God wants us to love. When we pray that God’s will should be done, we are praying that our attitude and the attitudes of others will be changed so we obey God from our hearts.

Ask your child to complete one or more of these sentences when they pray with you…

• “Lord, I want my attitude to be more…”
• “Lord, as a family, help us to have an attitude of…”

Yummy

“Give us this day our daily bread.” This is a daily request for God to provide for our needs. It shows a great dependence on God’s provision and a thankfulness that He provides. When we think of the word “yummy” we remember that God not only provides the things we need, we are also expressing to God how much we enjoy those things.

When teaching your kids to pray, ask your child to complete one or more of these sentences when they pray with you…

• “Lord, give this person…”
• “Lord, what we need in our family is…”

Expose Sin

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” This petition asks for God’s forgiveness for our sins. Often we aren’t even aware of all the ways we have hurt others or offended God, so we should ask God to expose our sin to us so we can repent of it.

Ask your child to complete one or more of these sentences when they pray with you…

• “Lord, show me what hidden sins I have.”
• “Lord, forgive me for…”

Rescue

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” God always provides a way of escape so that we can stand up under temptations. This is a request that God will rescue us from our sinful tendencies, from things that might be tempting to us, and from the Evil One himself.

Ask your child to complete one or more of these sentences when they pray with you…

• “Lord, I am tempted to sin when…”
• “Lord, rescue me from temptation when…”

Download the accompanying poster for this prayer method.