Teaching Kids to Pray Series: Withhold Reprimanding in Prayer
It's great to understand that we can be absolutely honest, and open with God at all times. I'm so thankful for the safety we have, and that kids have, in our relationship with Him. I don't always get prayer right. Much of what I originally learned about prayer was done through watching others - people who made mistakes as well. That's not to say that each of these people I emulated was wrong beca
Read MoreTeaching Kids to Pray Series: Be Real
As we recently learned, prayer can be simple. There is no special formula or method. There are no tried and true 12-step programs; there is simply, prayer. The more we realize how simple it is, the more freedom we will have it exploring it, and thereby, exploring God. God is our friend. God knows us. God knows our life. When we talk with our best friend about our life, we share everything. We t
Read MoreTeaching Kids to Pray Series: Be Simple
In our last lesson in this series we covered the method of "Modeling Prayer" as an adult, parent, or trainer. Modeling prayer is vital in the learning process of children, but it goes beyond that. Although we must show by example a prayerful life, we also have to show it in a way that can be replicated. If I took a grade school child and set them all day under a college professor to learn, most p
Read MoreTeaching Kids to Pray Series: Modeling Prayer
Children are like sponges; they soak in all the things they see around them and those things affect them. We've all seen children imitate. Little girls put on their mother's shoes, little boys use their daddy's tools, and sometimes vice versa. From very early on babies start mimicking smiles and facial expressions. Children may not understand all they are doing or imitating at the time, they just
Read MoreTeaching Kids to Pray Series: Repeat-After-Me
Children typically do not teach themselves. For a child to learn a core value, skill, or truth, they need to be taught. Children may learn passively through their environments and other people, or actively through focused instruction. If we think of how a child learns to speak, we recall them learning words through repetition, and by picking up the sounds and syllables spoken around them. A child
Read More