Praying as a family is so valuable and encouraging, but sometimes modelling prayer to your kids can be a daunting task. Today’s post is all about providing you with some creative ways to teach and encourage your kids (and you) to pray, both individually and together.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12 (NIV)
Pente-Prayers
There are five types of prayers that are so good for every Christian to practice: Praise, Thanksgiving, Confession, Intercession/Petition and Listening. Sound complicated? Check out the diagram below for an easier way to remember these and to help your kids to remember them as well!
- Praise – Thumbs up! Pointing our praise up to God.
- Thanks – We can use this finger to point to things that we’re grateful for.
- Sorry – When we make a pointing hand shape, this finger points back towards us.
- Asking – This is the one finger that you cannot lift up when your hand is flat on a surface. We need God’s help!
- Listening – This is the only finger small enough to fit into your ear.
Prayer Chart
Routine can be so helpful for kids (and adults). This is still true when helping your kids to develop spiritual disciplines (like prayer!). If a visual reminder is what you need, check out the prayer charts below to plan out who in your family can pray each day. These prayer charts are great as they encourage you and your families to start and end your day in prayer. If you don’t have a printer, use these charts as inspiration and draw out your own.
Family Prayer Chart Credit: https://mysillysquirts.com/2020/01/24/print-your-free-family-prayer-chart/
Prayer Cube
Print out the template below or draw your own on paper/card. Each side of the cube should have a different prayer heading that will help guide your time of prayer. Have each person in your family ‘roll the die’ and pray together.
Weekly Prayer Schedule
If you would find it helpful to focus your prayers through the day, try out this weekly prayer schedule. Each day has a theme or topic for prayer, spend time in the day praying together as a family. You could have each person pray or have one person lead the family in prayer and switch up who leads each day.
Below is an example of what a weekly prayer schedule could look like, click on the link below to print a copy of this example schedule or download a blank copy and choose your own topics! Feeling creative? Create your own at home with paper, pens, paint, etc.
Cloud Prayer
This idea is similar to the weekly prayer schedule, but a bit more crafty if you want to make something with your kids. Each beam of light from the cloud will have the theme or topic of prayer for the day.
Cloud Prayer Credit: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4d/02/7d/4d027d2d5c9adc30fb2d0adf56be3eb7.jpg
St Barnabas Kids & Families Blog 
