Today’s post is simply a question with a brief explanation. In truth, I’m reaching out for advice for myself from other parents. I welcome your input and humbly request your suggestions!
What’s your plan for praying with your kids? How and when do you actually do it? Do you have a measurable frequency in mind, like “each night at bed time” or “each morning before school” or something like that?
I ask for my own personal benefit: “praying aloud for/with my kids” is one of my personal parenting goals, but I’m having difficulty pinpointing exactly how & when I will actually do that with them each day… I don’t want to just leave it up to good intentions alone; I know myself too well: I just won’t do it…
Not that having a plan will solve all of my spiritual parenting responsibilities …but having a plan will increase my chances of succeeding greater than having no plan at all!
I’ve intended to pray aloud for and with Eli ever since the day I found out he was growing in Dianna’s womb! And I have prayed aloud with and for him over the past 7.5 years… sporadically …haphazardly …when I remembered to do so …and when the timing “seemed right”… …and when I was in a “praying mood” (what does that even mean?!)
The bottom line is that the days of my children’s lives are racing away faster than I ever knew time could go, and I am looking at just over 10 years left with my son under my household care, protection, and covering – and I still have no solid plan for integrating prayer into my family’s daily rhythms and routines!
PLEASE HELP!!! Haha :-) If you’re willing to share, I’d just love to hear how and when you pray for and with your kids.
And if you’re not yet a parent, you can still participate, too: how do you plan to pray for/with your kids when that time comes? Or, if you had parents that prayed for/with you growing up, how & when & with what frequency did they do that?
I eagerly invite your feedback, and I sincerely thank you for your help!
Like Trees Planted 
I definitely second the Proverbs idea. My kids are too young for it now (I am in the same boat you are in Nick. I feel like this blog could have easily been written by me.) On my 9th birthday, my dad started reading a chapter a day with me. After we would read, we would pick one verse out to reflect on throughout the day, and then we would pray.
SO COOL! Way to go, Jerry’s Dad! If I may pry a little deeper – do you mean y’all would read a chapter of Proverbs (specifically) each day, or just a chapter from the whole Bible each day?
Proverbs. Every day. For years. Since there are 31 chapters, we would read the chapter that corresponded with the day of the month. The next month, we would start over. That way, they really got drilled in. It also gave me the opportunity to pick a different “verse of the day” each time I came back to a chapter.
i feel like this is a little unfair since i have the major advantage of being my kids’ teacher three days each week. But our prayer ‘routine’ (outside of the Spirit-led times you mentioned in your post) is that each day before we begin school (sometimes as a part of breakfast and sometimes after it is cleaned up and we are just about to start school), we read a chapter of Proverbs and then take time to pray…and sometimes they are engaged and it really does take some time and sometimes not so much. Either way, it has become a significant part of the rhythms of our day. It often sets the tone for us.
Ooooooo Proverbs to start the day – very nice! I’d love to do a study of Proverbs with Eli when he gets to be about 12-13. I think the big thing here is that you all have made it a habit – it’s a regular, normal, expected part of your day. You’ve made it so that to NOT do it, your day would feel incomplete – that’s where I want to get!