The Blessing of Prayer in Family Life

Two weeks ago I did a post on how vital the Word of God is to our families.  This week I would like to follow that post up with a new post on the importance of prayer in our homes.  Life is sometimes very challenging, and I see prayer as such a grace that the Lord invites us into His presence at any time to share our joys, our struggles and our sorrows.  I don't know what my Mama heart would do without prayer; it is a strength to me to know I can take my deepest heart concerns before my Heavenly Father who loves me and has all power to work in my circumstances.  I hope this post encourages you to seek the Lord with your family through the means of prayer.  

Not only is it crucial that parents be prayer warriors for their children, but I think it is also vitally important to pray with our children.  We want to train them to live constantly in the presence of the Lord, going to Him in their joys and sorrows and when they need direction for life.  Especially in the context of homeschooling we can lead our children into the presence of the Lord all throughout the day and night.  Has something exciting happened?  Why not pause and give thanks to the Lord?  Have you just heard about a serious need in the life of a family member or friend?  This is a good opportunity to stop whatever is going on and pray over that need as a family.  Is a child dealing with fear during the night?  You can lovingly stroke their hair and remind them that, "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." - Psalm 4:8

  It is important to keep taking our children back to the cross, back to Jesus, and back to the good news of the gospel.  In item one of Martin Luther's 95 Theses he stated, "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent' (Matt. 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." It is important that parents model humble repentance when they fail and also encourage their children along in going to Jesus with their sins, humbling themselves, and receiving new grace to move forward in victory.  

  Whatever is going on in the midst of your day, it is always a good time to grab hands and lead your children into the Father's presence.  This is training for life.  Whenever we have challenges arise through our day I want to be quick to stop everything and lead our children into prayer, asking the Lord for His guidance and help.  It does not come naturally to stop in the chaos of life and call together a prayer group but I see the need to do more of this.  Rather than plowing through the difficulties, I want to show my children that when things are burdensome we need to have a default called prayer.  

  It is also a great thing to stop with a child when they come to us complaining about something that is bothering them personally.  If we stop and say, "Let's pray about that," then we are teaching them to go to the Lord with their concerns.  

  

  Here are a few ideas to get you thinking about how you might be able to incorporate more prayer into the environment of your home.  

* Take a prayer walk with a child

*Have a jar where you collect prayer requests and pray for a new need each day.

*Pray over all the families represented by the Christmas cards you received in the mail

*Have a white board or chalk board where family members can write down prayer needs as they arise, and be sure to pray over those at meals or family worship times.

*Make a point to pray with your family for our government leaders on the National, State, and Local levels.

*Pray regularly as a family for your church leadership.

*Start each school day with prayer.

*Stop and pray through sibling rivalry.

*Make meal time prayers more intentional and pray over more than the food at these times of family gathering.

These are just a few ideas on how we can work at having more prayerful atmospheres in our homes.  I would love to hear if you have ideas to add to the list.  May we all rejoice anew in the precious opportunity the Lord gives to us to come into His presence.  Anytime and any place is a perfect opportunity to bring our families before the throne of grace.  I encourage you this week to ask the Lord to show you more opportunities to lead your children into His presence with thanksgiving.