What Might it Look Like to Begin Praying with my Family?
I was sitting with my brother in the back seat of our 1987 silver Nissan van. My mom was behind the wheel, taking us to the public pool on a balmy summer day in Northern California. As we came into town, we heard a siren in the distance approaching us. My mom quickly pulled over to the side of the road and allowed an ambulance to race by. She parked and turned to us and said, “Someone’s in trouble. Let’s pray.” Growing up in a small town near the Oregon border, we didn’t hear many sirens but when we did, my parents were faithful to stop what they were doing and pray for His blessing for those who were in trouble. Our time in prayer as a family was not just centered around emergencies. We would pray at specific times of the day together and as things came up. God gave me the great blessing of growing up in a house of prayer, a discipline that is vital to our walks as believers abiding in Jesus.
Perhaps your family hasn’t begun this life-giving journey of daily communing with God in prayer together. Maybe you and your family rarely pray together or only on special occasions. Let me encourage you, this is the perfect time to start. Below are a few thoughts that I hope you will find helpful as you begin to develop a prayer life with your family.
Planned Prayer
If you’re wanting to have more prayer in your home but you don’t have a plan for it, it will never happen. Think about when your family is naturally together. Maybe this is a specific mealtime or before bed. Every family is different but if there is a time that you are all together, that would be the best place to start.
Start small and work your way up. A house of prayer is not built in a day. The point is to be consistent in it.
There are many ways to form your prayers but the method that has worked well for me over the years is ACTS: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication.
Adoration: Exalt God for who He is. Praise Him for His attributes.
Confession: Let Him know where you have sinned, where you have chosen to serve yourself rather than serve Him. Then repent and ask for forgiveness.
Thanksgiving: Thank Him for what He has done.
Supplication: Bring your requests before Him. Our loving Father knows what we need, and He wants to bless us.
Now, my wife Lauren and I have two energetic toddlers at home. Therefore, our times of family prayer with our boys are very short; honestly probably 1-3 min. We pray at meals (usually thanking God for lovingly providing this yummy Mac & cheese and asking Him to help us share our toys with our brother) and then again before bed. It is at bedtime prayer that we go through the ACTS method. We talk about the day, what we’re thankful for, where we needed to ask Jesus for forgiveness, and our prayer requests. Then we pray. During these sweet times, our little family grows in our dependence on the Lord and we get to hear what is on each other’s hearts.
Spontaneous Prayer
Praying in a moment of need or confusion is another vital part of cultivating a house of prayer. When someone is sick, go to prayer with your family. When someone got a good grade on a test, go to prayer with your family. When you can’t find your car keys, go to prayer with your family. When the stranger in front of you in the Starbucks drive through pays for your drinks, go to prayer with your family. Often when we have run out of options we turn to prayer. Prayer should be our first thought as God is the only One with any true power, provision, or wisdom.
A few weeks ago, my 3-year-old son was whining during a mealtime. He wanted something on the table that was out of his reach and chose to cry about it rather than ask me for it. I came over to his booster seat, got down to his eye level and said to him, “Buddy, you need to stop whining. Does daddy love you? Does daddy want you to have good things? Yeah. Daddy has all the good things and wants to give them to you. All you have to do is ask daddy for them.” As the words came out of my mouth, I suddenly felt ashamed. My Heavenly Father was saying the same thing to me. How often I exhaust my list of doing things in my own strength, to no avail, before I get wise and go to the Father, recognizing who He is, and humbly presenting my request.
Praying with our families shows our submission to God, it shows that He is the head of the home, it humbles us, and prayer invites the Lord to change our home for His glory. Let’s pray!
Greg Clark, Worship Life Pastor