The praying post

We've been talking a lot about prayer in our home this summer.  Lucy went through a stage where she didn't want to pray and we didn't feel it was something we should force on her.  We decided to just leave it alone, set an example of constant prayer ourselves and just hope God would work in her life when the time was right.

Lucy is a lot like me and gets turned off when she doesn't understand how things work.  She started asking questions about how to pray, what to pray for, how God hears us, how we hear His answers.  Since she is so visual and loves crafts, I worked with her on a prayer lapbook.  As she cut, colored and glued we talked about 4 ways we can pray.  Here's how I explained it to her.  I stole this from somewhere but I can't remember where...

1.  I LOVE YOU prayers (ADORATION) - We tell God how awesome he is and we point out specific things we think make Him that awesome.  She prays a lot for lizards and tells God "I think it's SO cool that you made them to change colors and get brown when they are on branches and green when they are on leaves".  I love to hear the things she praises Him for these days.

2.  THANK YOU prayers (THANKSGIVING) - We say these prayers before we eat our food and also any time you want to thank God for something he has blessed you with.  This one she got pretty easily.

3.  I AM SORRY prayers (CONFESSION) - This is when we tell God we are sorry for the mistakes we make.  "Oh yeah, like when I stock out my tongue at Dad the other day?  That was so wrong Mom!"  Yes, you got it.

4.  PLEASE prayers (SUPPLICATION) - We say please prayers when we need to ask God to help us with something.  She loves to pray for the ill and for children who are in need.

Explaining it to her this way gave her a structure that she needed to get started.  I assured her that God wants to hear from her and that she doesn't have to worry about using perfect words or having a list or a method to her madness and to use this only if it helped her.  I saw things click in her little head.  The prayer wheel we made showing the 4 kinds of prayer SEALED the deal.  She was ALL in!!

Now, to put her over the top :) we kept crafting and made a prayer pail with sticks where we could write prayer needs as they come up.  At night, she grabs a couple of sticks and spends more time praying for those. A twist on the traditional prayer journal.

I PRAISE you Lord for the way You love us and for your guidance and how you don't leave us to solve our own problems but give us ideas and encouragement to tackle things with confidence.

I THANK YOU Lord for these children I get to disciple

FORGIVE ME for the times I forget to seek you right away when I come across a bump in my parenting journey.

PLEASE help me to be the Mom that my children need me to be.   Help me to set a good example by seeking You first always.

IN JESUS' NAME I PRAY

.