Praying with Children

Last night, in preparation for teaching my Children’s Chapel lesson this week on Holy Spirit, I asked my 87-year-old mother and my 72-year-old husband what they wished someone had told them about Holy Spirit when they were a child. My mom thought for just a second, tears filled her eyes as she put her hand up to her heart, and she said, “That He’s here, in my heart.”

My husband, a retired priest, said, “He isn’t just a Church word. He’s a real
person.” I mention this as I begin my post about praying with children
because I have often failed to remind myself and the children I pray with that prayer is a conversation with God. He’s a real loving person we talk to and listen to, as He lives in our hearts. So however, we teach our children to pray, and there are as many ways as there are people, that is a good place to start.

I wondered if I should write about praying with children or teaching them to pray, and I realized that they are so intertwined as to almost be the same thing for me. As a grandmother and long ago a young mother, I have prayed with my children but usually didn’t take the time to do more than a blessing and a prayer for them. I wish I had taken more time to talk with them about prayer and discuss what we together might pray about. Of course, asking theHoly Spirit and letting them pray would also have been good!

As Children’s Ministries Coordinator at Christ Our King Anglican Church in
New Braunfels for almost nine years now, I have scheduled myself to lead
Children’s Chapel whenever I am in town. When I first arrived, Betsy, my
assistant, led the prayer time. She was using the ripple prayer method, like the ripples in a pond start small around the place where a stone is thrown, starting with ourselves, and get bigger and bigger the farther and farther from ourselves as we go to the whole world. I loved it, and we continued to pray this way for a while, but eventually, I thought to change our routine to something more liturgical to match what the parents were doing in church.

After we light the candles and quiet our hearts before the Lord, I told the
children that we could picture ourselves in God the Father’s throne room,
kneeling before Him seated on His glorious throne, Jesus beside Him on His glorious throne. Psalm 123, “To Thee I lift up my eyes, O Thou who art
enthroned in the heavens!”

In advance, we let the children choose one of seven cards with a different
kind of prayer on each one, describing, or letting them describe what each kind is. They are (in this order for reasons we talk about from time to time) Praise, Thanksgiving, Confession, Intercession, Petition, Oblation, and Blessing. Then, the children (and sometimes adults or teens) choose the one they want to pray for that week and in their own words.

One of our larger families must also be using this method at home. When I start to make a mistake about the order, or a new child needs to know what oblation means, these children can help them understand that it is offering ourselves to God. They also know that petition is a prayer, usually for ourselves, that we know aligns with the will of God, such as, “help me to love you more, Lord.”

I offer these thoughts, and this technique to you, to use or not use, as you
are led by our teacher, the Holy Spirit, who knows each of us, and each child we have the privilege to pray with.

Shalom!
Catherine Howanstine
Christ our King, New Braunfels, TX