Lord, teach us to pray...
Ron DiCianni's Lord, Teach Us to Pray hangs at the very heart of my house. You'll see it as soon as you walk in my front door, in that hallway connecting nearly all the rooms in our little mill house, a position which is almost actually the center point of our home.
It's a reminder to me of my place as "a fruitful vine in the very heart of [our] home" and my calling to be a godly mother to my little "olive shoots," two of whom have been grafted in, one of whom is fourteen months old and absolutely wild, at least if the 150 baggies he pulled out of their box today and threw all over the kitchen floor is any evidence. He's also very sweet and innocent in his pleasures too, though.
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Alan recently challenged our two older boys to pray for 5 minutes a day. They didn't think they could do it, so he lowered his challenge to 2 minutes, not wanting to discourage them but wanting to whet their appetites for the relationship of prayer. Even at 2 minutes, Jordan was still not sure how in the world...; in fact, he was convinced he couldn't do it.
So I asked him to bring his composition notebook (which he repeatedly and adorably calls his compassion notebook and, after attempting to correct him once, I decided I like what he calls it). We opened to the last page so we could always find it quickly. And I wrote out a long list of family names, a few pastors and two missionaries.
"Mom, I can pray through that in like 30 seconds." Still not convinced.
So I showed him that simple PRAY acrostic:
"Okay. Start the timer."
So I did. And left him alone...
"I'm done, Mom! Stop the timer."
And guess what!? We looked at the timer, and it said,
"5:03"!
He got the sweetest, biggest grin all over his face and gave me an unsolicited hug. "Thank you, Mommy!"
And my heart is huge. Thank You, God. That made my day!
Lord, teach me to pray, and teach me to teach my children to pray. May they also teach me to pray, and may we all pray more and more.
***
Do you have a particular method of prayer that helps you stay focused? Please comment below!
Have your kids encouraged your heart recently? I'd love to hear about this too!
My post today is short and sweet: Lord, teach us to pray, and help us teach them to pray.
***
Alan recently challenged our two older boys to pray for 5 minutes a day. They didn't think they could do it, so he lowered his challenge to 2 minutes, not wanting to discourage them but wanting to whet their appetites for the relationship of prayer. Even at 2 minutes, Jordan was still not sure how in the world...; in fact, he was convinced he couldn't do it.
So I asked him to bring his composition notebook (which he repeatedly and adorably calls his compassion notebook and, after attempting to correct him once, I decided I like what he calls it). We opened to the last page so we could always find it quickly. And I wrote out a long list of family names, a few pastors and two missionaries.
"Mom, I can pray through that in like 30 seconds." Still not convinced.
So I showed him that simple PRAY acrostic:
Praise --God for Who He is and what He does
Repent -- of any sin, ask God to forgive you
Ask -- this is where you'd pray through your list of people, the requests we wrote down and any others you want to add
Yield --and then you submit to God and tell him you want to obey Him no matter what today....
"Okay. Start the timer."
So I did. And left him alone...
"I'm done, Mom! Stop the timer."
And guess what!? We looked at the timer, and it said,
"5:03"!
He got the sweetest, biggest grin all over his face and gave me an unsolicited hug. "Thank you, Mommy!"
And my heart is huge. Thank You, God. That made my day!
Lord, teach me to pray, and teach me to teach my children to pray. May they also teach me to pray, and may we all pray more and more.
***
Do you have a particular method of prayer that helps you stay focused? Please comment below!
Have your kids encouraged your heart recently? I'd love to hear about this too!
