Encouraging the Gift of Personal Prayer

Today we’ll consider a few valuable dimensions to our prayer life, and how to encourage personal prayer in our children. Before we begin, I’d like to encourage you to take a moment to read Jesus’ words about prayer in Matthew 6:5-15. Without any commentary, these verses contain powerful points about communicating with God in prayer.
Now, what does Jesus encourage regarding prayer?

1. Prayer is Personal – Communication with the Lord has nothing to do with the perceptions of others. It is not about looking or sounding spiritual. Those who pray for the personal benefit of appearances have “received their reward in full” – namely that people might be impressed, but the Lord is not.
2. Prayer is an Act of Faith – By praying in secret, we demonstrate our faith in a God who is present. If we lacked faith in God’s nearness, we would not pray in secret. Who would be there to hear? Prayer puts words and actions to our confidence that the Lord “sees what is done in secret.” 
3. Prayer is Interactive – Prayer does not need to be filled start to finish with our own words. If we believe that prayer is a two-way channel – a way of communing with God and not just talking to God – then we will speak/think slowly and listen carefully. 
4. Prayer is Learned Through the Experience of Praying – The only instance of the disciples asking to learn can be found in Luke 11:1, when one asked, “Lord, teach us to pray…” Jesus’ answer is also recorded in our Matthew text. What we call “The Lord’s Prayer” was offered by Jesus as a template for practicing prayer. When we pray together as a family, include these essential elements as a way of helping our children learn to communicate with God:
   
   1. Praise God for who He is.
   2. Thank God for what He has done.
   3. Ask God for what you need.
   4. Seek forgiveness for sinful ways, and strength to live according to His pleasure.

Jesus offered this prayer in public to His disciples with the hope that they would follow this pattern in private. We can teach our children to pray accordingly, and to listen for what God has to say in response.