How to Teach Your Son to Pray

Teaching your son the importance of prayer is one of the most important responsibilities you have as a mother. He should be able to connect with Jesus in a joyful and easy way. And he should feel that he is able to approach Jesus with any issue.

For example, five-year-old Dashon begged Jesus during his nightly prayers to help him with swim lessons the following day so that he could put his face in the water. In the past, he had been apprehensive about it.

Because swimming classes were part of the school's after-school program, his parents would not be able to attend. "Let's hurry and get home so I can tell Jesus how I put my face in the water," he exclaimed when his mother picked him up.

Mother: "Let's tell him right now," she said with a grin.

Show your son how to pray

You can help your son develop this skill by modeling it yourself!

Take a closer look at these key points:

• Let him see you pray. If you don't demonstrate to him how important prayer is, he won't believe it. Learn how to incorporate prayer into your day-to-day activities.

Before each meal, take a moment to express your gratitude. Thank everyone who helped make the meal possible, from the cook to the wait staff. Mention the cook and the people who helped with the meal preparation.

In addition, you can go around the table and share something each person is grateful for.

• Begin and end each day with him by saying a prayer. Teach him how to pray during this special time.

Make your son aware of how fortunate he is and how much he has to be thankful for. Share the things you're grateful for.

What is it that he needs God's help with? There are a variety of reasons for this, from schoolwork to a teacher or peer he's having a hard time dealing with. Show him how to pray for help by being the example. Allow him to hear you pray for God's assistance.

Who does he want to pray for? It won't be long before your son is asking for blessings and assistance for his own parents, grandparents, as well as his friends and pets.

• Pray with him for healing. Sometimes we experience minor bumps and bruises, or emotional pain throughout the day. Show him how to pray for God to help him overcome his pain.

It's truly powerful to gather the family together and pray that God will give them all the love they needed that day but didn't receive. 

• Prayers for forgiveness. Teach him how to ask God for forgiveness during nighttime prayers when there is tension or harsh words.

This isn't the time to shame or embarrass him. You can tell him to simply pray, "Jesus, please forgive me for being mean to my sister." 

In spite of how difficult it may be for you, pray, "Jesus, please forgive me for letting my temper get the better of me when I'm around my children."

• Teach him a few quick prayers to get him started. Type "short prayers for children" into Google and you'll get a variety of results.

Of course, you'll want to teach your son the Lord's Prayer when he is old enough.

• Read your son books about prayer for children. There are many books for children on prayer. Again, Google can be your best friend here.
• Before he heads out for the day, pray for him. Spending a few minutes at the beginning of the day praying for your son and ending the day with a blessing shows him that God is with him every step of the way.

Your son will benefit for the rest of his lives if you teach him how to pray. It will be much easier for you to lead him in prayer if you are a regular pray-er yourself. I hope this blog post inspired you with some ideas. Praying will become a habit for your son, just as it will for you.