Prayer is something that even lifelong adult Christians struggle with or express dissatisfaction about so it can feel like an impossible task to equip children with the tools they need to develop a positive relationship with prayer. Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,' (Matthew 19:14). We want to make sure that our approach to educating kids about prayer is modelled on Jesus' message. These are a few of the ways in which you can teach children to pray.
Break down the boundaries
Routine helps build familiarity so setting aside specific times throughout the day for prayer will enable children to develop their understanding of what it means to pray. But we don't need to be rigid about it and we should be careful not to make children feel as though prayer needs to be restricted to a certain time or place. It's important to let children know that they can pray wherever, whenever and about whatever they feel like.
Encourage them to be conversational
Children are constantly being taught that there's a right and a wrong way to do things as they're learning but we don't need to be rigidly formulaic when we're teaching children about prayer. Instead, we should give them the confidence to be conversational with God and talk to him like they're talking to a friend. In Exodus 33:11 we get an insight into Moses' relationship with God, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend." This is the kind of relationship that we all seek to have with God and we we want to empower children to have too.
Give them prompters
For some children, speaking to God can be unnerving. They can easily be put off if they're unsure of what to speak to God about. Asking them questions like, 'Why don't you tell God about your day?', 'Why don't you tell God how you feel about this situation or event?' or 'Why don't you thank God for what you're happy about today?' will help them to come up with their own personal prayers and understand that God cares about every little thing that do and feel.
Start simple
In addition to motivating children to pray in their own words by prompting them with conversational questions, teaching them rhyming prayers with simple concepts that are easy for them to grasp will give them even more material to draw upon when they do it and it'll help them to overcome any apprehensions they have about opening up to God.
Pray around them and over them
Praying with children, praying over them and praying around them are all useful in enabling them to become accustomed to prayer's versatility, the different types that they can engage in and the various ways in which they can communicate with God.
