The ABC's Of Prayer

Helping children talk to God can be as easy as A-B-C. Use this simple guide to add some spark to your family's prayer life.

Adore God. Start the day by showing God love and honor. Greet God in prayer with words that show you love him and know he is wonderful. Talk about words that describe God, such as all-powerful, loving, and creative, then use those words in adoration.

Believe in God's abilities. Before we ask for God's help, we must believe he can help. Over breakfast, talk about God's ability to solve problems. In prayer, tell God you believe he can do everything!

Confess sins. Get your hands dirty, then wash them. Talk about how God washes our hearts when we confess sins. Have each person think about something he or she did that hurt someone, then ask for forgiveness.

Delight in God and his creation. Romans 1:20 teaches that when we look at what God made, we learn about God. Take a nature walk and thank God each time you stop to look at something he made.

Express the need for God. In humility seek the truth of Christ's words in John 15:5: "Apart from me, you can do nothing." Talk to your child about why you need God. Ask your child why he needs God. Together thank God for always being with each of you.

Focus on one need. There is no need to rush through a wish list of all the problems you want God to solve—he already knows. A mind crowded with problems will feel stressed. For today, think of the need weighing on you the most. Let God give you peace about that one problem.

Give thanks to God. Help your child think of the blessings in her life and thank God for each one. Write them in a journal. This helps develop an attitude of gratitude.

Humor lightens the heart. Tell God the funny things that happen, too. Look back and find the funny side of frustrating moments and laugh. God, who created monkeys and cuckoo birds, likes to laugh with us.

Invite the Holy Spirit to guide each of you. Take your child on a blindfolded walk, guiding him around obstacles. Discuss how God sent the Holy Spirit to guide us around problems, including ones we may not even see.

Journal as a form of prayer. Let your children write or draw a prayer. Encourage them to write whatever God puts in their minds. Have younger children tell you what they want to say and record their words for them.

Keep knocking. Read about the poor widow who kept knocking in Luke 18:1-8. Make a doorknob hanger with a prayer request on it and tell your child to pray about that request every time he sees the hanger.

Love God and express that love in words. Expressing love for God and remembering his love helps us look beyond our problems and hold on to his promises. As you pray, fold your arms across your chest as though you are hugging—and being hugged by—God.

Mean what you say. Honesty is important in any relationship, especially your relationship with God. Read Psalm 102 and talk about how it's okay to tell God how we feel, even when we are sad or angry. Practice being honest with God as you pray.

Never give up, but persevere in your prayers. If you've got an unanswered prayer, continue taking it to God. If you're dealing with a difficult situation, ask God to give you the strength to deal with it. Trust that God will answer your prayers in his way and in his time.

Offer yourself and your talents to God. Make a list of your child's talents, from a great smile to a nice singing ability to being a fast runner. Then pray with your child, asking God to show her how to use these abilities to serve him. Use one of those talents for God today.

Praise the Lord. Rejoice for what God has done and will do. Sing or listen to a praise song as part of your prayers.

Quietly listen and wait for God's response. Read Psalm 46 and then sit still and let your heart feel God's love. Listen for God to speak to your hearts. Share anything God may have told you, reflect on memorized verses, or read a passage from the Bible. Help your child discover that God speaks through his Word.

Repent. Repentance is an act of regret and turning away from sin. To stop doing the same bad things takes strength. Help your child make a "God can help me" sign and post it in her room as a reminder to ask for God's help to resist sin and repent of wrongdoing.

Seek God's help for others. Our concern for others touches God's heart. Write the names of people who need God's guidance and comfort. Pray for each.

Trust God and expect answers. Read the words on a penny about trust. Talk about how trust grows just like a pile of coins can grow, a little at a time. Post a paper on your refrigerator to jot down answers to prayer, and watch the paper fill up!

Unite your will with God's. God knows what is best. Talk about your prayer requests and why they might or might not be in God's will, then pray for God to show you his will and to help you accept his plans for you.

Value yourself. As you end your prayers today, realize that God values you. Read Psalm 139 as a reminder of how much God loves you.

Worship God. Think of worship as blowing kisses to God. Take turns saying something great about God. Blow kisses toward heaven after each praise.

X-ray hearing; that is, listen intently. Prayer is a two-way communication, so stop and listen for God's voice in your heart. Read about how Elijah listened and heard God whisper in 1 Kings 19:11-13.

Yearn to learn from prayer and be changed by it. Even as you end today's prayer time, yearn for the next time. Think of God as a friend you can't wait to talk with again. Make a plan to pray again soon.

Zealously share. Share joy by sharing love with others. Share answers received, telling others of God's greatness in providing answers.

Prayer is a continuous adventure in drawing closer to God and developing a relationship with him. It involves the desire to know, listen, and serve God, as well as sharing experiences and needs. Master these basic skills and make your family's communication with God a joyful celebration of his goodness.

This Weeks To Do List

Monday: Wash Day
Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Tuesday: Ironing Day
Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday: Mending Day
Lord, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.

Thursday: Cleaning Day
Lord, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday: Shopping Day
Lord, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others in need of love.

Saturday: Cooking Day
Lord, help me to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday: The Lord's Day
Lord, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.

52 Weeks Of Conscious Contact

I have a book that I really enjoy and I wanted to share it with my family, friends, and fellow bloggers. It's called 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact by Melody Beattie.

What gets in the way of serenity? For most people, the answer is life--those everyday distractions, obligations, and frustrations that cause chaos and clutter. This week-by-week guidebook brings more balance into my life by

• nurturing inner peace


• reaching out to others


• carrying through on good intentions


• making time for fun


• cultivating a deeper prayer life

JUST FOR TODAY

I am thankful for this little prayer. It helps me to stay in the moment, which is a difficult task for me.

1. Just for today I will try to live through this day only, not tackling all of my problems at once.

2. Just for today I will try to be happy, realizing my happiness does not depend on what others do or say or what happens around me. Happiness is a result of being at peace with myself.

3. Just for today I will try to adjust myself to what is and not force everything to adjust to my own desires. I will accept my family, my friends, my business, my circumstances as they come.

4. Just for today I will take care of my physical health; I will exercise my mind; I will read something spiritual.

5. Just for today I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. If anyone knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least one thing I don't want to do, and I will perform some small act of love for my neighbor.

6. Just for today I will try to go out of my way to be kind to someone I meet. I will be considerate, talk low, and look as good as I can. I will not engage in unnecessary criticism or finding fault, nor try to improve or regulate anybody except myself.

7. Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests—hurry and indecision.

8. Just for today I will stop saying, "If I had time." I never will find time for anything. If I want time, I must take it.

9. Just for today I will have a quiet time of meditation wherein I shall think of my Higher Power, of myself and of my neighbor. I shall relax and seek truth.

10. Just for today I shall be unafraid. Particularly, I shall be unafraid to be happy, to enjoy what is good, what is beautiful, and what is lovely in life.

11. Just for today I will not compare myself with others. I will accept myself and live to the best of my ability.

12. Just for today I choose to believe that I can live this one day.

I Don’t Have Time For This!

Probably the most common reason people give for not having a regular quiet time with God is, “I just don’t have time!" But, have you ever stopped to think about what you’re really saying when you give that excuse? You’re saying that you have filled your life with other activities and you’ve pushed out God. Each of us has the same amount of time. We all have 24 hours in our day. How you spend your time is an indication of what really matters in your life.

“What we love to do we find time to do.”
~ John L. Spalding

Of course, there are seasons of life when others control how you spend your life to a large degree. If you are a mother to several small children, there are many legitimate demands on your time throughout the day. However, even in those times, you often have more control than you may think. You have control over whether and when they nap. You have control of when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed.

Spend as much time as possible performing tasks that are important. These are the stuff that life is made of. If you spend the day performing tasks that are important, you have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day that is worth all the hard work and planning.

I’d like to leave you with one last thought: Time is the currency of life and you can determine how you spend it.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that I can come to the Lord at any time of the day or night with prayers and He will always be there to listen, comfort and strengthen…

Lord, thank You that I am able to come to with an honest heart. That I can pour out all my tiredness, fears, confusions. I love when I am honest to You, You always seem to give me an answer in one way or another…

Lord, I am thankful that when I confess my sin with an honest heart, You forgive me…

Lord, I am thankful that I can put my trust in You alone. Although I do not understand Your ways sometimes, I know that everything will work out for the good for the ones who love You…

Lord, I am thankful that I can trust You answering my prayers. Maybe the outcome is not what I am hoping for, but I know that Your ways are higher than mine…

The Serenity Prayer

This is my favorite prayer of all prayers :o) It reminds me to slow down, to enjoy each moment as it comes, and to remember that I am not in control; only God is.

Reinhold Niebuhr wrote:

God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it;
Trusting that You will make all things right
If I surrender to Your will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You
Forever in the next. Amen.