We do prayer with our kids at church. I mean really. In a big way. And all the glory goes to the Lord for giving us ideas and strength and passion for praying with kids.
I LOVE that we share what is on our hearts. Sometimes the prayers make me smile a little as I'm recording them like:
Please pray for my left nostril.
Please pray that my cat will stop jumping in the trunk when we open it.
Please pray for my grandfather because he got fake teeth.
Sometimes they make me happy as I see milestones in their lives like:
Please pray that my tooth will fall out.
Please pray that I will learn to ride a bike.
Please pray that I can learn my sight words.
Sometimes they touch me deeply as we (the children) pray for the adults in our church like:
Please pray that my job interview will go well.
Please pray for my son who doesn't know the Lord.
Please pray for my friend who has a brain tumor.
But what I'm most thankful for is that we have created a safe place to share deep heart prayers as a group of kids like:
My family is having problems.
I'm being bullied at school.
I have to move away from all my friends.
If you don't have the opportunity to pray with kids, oh I wish you could. They are great intercessory pray-ers. They don't judge the person. They don't judge the situation. They don't insist on knowing all the details. They don't talk about it later with their friends. They just take it in.
And then they pray. They leave it with the Father. They don't pick the burden back up after they've left it at the foot of the cross. They believe as strongly in receiving an answer as they do in praying a prayer.
I think prayer is definitely one of those "and a little child shall lead them" areas in the Bible. I have lots to learn about praying with children...and lots to learn just by watching them pray!
