Why do we need to practice prayer? Don’t we just do it?

• We practice prayer so our kids will know that prayer is more than a “hand” emoji on their phone. It’s an important part of knowing God and participating in our relationship with Him!
• The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. This tells us that prayer is something that is taught, increases with practice, and is very important. There are 650 mentions of prayer in the Bible. The first is in Genesis 4:26.
• Think about this: more than changing situations, prayer changes us, and through the regular practice of prayer we become more like Christ. 

Recommended Books

Here are some books our team recommends for exploring more about the practice of prayer: 

• Prayers for Young Children. (Steinkuhler & Nascimbeni, 2018). Ages 5-9. Beautifully illustrated, this book provides kid-friendly prayers for all sorts of situations: from fear of the dark to self-confidence, doubts to impatience, trust, anger, mourning for a grandparents, amazement about creation, loneliness at school to fear of new things, and more. 
• Why Do We Pray? (Nerland & O’Neal, 2020) Prayer is a big part of what we do in our daily lives and our worship services. After all, talking to God is vital. Prayer can also be mystifying to kids, but it doesn’t have to be. Why Do We Pray? focuses on Biblical examples and Jesus’ perfect prayer to instill confidence in every child to express praise and need to God through prayer.
• A book recommendation of prayers for families with older youth: Every Moment Holy. Douglas McKelvey. (Rabbit Room Press. 2017)
• What Every Child Should Know About Prayer by Nancy Guthrie
• Any Time, Any Place, Any Prayer: A True Story of How You Can Talk With God by Laura Wifler
• How to Pray: A Guide for Young Exporers by Pete Greig