When my grandsons were preschoolers, my daughter employed several tactics to encourage them to grow in prayer. One was a prayer-request poster that they used nightly, marking answered prayers with colorful stickers. The boys really got into it. They eagerly looked forward to taking turns praying through the requests.

Once, when a visitor to their home gave her life to Christ, my then three-year-old grandson ran into the other room for a moment. He returned with a colorful heart-shaped sticker that he joyously stuck on her arm to celebrate a visible answer to their earnest prayers.

Kids get it. They connect. Their tender spirits can relate with compassion. In Cheri Fuller’s article she describes their capacity for prayer: “Children may be small, but they have enormous hearts. They feel deeply about problems and suffering in the world and can pray with compassion, a key ingredient of effective prayer.”

Discussion Questions

Read the following passages and discuss how and why children are inclined to represent the heart of Jesus when they pray (Ps. 131:1–2; Prov. 4:3–4; 20:11–12; Matt. 6:7–8, nasb; 9:36, kjv; 18:1–4, nasb; 21:15–16).
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Kim Butts, speaking of the prayer potential of the next generation, says this: “Satan knows prayer defeats him. Therefore, he has lulled us into thinking that children must be entertained while they are young. Satan knows that grabbing children early and involving them in less spiritually relevant activities are keys to sidelining their prayer potential.” How does Psalm 8:2 bear witness to the fact that Satan has ulterior motives for derailing this prayer resource?
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Discuss as a group some ways Satan uses adults to unknowingly discourage children when it comes to prayer. Are there times he has used you in this way?
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Read 1 Samuel 2:18, 3:7–9; Psalm 78:3–7; Joel 2:16, and Matthew 19:14. Based on these passages, what should be our role in training up children in prayer?
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According to Becky Fischer, incorporating prayer into everyday events with your children is crucial to making prayer a way of life for them. She admonishes us to bring our children into our prayer closets—even including prayer in play time with “Ken and Barbie” as teaching tools. Becky once asked a Christian who was raised a Muslim what makes Muslim children so passionate about Islam. He explained that when you pray five times a day from the time you are old enough to walk and talk, it becomes part of you.  Since prayer is communion with God and a means of knowing Him intimately, do you think the principles in Deuteronomy 11:18–21 relate to prayer as well as Bible study? Why or why not?
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According to Tom Victor, “Researchers tell us that 80 percent of those who come to Christ do so by age 18. It is a time of great openness and responsiveness. So what would happen if we taught children to pray and encounter God? What would happen if we gave them opportunities to serve with us? What would happen if they discovered God could speak to them and use them while they are children . . . would it mark them for life?” Share your thoughts to his questions, and discuss how this might have had an impact in your own life:
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Action Steps

Becky Fischer gives some tips on where to begin when teaching children to pray:

1. Don’t treat them like babies. Take them seriously as little disciples of Christ. Keep your teaching simple and short; don’t preach, just talk to them.
2. Remember that children learn through their five physical senses. Include pictures, maps, and powerful visuals. Give them Scriptures they can turn into prayers.
3. Start them young, be consistent, make it interesting, and then find ways to give children a role in your adult prayer times.

Spend some time individually asking God to show you creative ways to follow these steps as you engage children in prayer. Come together as a group to share what you’ve discovered. As you implement these plans at home or church, encourage each other with frequent updates.

SANDRA HIGLEY served as a contributing author and editor for PrayKids! and Growing Up Prayerful: A Leader’s Kit to Get Kids Started.

(C) 2013 Prayer Connect magazine