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How ShouldWe Pray?

JANUARY 2018

INTRODUCTIONPAGES 3-4

MORNING PRAYERS

PAGES 5-6

DINNERTIME STORIES

PAGES 8-9

DRIVE-TIME GAMES

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BEDTIME QUESTIONS

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WEEKLY BIBLE STORY & MEMORY VERSE

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How ShouldWe Pray?

Dr. Josh + Christi

Happy New Year! We chose to begin 2018 using questions for our mile markers. The reason is because we believe the answers to these questions will lead us, and our children, deeper into an understanding of who God is and how we can grow in relationship with Him.

Coincidentally—and quite unintentionally, may I add—I began listening to Alison Krauss’s “Down to the River to Pray” while writing this introduction—a seemingly fitting backdrop to the material this month. As I wrote, the chorus resonated with me:

As I went down in the river to prayStudying about that good old wayAnd who shall wear the starry crownGood Lord, show me the way!

May this be our heart’s cry for 2018— good Lord, show us the way!

Centered on Matthew 6:9-13, we will use what has commonly become known as the Lord’s Prayer to teach our kids how to pray and give them a framework for learning how to talk to their Heavenly Father.

Interestingly, when Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer, He didn’t mean for it to be a liturgical prayer, though it is no less meaningful or effective prayed word-for-word. We will also spend our time this month answering the question by showing how, as N.T. Wright so eloquently states, “the Lord’s Prayer is not so much a command as an invitation: an invitation to share in the prayer-life of Jesus himself.”1

As mentioned in this month’s coaching video, we can use the following model when we pray:

1. Expressing adoration of God2. Petitioning for our needs3. Asking pardon for our sins and

pardoning others who sin against us4. Asking for protection from

temptation and the evil one

As you’ll see, our prayers, stories, and questions follow these four primary aspects of praying this month.

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How ShouldWe Pray?

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FOR MOM As we studied for this month’s content, I (Christi) was struck by the verses preceding the Lord’s Prayer (v. 5-8)—the idea that what we do in secret is who we are before the Lord. It reminds me of the movie War Room, where the sweet, bold Miss Clara has a dedicated closet for privately going to war, in prayer, against the enemy.

Going to community groups and church makes us look good to others. “Trust Me,” says Jesus, “these people have their rewards” (my paraphrase). What really matters is who we are in secret—alone with God.

I want to challenge all the moms in this community to begin 2018 with our own war room. Whether it’s a closet, a recliner by your fireplace, or a chair on your back porch, practice waking up early or finding 15 minutes where you can just go alone to your war room with Jesus. Imagine how the spiritual climate of our homes would change if we began each day in the new year warring for our families and our hearts on behalf of Jesus. Will you join me?

FOR DAD In studying the Lord’s Prayer, I (Josh) was particularly struck by a comment I heard Timothy Keller make about this prayer. When we say “hallowed be Your name” or “your name be honored as holy,” the question is: What is it you hallow? Or put another way, what is it that you honor as holy?

The way Keller asked the question convicted me. What are you really going to prayer for? Is it your relationship with Jesus that’s at stake, or is it something in your life that is at stake? Whoa!

When our relationship with Jesus is what matters to us more than anything else, we will pray all the time. But when we “hallow” our job, a relationship, our health, or something else that is not Jesus, we will find ourselves only going to God in prayer when those things are at stake.

With the new year now upon us, think about what you say when you pray “hallowed be Your name.” A popular activity for many in the new year is to have a “word of the year.” What if we, as dads in this community, simply made our word of the year for 2018 “Jesus?” Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Would you consider making it your word with me? Let’s go deeper with Jesus in 2018 and honor His name as holy with our prayer life.

FOR COUPLES When we speak to couples, we often use the Lord’s Prayer as an illustration. We begin by asking, “How many of you, when you pray the line ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ actually think about bringing God’s will in heaven to earth in how you relate to your spouse? In other words, does your attitude toward your spouse, and how you treat him/her, reflect how relationships work in heaven?”

This month, when you catch yourself getting short with one another, or you begin to feel disconnected and not part of a team, stop and pray. Pray for your spouse. Ask God to specifically show you how He sees your spouse. Ask Him to show you insight into what’s going on in your spouse’s heart. Seeing your spouse as God sees your spouse is the beginning of treating him/her on earth as it is in heaven.

How ShouldWe Pray?

For your children to pray these prayers simply change the pronouns from “my children” for the parent to “me” for the child. This month,

feel free to pray the Lord’s Prayer each morning with your kids. Each of the 15 individual prayers this month come directly from the meaning of

the prayer Jesus taught us to pray.

“Our Father in heaven,your name be honored as holy.

Your kingdom come.Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors.And do not bring us into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.” —Matthew 6:9b-13, CSB

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Father, help my children to know every day that they are not alone because You are their Father who loves them

with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3).

03Our Father in Heaven, thank you for loving

me as your son/daughter. I pray my children come to accept Jesus in their hearts and truly experience You as their loving Heavenly Father.

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Heavenly Father, set us apart as holy just as You are holy. May our family—and our

kids—“be set apart” from the world because of our love relationship with You.

(Note: The word “holy” means “to separate” or “be set apart” from anything that is sinful).

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Father, Your name is to be honored as holy. Help my children respect You when they

pray and enter Your sanctuary. Help them become wonderstruck and in awe of Your

magnificent nature.

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Abba Father, help my children to keep their minds set on heaven and

things above and not on earthly things (Col. 3:1-2).

07Father, may Your kingdom come on earth, in our home and lives today, as it is in heaven where there is no crying, pain, shame, or

brokenness. May our kids learn to relate with others on earth as it is in heaven. Help me to

model that for them today.

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MORNING PRAYERS

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

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MORNING PRAYERS

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Heavenly Father, help my kids to have a heart of forgiveness toward others. When someone hurts or wrongs them, give my kids understanding hearts to forgive as

You have forgiven them.

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Father, increase my children’s trust in You each day. I pray against a spirit

of entitlement but for a spirit of gratitude in my kids.

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Father, forgive us our sins. Help my children be genuinely sorry when

they sin against You. Help me, as their mom/dad, lead them

to the cross in their sin.

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Dear Lord, give my children today their daily bread. May they learn

that what this means is that they can trust You to give them all they

need for today.

13Father, deliver my kids from evil. I know the enemy has come to steal, kill, and

destroy, but You sent Your Son, Jesus, that we may have live abundantly. I summon

Your angels today to protect my kids from the evil one and pray the abundant life of

Jesus into their hearts.

12God, today, help my children not give in to

temptation. I know they are likely to be tempted by many things (name specific temptations you

know they have, like peer pressure, complaining, being disrespectful, lying, etc.), but today I

pray the authority of Jesus into their lives to overcome those temptations.

15Father, thank You for conquering death by sending your Son, Jesus, to save us. I pray today for my children that they come to

know and love You with all of their hearts and to bring You glory on earth as long as

You have them here.

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Heavenly Father, Yours is the Kingdom, the power, and glory, forever and ever!

May my children walk in confidence today that they are walking in Your victorious

kingdom that has no end.

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

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HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

DRIVE-TIME GAMES

Our Daily Bread.

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Each month we provide a list of games related to that month’s mile-marker. Simply choose the ones you enjoy as a family and play them often.

God promises to give us what we need for today. Use this game as an opportunity to help your children see what they really need for today. As you drive, explain to your kids what Jesus means by the phrase “our daily bread.”

Bring along paper and a pen so one of your kids can make a list. Ask your kids to write down or say aloud the things they believe are meant by “daily bread” (i.e. food, shelter, hugs, etc.). Then, since your kids will make a long list of wants, rather than daily breads (i.e. needs), make another list of wants. Use it as an opportunity to see how blessed they are and how God provides their daily bread.

To add to the game, begin to come up with ways you can help those in your community who struggle to get their daily bread.

On Earth as It Is in Heaven. This game is simple. When you are out driving with your kids this month, find a way to bring heaven to earth in how you treat someone on the road. Invite your kids to count how many times you wave someone to go in front of you and how many times you think of the other driver before yourself. If you’re going through a drive-thru for food, pay for the car behind you. Simply show your kids what it looks like, even in mundane activities like driving, to adore others on earth as it is in heaven.

Pray.Simply spend time in the car with your kids praying the Lord’s Prayer. You can also break the game up into car trips and teach your kids the model of the prayer.

For instance, spend your first trip back to school simply praying prayers of adoration to God. The next day, pray prayers of petition and intercession. The following day, pray prayers of pardon seeking God’s forgiveness and forgiving others who offended you or your kids. The last day, pray prayers of protection. Practice this rhythm throughout the month to help your kids learn the model of the prayer itself.

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

DINNERTIME STORIES

Everyone go around the table and share the single most important thing you learned in 2017.

Everyone go around the table and share what they are most looking forward to in 2018.

Everyone go around the table and share the one thing they most want to do/accomplish in 2018.

Tell your children a story tonight about what makes you stop and soak in God’s majesty. In other words, what awes you about God? Is there a particular moment you can think of where you soaked in God’s majesty and just adored Him (i.e. a hike in the mountains, skiing in crisp snow and bright blue skies, around a campfire on the lake, a particular place you encountered God in a personal way, etc.)?

We pray to bring heaven on earth. Tell your kids a story about a time you or someone in your family brought heaven to earth in how you treated another person. Perhaps you paid for the car behind you at the drive-thru, spent the day helping another family move to a new home, or visited a friend or relative in a nursing home. Help them to see, through your own life, how we can bring heaven to earth each day we live.

In the coaching video, I talked about going to prayer because it’s our relationship with Jesus that’s at stake, not something else. To be honest, I have a hard time with this, because most of the time I go to prayer, it’s because something else is at stake (i.e. finances, health, work issues, etc.). Find a way to describe this passage to your kids tonight. The idea is that, when we go to prayer because our relationship with Jesus is what matters more than anything else, it leads us to desire prayer more often. But when we go to prayer for other things, it reveals our heart, perhaps, for what we want more than what we need. Age-appropriately, help your kids understand how you also struggle with this, but give them ways you seek Jesus just because He’s God. Perhaps tell your kids a story about a time when this principle really “clicked” for you—when Jesus revealed Himself to you in a way that you desired nothing else anyway.

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Stories of Adoration

Tell your kids about a time when you asked God for something you thought you needed, but He said no and answered your prayer in a different way—a way that was actually better for you than what you wanted in the first place. Connect this story to Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Bible Story #4), where Jesus prayed for the cup to taken from Him, but His Father said no. Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” Use this story to help your children learn that God answers prayers in three ways, “Yes,” “Not yet,” and “I have something better in mind for you.”

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Stories of Petition

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

DINNERTIME STORIES

Tell your kids about a difficult time in your lives when you really needed God to come through for you. How did He answer your prayers?

Describe to your children, age-appropriately, what you are petitioning God for right now. Invite them into your own spiritual journey and current prayer life.

Everyone go around the table tonight and name one person who needs prayer. Spend time at the dinner table asking God to answer your prayer for those people. If it’s your family who needs prayer, summon angels on your behalf as a family, together.

Stories of Petition (cont.)

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Tell your kids the story of the first time you can remember going to Jesus because you knew you were a sinner in need of forgiveness. Go into detail about who led you to Christ or how you came to the end of yourself.

Show your kids how you repent. What does that look like? Do you pray at night before bed? In the morning? Throughout the day? Help your kids understand how you seek the Lord’s forgiveness, especially when convicted by the Holy Spirit.

Talk to your kids about a time when you forgave someone. How did you feel before you forgave them? How did you feel afterwards? Provide as little or as much detail depending on the age and maturity level of your child.

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Stories of Pardon

This will take humility and discernment, but tell your kids about a temptation of your own that you have. How do you ask God to protect you from that temptation? Perhaps you are tempted to eat foods you should not. How do you ask God to lead you not into temptation? Is fasting a part of your journey to protect you? Use this as a moment to teach your kids how you seek God to protect you individually to walk closer to Him.

Tell your kids a story about a time God protected you from something even though you had no idea of it at the time (i.e. you overslept but missed a car accident down the road, said no to a party you really wanted to go to in high school but learned that someone had brought alcohol, said no to a business deal that you really wanted to take but learned the other person was doing things illegally, etc.).

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Stories of Protection

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HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

BEDTIME QUESTIONS

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What do you love about praying? 01

What is one thing you need from God? 08

What one prayer do you wish God would answer for you today? 09

How big is sin? Describe what it means to sin. (Connect this to how big our God is and use it as a way to point your children to the cross when they sin.)

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What is something you did that you need to tell God you are sorry for tonight?11

Is there someone you are angry with or who may have hurt you that you need to forgive?

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Is there anything or anyone that frightens you, angers you, or discourages you that you are afraid of talking about or telling me?

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What do you wish parents knew about being years old? What’s the best part of being years old? What’s the most difficult part?

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What does temptation mean? Is there anything at school or at home that tempts you to disobey (like talking to a friend when you’re supposed to be silent, eating a snack before dinner, fighting with a sibling, not obeying Mom or Dad, etc.)?

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What do you not like about praying? 02

When you go outside into God’s creation, what do you see that most “wows” you?

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What gets you the most excited when you think about God? 04

How big is God? Describe how you see Him.05

Why do you think we need God more than anything else in the world? 06

Who do you know that could really use our prayers tonight?07

Questions of Adoration

Questions of Petition

Questions of Pardon

Questions of Protection

WEEKLY BIBLE STORY & MEMORY VERSE

HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?

WEEK 1 THE MODEL PRAYER

MATTHEW 6:5-15

Memory verse: “Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” –Matthew 6:9b-13, CSB

WEEK 2 HANNAH’S PRAYER

TO GOD1 SAMUEL 1:4-28

Memory verse: “She named him Samuel, because she said, ‘I requested him from the Lord.’”—1 Samuel 1:20b, CSB

WEEK 3 MOSES’ PRAYER TO GOD

EXODUS 33:7-23

Memory verse: “Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, and I will know you, so that I may find favor with you.”—Exodus 33:13a, CSB

WEEK 4 JESUS’ PRAYER IN

GETHSEMANE MATTHEW 26:36-46

Memory verse: “Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’”—Matthew 26:39, CSB

1 http://ntwrightpage.com/2016/07/12/the-lords-prayer-as-a-paradigm-of-christian-prayer/