Family Faith Formation Resources | Prayer

This article is part of the Family Faith Formation Toolkit - a collection of resources for equipping ministry leaders, parents, and caregivers with family faith practices and resources, brought to you by Faith Formation Ministries.

In the following links you’ll find creative resources and practices for prayer to use both in community and at home. These ideas can be seamlessly woven into existing church programs and into family life.

Prayer: In Community

In addition to regularly praying for the families in your church, one of the best ways to support them in teaching their children to pray is by weaving into the life of your congregation a variety of opportunities for all ages to pray together and to experience different prayer practices. Here are some ideas.

• Connecting Kids, Adults Through Prayer describes a prayer ministry through which intergenerational friendships were formed.

• The Lord’s Prayer: An Intergenerational Event and Worship Experience is a downloadable free resource with which people of all ages can learn about and/or deepen their understanding of the Lord’s Prayer.

• Faith5 is a simple five-step family faith formation practice that includes praying for each other. It could easily be adapted for use with intergenerational small groups or during other times when your congregation is gathered together.

• Ministry leaders who work with children will appreciate the ideas in Five Pointers for Praying with Kids. The two ideas provided in Try It This Week: Prayer Ideas! are especially wonderful for upper elementary and middle school kids.

• Offering Interactive Prayer Stations during worship can be a wonderful way to engage all ages in prayer and deeper reflection on what they are learning. Get inspired with this topically organized list of Prayer Stations from Presbyterian pastor Theresa Cho.

• Sybil MacBeth doodles and draws as she prays. She teaches others to do the same in her Praying in Color books (for adults) and Praying in Color: Kids Edition. Visit her website to access and then share with your whole congregation the wonderful free resources (including Advent and Lent Praying in Color calendars) she makes available.

Prayer: At Home

• Check out these prayer bottles to make with kids from the awesome people at Building Faith.

• Many parents feel unsure about how to pray with their children. Support them with the practical ideas and encouraging words of the post Five Pointers for Praying with Kids .

• Help parents pray for their kids by sharing this post with them: Do You Pray for Your Children? How to Start.

• Parents will find 165 ideas for prayer inside the box of God’s Big Story cards. Check out two samples here.

• Teach Us to Pray, by CRC pastors Lora Copley and Elizabeth Vander Haagen, guides families in both listening to and speaking to God.

• Kate Huston says that faith practices need to meet three goals to be used with her family: intentionality, consistency, and simplicity. She checks off all three with her Prayer Sticks: A Holy Home Activity.

• Mealtime Grace Placemats for children ages 5 and under contain simple visual prayer prompts. Share the idea with families, or support parents by providing them with laminated versions.

• Families will find more than 17 practical ideas for prayer in Traci Smith’s post The Practice of Prayer with Children.

• In this brief Examen for Families video Lacy Finn Borgo provides simple ideas for how to incorporate the examen into family life. 

• 5 Ways to Pray with Kids is a free, downloadable resource which encourages families to have ongoing conversations with God. 

• Making a prayer box and having walking prayers are just two of the practical prayer ideas suggested by Sandy Swartzentruber in this post.

QUESTIONS?

If you’re part of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and you have questions about how to equip ministry leaders, parents, and caregivers with family faith practices and resources, one of Faith Formation Ministries’ Regional Catalyzers would love to talk with you about ideas and strategies.