Prayer Math

I am safely back on land! We will have no projector tomorrow because it is broken. This means normal worship and fun images will not happen tomorrow. So, Let's get to it!

Colossians 4:2 says "devote yourselves to prayer." We can find this word "devote" in relation to the word "prayer" all throughout the New Testament. As a result, I figured it would be one of those fundamentals that your children should know about. Every Sunday they come in, they pray out loud in front of their small group. I will explain an easy process and I hope that you can help your child practice this at home, so that they become more comfortable in their prayer life - both private and public.

Check it out: The book of John was written to believers of all kinds. Most of the time when a person comes to Christ, most people recommend reading John first. Why? It shows fundamentals of Christ-following. The main thing I want to focus on is that in John 14:13, 14:14, 14:26, 15:16 and 16:23 they all talk about prayer in JESUS NAME. This is crucial and we will come back to it in just a minute, so tuck that in the back of your mind.

I will be teaching the kids how to pray a basic prayer using what I will call "Prayer Math." I think all of the kids in there know that 1+1=2 and probably even 1+1+1+1=4. Using that and Matthew 6:9-13 (The Model Prayer), I will show them how to pray a basic prayer.

Jesus started with "Our Father in Heaven." He identified whom He was praying to - God.

Dear God + ________

Then He said, "hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." He gave worth or praise to God. For the sake of children we will translate this as "Thanks."

Dear God + Thank You for... + _________

"Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Jesus Prayed for what He needed/wanted.

Dear God + Thank You for... + Please help us/give us + ___________

Finally, we come back to John and praying in Jesus name. Jesus, in the Model Prayer did not pray "in Jesus name," because... well He's Jesus. However, we are told by Jesus to pray all things in His name. So, that is the conclusion to the prayer.

Dear God + Thank You for... +Please help us/give us + In Jesus name, Amen

These four components added up equal a basic prayer you and your children can pray. Now then, tomorrow morning...or I guess at this point it would be this morning, I will teach your children this "Prayer Math." Their assignment for this week is to teach you the "Prayer Math" and pray with you.

Something I would encourage you to do, something Hannah and I are bad about doing (so I am encouraging myself as well), is make sure you pray with your family.

May peace and mercy flow abundantly through your home,
Brantley