Praying with children is not always easy, especially when you have several and they are all young. So that nightly prayer doesn’t turn into a source of exasperation for the whole family, consider building it around these four simple notions:

1 Thank you

Prayer can begin with praises. We can thank God for being our Father and for all His gifts.

2 Sorry

God accords us his pardon. We can ask his pardon for something specific that turned us away from Him. This request can be made in silence, each evoking his sin in his or her heart.

3 Please

All we have comes from God. Let us stand before him with an outstretched hand. This prayer of supplication can concern anything: from the most materialistic to the most spiritual. What matters is not what we ask for, but how we ask for it: not as something that is due to us, but as a favor. We can conclude this prayer with the following words: “yet not my will, but yours be done.”

4 I love you

The prayer begins and concludes with praises. Telling God “I love you” is showing him our need to live in his Love and of his Love.

And let us not forget, the best way to have children approach prayer is literally through singing their praises, their prayers of supplication and intercession.

Christine Ponsard