Along with reading the Bible and worship, prayer is one of
the foundational practices of the Christian life. Parents, you should teach
your children how to pray as soon as they are able. Fortunately, God has
provided you with the perfect tool for teaching your children how to pray: it’s
a model prayer called “The Lord’s Prayer.”
All Christians should use The Lord’s Prayer as a model, but
it is especially useful for young Christians to memorize and pray this prayer
word for word. This will help mold their prayers for the rest of their lives.
Have your children memorize the following version of The Lord’s Prayer, taken
from Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV):
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the
evil one.”
As your children memorize this prayer, teach them what it
means. Use the following material to help you teach your children correctly.
Most of this has been taken from First Catechism: Teaching Children Biblical
Truths (Suwanee, GA: Great Commission Publications, 2003).
The Lord’s Prayer begins by addressing God as “Our Father in
heaven.” This teaches us that we should pray to God with respect and trust.
Because of Jesus, God has become as close to us as a father. God always loves
and cares for us, his children.
The first three requests are for God. “Hallowed be your
name” asks God to help us and others respect and honor him. “Your kingdom come”
asks God to bring more and more people to hear, believe, and obey his gospel.
“Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” asks God to make us able and
willing to serve him on earth just as he is served in heaven.
The last three requests are for us. “Give us today our daily
bread” asks God to provide us with all that we really need. “Forgive us out
debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” asks God to forgive our sins for
Jesus’s sake, and to make us willing to forgive others. “Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” asks God to keep us from being
tempted and to make us strong enough to resist when we are tempted.
By God’s Grace,
Pastor Stephen