When is a good time and where is a good location for prayer

We need to reinforce with our children the fact of God's continual presence. He's always there, wherever we are, always listening, and always ready to help. We can teach our children about three ways in which they can talk with God during the day:

1. Anytime prayers are prayed whenever your children think of something they want to talk to God about or thank him for, no matter where they are or what they're doing. You should encourage your kids to use anytime prayers frequently so that their relationship with God isn't something thrown in as an afterthought before they go to sleep at night. It's a good idea to offer such prayers yourself, with your children, when you think of someone or something to pray about. Briefly let them know what you're thinking of talking to God about and then informally and naturally and briefly pray the prayer and go on with what you were doing, all without missing a beat.

2. Important moment prayers are prayed on the spot when something happens to your children or they're faced with some kind of emergency. Encourage your kids to make prayer their first response to urgent situations; if someone at their school gets hurt, or there's an altercation, or they or someone else is in some kind of trouble, for example. This is an important aspect of prayer for children, because they live in the moment. At the end of the day, before going to bed, they may find it hard to think back and remember all the things they might have wanted to talk to God about. Again, this is something you can do with your children when the occasion arises. Remember to keep prayer simple and normal, though whether you're doing the praying or your kids are. Lowering your voice a few notches, talking in solemn tones, or using words or language you don't use in everyday speech tells your children that prayer is something that isn't part of everyday life. It also sends the wrong message to them about how real God is and how he understands and relates to them.

3. Time with God prayers should be offered by our children at a regular time every day. Help your children understand that if they have friends and want to get to know them better, they can't just say hello when they pass them in the hall or talk to them in a group. If they really want to get close as friends, they need to spend time together. In the same way, our children need to set aside time daily to build this most important and most foundational relationship of all; with God.

With your younger children the best time for this prayer is before bed and after story time and Bible story time. Your older children should be able to change this time if they'd rather do someting else before going to bed. But it's important that you help your children develop a daily habit of set aside time for prayer. This should become a priority, right up there with taking a bath, dressing, and brushing teeth. Actually, it should be at the very top of the list, since prayer has by far the greatest impact on their lives. But it's good for kids to learn to look at prayer as a natural part of everyday life. They wouldn't go to school in the morning without brushing or combing their hair, and they wouldn't consider missing breakfact, lunch, or dinner. Neither should they consider missing their prayer time.