A.C.T.S.

When Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 6 (The Lord's Prayer) he begins, "Pray then like this…" As we teach our children how to pray, we can look at this model prayer and simplify portions of it. It is easy for children to become focused on only giving thanks or only asking for needs or desires, so the mnemonic A.C.T.S. is a great way to remember different things you can teach your child to talk to God about. You can begin by having your child repeat your words as you teach her to pray. Then you can move to having her finish the sentence. Eventually she will be praying on her own.

A - Adoration
This part of the prayer with your daughter might go like this:
Mom: Dear God,
Daughter: Dear God,
Mom: You are…
Daughter: God, You are good! You are kind! You are loving!

And with your son it might sound like this:
Mom: Dear God,
Son: Dear God,
Mom: You are…
Son: God, You are awesome! You are strong! You are fast! You are so fast if anyone challenged You to a race You would win!

C - Confession
Prompt your child to confess sin to a holy God. Prompt her then to thank God for His forgiveness.

T - Thanksgiving
Simply have your child tell God "Thank you" for specific people and/or things. If she needs prompting, you could direct her to places she regularly goes (thank you for my school, my church, the park) or people she often sees (thank you for my teachers, my friends, my parents) or things she likes (thank you or ice cream, basketball, warm coats).

S - Supplication
Encourage your child to pray for specific needs of people she knows. Everyday. "God, please help the baby in Mrs. Charity's tummy to grow strong and healthy." Try to direct her away from always praying about herself.

Bedtime With Your Toddler

As you put your child to bed every night, you probably have a routine you follow. This routine may include a bath, putting on PJs, reading a story, but does it include time with God? This is a continuation of a multi-part series on how to use your bedtime routine as another setting during which you can teach your child about Jesus. Last time I posted about bedtime with your baby. Let's talk today about your young toddler.

At some point , you will watch your toddler learn to understand and use language. He will learn to obey when you ask them to complete a task (come to me, bring me your shoes, etc). He will point at objects wanting you to identify what he sees. He will begin to say the names of people he loves. One of the activities most fun for your toddler will be imitating those people who are most important in his life. As your child grows, your teaching will increase. Your toddler can understand that God is in charge of everything as you teach him about God and their environment around them. Your toddler can understand that God is good as you teach him about His love for him. Your toddlers can understand that we can talk with God as you pray with him throughout your day. Your toddler can understand that the Bible is God's Perfect Word as you read to him from His Word.

You are not only teaching your child the importance of spending time with God, but giving him the tools to continue to do that throughout his life. After reading a short Bible story, talk about the pictures he sees, ask him questions about what happened in the story. (Answering them if he doesn't or can't will only help to reinforce what you are teaching him.) He will learn that not only is reading the Bible important, but also understanding it and applying it. While singing a song of praise or Truth, your toddler can begin to sing along with you.

After reading a story and singing a song about Jesus loving the little children, your prayer may go something like this: "Dear God, I praise you that You are good! Thank you for giving us the Bible to teach us that you love little children. Thank you that you love (Jacob). Please help him to always have confidence that you love him. We love you Jesus. Amen." As your child's communication skills improve you can begin to leave space in the prayer for fill-in-the-blanks. Giving thanks is a great way for your child to begin to pray on his own.

As these things become a routine in your family, your child is learning the value you place on time with God. Giving him the early practice of reading God's Word on a daily basis and teaching him to be in the habit of praying regularly will teach him what a healthy relationship with the Lord looks like.

If you are looking for a recommendation on a toddler Bible, you might consider this one that our family uses as we raise toddlers, The Rhyme Bible Storybook for Toddlers, which lists for $11.04 on Amazon. Beyond the Biblical accuracy, we like the rhyming, the illustrations, and the content choice of this Bible.

An Idea for Your Christmas Cards

There are plenty of ideas to be found for recycling or reusing your old greeting cards. Use them for gift tags next year, make them into tree ornaments, fashion them into table place cards, the list goes on. They are so pretty and it seems like such a waste to throw them out.

But what about all the family portraits we receive? The ones where talented photographers captured our "natural moments" so that friends can see our love of the outdoors? So much time and energy were placed into the making and sending of these photo cards. Here's a quick and easy project that will give you an easy lesson for your children.

Go to your favorite mega-store and purchase a small photo album or scrapbook. Place all the photos in this book and then label them with the names of the family members. (Don't worry if you have to cut the pictures up, you were going to throw them out anyway.) Now use this book daily (during breakfast, family worship time, kids devotional time) and pray for one family each day for the year. Next Christmas, replace it with a new one. What a great way to help teach your children to pray continuously, without ceasing.

A Helpful Link

Only in the past couple of years have I begun to understand the power that comes when we pray the words of Scripture. They are authoritative, complete and beautiful.
Yesterday I came across a list of Scriptural blessings to pray for our children. I invite you to check out the link and pray these verses for your own little ones.

Pray for your children.

Bedtime with Your Baby

As you put your child to bed every night, you probably have a routine you follow. This routine may include a bath, putting on PJs, reading a story, but does it include time with God? I want to start a multi-part series on how to use your bedtime routine as another setting during which you can teach your child about Jesus.

Let's start today by talking about your newborn baby. Even at the youngest age, you can choose a time each night to read a short story to her from a children's Bible, maybe sing a song that gives her a basic Truth, and say a quick prayer. There are many children's Bibles available, but one thing you want to do before purchasing one is to read it, cover-to-cover, to make sure it is theologically sound. Children's Bibles are not God's inerrant Word, as someone is just summarizing certain stories. After you have done that, you will be able to sort through what is most important to you. Some parents want to ensure that specific stories are included in their children's Bible, some want a Bible that is easy to understand at an early age, some want good pictures, etc. At this young age, as long as the content is consistent with the Bible and you won't be reading your baby things that are conflicting with God's Word, I think there is a lot left to personal choice. The important thing is that you are exposing your son or daughter to the Bible on a daily basis. Praying for them and with them is also a great habit to start from day one.

After reading the story of creation to your baby, your prayer may go something like this: "Dear God, I praise you that you made everything! I thank you for giving our family this precious baby. Please give her lots of good sleep tonight. We love you God. Amen."

If you are looking for a recommendation on a beginning Bible, you might consider this board book that we use as our children are infants and young toddlers, Baby Blessings Bible, which lists for $12.50 on Amazon. Beyond the Biblical accuracy, we like the rhyming, the bright colors, the short length, and the durability of this Bible.