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I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time - waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God - it changes me.

-C.S. Lewis

Prayer changes us. It draws us closer to God and in the closer proximity we cannot help but be moved to change. Prayer ignites our passions. It’s the fuel that provokes us to make the difference in the world that God wants to see.

Prayer moves us to change, and changes us to move the Kingdom forward.

Prayer is the foundation of our relationship with God. We can know many things about God but it's through prayer that we grow in our relationship with Him.

Kids can be powerful prayer warriors. We need to believe that kids can pray just like anyone else. But often we don’t teach kids how to pray powerful prayers. Don’t get me wrong, all genuine prayers are good and God hears them all. However, a list of “I wants” and “thank you's” will only go so far.

It's often advised to pray like you're talking to a friend. But some people are just not talkers (even when they're with friends) and others can talk too much and just ramble on and on. Prayer can be a casual conversation, yes, but it can also be so much more than that. 

Prayer for real change needs some meat with a Biblical foundation. There are a couple of acronyms that give us an outline on ways we can pray. The first is A.C.T.S - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication (those are some big words). The second, and one that I use, is P.R.A.Y - Praise, Reflect, Ask, Yield. These are great templates for our prayer lives but people still often think, “Those are great headers, but I don't know what to say...”

The Prayer Covenant For Kids

The Prayer Covenant For Kids is an invitation to experience prayer like never before. It's a short pre-written daily prayer that walks through ten aspects of faith in ten sentences. It challenges and guides you to commit to praying for 40 days with someone else who will take the challenge with you.

GRACE - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and making me one of your children.

LOVE - Help me love and obey you.

COMPASSION - Help me love others the way you love me.

REPENTANCE - I am sorry for my sins. Wash me clean.

WORSHIP - I will praise you with my whole heart!

COMMITMENT - Jesus, I want to follow you as my Lord. Change me any way you want.

DEPENDENCE - Fill me with your Holy Spirit. I want to know your plans for me.

INFLUENCE - Make me an messenger of your grace, truth and justice.

DISCIPLESHIP - Use me for your glory and to invite others to follow you.

AUTHORITY - In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

The Prayer Covenant is a tool used around the world to teach kids to pray. Their vision is to see an awakening to the supremacy of Jesus Christ throughout His world and their mission is to lead children and adults to follow Jesus through the power of the prayer covenant.

I have met with the creator and writer of The Prayer Covenant for Kids, Cindy Marballi, and heard her share the incredible heart for this ministry and many life-changing testimonies from children around the world. The prayer card has been translated into 23 languages and millions have been distributed worldwide.

The prayer covenant uses simple language, yet is a robust prayer that encompasses ten characteristics of Jesus that we are to model. All of their resources can be downloaded for FREE. You can order the printed versions or download the digital versions and print them yourselves (or distribute them digitally). There's a 10-week curriculum that takes you through one sentence of the prayer each week (each sentence of the prayer has a corresponding memory verse). Additionally, they have a 24-page booklet with beautiful illustrations that can be given to kids to help them better understand the prayer. Take a look at all of the different prayer resources they have.

The hope is that kids will take these seven steps in their prayer covenant journey:

Step 1: Pray the prayer by yourself every day for ten days.

Step 2: As you pray the prayer, ask Jesus to show you who He might want you to invite into a prayer covenant.

Step 3: Invite that person to pray the prayer for you for 40 days as you pray it for them. It may be your friend, mom, dad, sister, brother, grandparent, teacher or pastor.

Step 4: Share with your prayer partner ways in which God is answering your prayers. You could write it down or draw a picture.

Step 5: Memorize the assigned Bible verses.

Step 6: Share the good news of Jesus with others.

Step 7: Repeat the above steps with new prayer partners so you can follow Jesus together.

My desire is to see a prayer movement sweep across this nation and to empower kids to champion their faith and truly believe that they can make a difference in the world through their relationship with Jesus.

 

PS. No one has to be left out - check out The Prayer Covenant for adults!

 

Photo by John Benitez on Unsplash