# 0001: Praying with My Kids

There is so much I love about praying with my kids! And there is so much to say about praying with little kids and soooooo many stories about bedtime prayers, supper time prayers, church time prayers, anytime prayers... I know I'll come back to this reason of why I love being a mom numerous times so I'm just going to start here with a short list:

Makes me think of Dr. Suess's, I Can Read with my Eyes Shut!

1. I love watching the newbies (the toddlers just learning to pray with the family) slapping their hands together, clasping them tightly with their little fingers pointed upstairs and I especially love their eyes shutting as tight as they can possibly go with these funny little grins on their faces. It has to be a short prayer for them to last all the way through like that!
2. I love when the babies think you're asleep in church and they try to pry your eyes open during prayer.
3. I love the EXTREMELY sweet prayers of a 3 year old (or 4 year old, or 5 or 6 or on up). It is amazing the simple sweetness that comes out of their mouths. Basically, the fact that this completely innocent little child is talking to God makes anything they say precious.
4. I love the EXTREMELY weird stuff that 3 year olds (or 4 year old, or 5 or 6 or on up) say in their prayers! That stuff is hilarious! It's golden! We should all get together and compile a book!

I'm so thankful that my husband and I can teach our kids about prayer together and have made it a daily priority. These 4 reasons I've listed as to why I love praying with my kids are fleeting- they are reasons for the here and now. I hope that in 10 years, 15 years and 20 years I can list a whole new set of reasons I love praying and will have loved praying with my kids. There is a bigger picture in all we do with our kids. The results will be in before we know it.


Here is Mosses telling the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 6 to take advantage of every chance they have to teach their kiddos about the Lord's commandments; talk about God's word when you walk along the road, when you go to bed, when you get up in the morning, write it down to take it with you, keep it near you all the time to focus on it:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."