January 23

Finding a Way to Pray

… praying is essential … Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up….

Ephesians 6:18 (The Message)


How do you encourage your children in their Christian walk? I am constantly challenged and surprised with what works and what misses the mark completely.

Take my 9-year old son Alex and prayer. It’s been a concern. When we pray at the dinner table, he likes to look around or be actively doing things as someone else asks the blessing. And when we ask him to pray it is always the simple dinner prayer he learned at his Lutheran elementary school.

At bedtime, he says he doesn’t want to pray. Dad can do that … or Mom. I ask myself, “How do I reach my son’s heart?”

Then Thursday night we had a breakthrough.

We took Alex with us to an all-church prayer meeting for Eastmont's upcoming 7-week campaign—Desperate Households: Moving from Desperate to Dynamic. At the meeting Pastor John led us in our time. There was music and then John started us off with naming the names of God. We went through the alphabet. A—Almighty … B—Beloved … then Alex came alive when we got to C—“Christ.” Then again he spoke up when we got to P—“Prince of Peace!” Later he spoke up with the letter S—“Savior!”

After finishing the alphabet, we prayed in small groups at tables. The group began praying for individual needs of family members. Again Alex spoke up in his quiet, young, boy’s voice, “God protect Grandma and Grandpa in Hawaii and bring them home safe.” And I was awestruck….

On the drive home, Alex confided, “That was fun. Can we do it again?” Yes, we’ll do it again. God has opened my eyes … and Alex’s heart.


LORD, thank You for opening Alex’s heart to prayer. May we continue to have fun. Raise our spirits in Your presence as we think of others and ... make my son ... a mighty prayer warrior! Amen.