How to Teach Your Child to Pray the Will of God (Sample Prayers Included)

Dear Parent,

In the course of interacting with the children in my environment, I discovered that many of them don’t know how to pray. Most of them are not even sure how to begin.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave us a model prayer in Matthew 6:9–13. This is a model prayer, but our children’s prayers should not be limited to that.

A mother and her child praying side by side inside a church. — Photo by cottonbro on Pexels

With that said, here are my recommendations for teaching your child to pray:

1. Start with Praise and Thanksgiving (Matthew 6:9).

God’s love language is praise. The more you praise and thank Him, the closer He draws to you.

I don’t think it’s too good to focus on needs first. That’s what many of us Christians tend to do. We might not like to admit it, but that makes us appear to be selfish — even though that may not have been our intention.

We are to focus on worshipping God, then He will provide for our needs. After all, He knows what we need before we ask Him (Matthew 6:32).

I’ve also discovered that the more you praise God, the more His manifest Presence hangs around you.

"The more you praise God, the more His manifest Presence hangs around you." Share on X

When His Presence hangs around you, even the things you didn’t know you needed, you begin to receive them. You begin to attract them.

I would recommend that your child spends a lot of time praising and thanking God for who He is, what He has done, and for His promises.

When your child praises God, it should not be lip service alone, but genuine praise and thanksgiving from the heart.

2. Seek First the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:10).

By seeking God’s will to be done, your child will be placing God’s needs before their own.

Matthew 6:33 teaches us that when you seek God’s interests all the things that people of the world are running after (for example, health, long life, and material things) will start running after you.

Some of the things that the Lord needs are:

For souls to be saved (2 Peter 3:9).
For the church to provide for the needs of the less privileged (Acts 4:34–35).
For there to be peace in the land (Psalm 122:6).
For spreading of the Gospel and for signs and wonders to be done in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 4:29–30).

3. Request for Your Daily Need (Matthew 6:11).

Your child has praised God. Your child has attended to God’s needs. Now they can request for whatever they need.

Psalm 37:4 teaches that when we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will put His desires in our hearts.

And one way to guarantee answered prayers is to pray the will of the Father (1 John 5:14).

Things your child can ask God for:

Their parents’ needs
Food
Clothes
Healing
Protection
Provision
Guidance

4. Ask for Forgiveness of Sins (6:12).

There’s a caveat to this one: If your child does not forgive others, your child WILL NOT be forgiven (Matthew 6:14–15).

So you need to teach your child why it’s important to forgive those who have offended them and how to forgive (by praying for the offending party).

Some people your child needs to forgive:

Their parents, for hurting them
Their peers
Other adults
Other family members
Their enemies (Remember that God promises to visit vengeance on our enemies, and He will repay them for their evil deeds — Romans 12:19).

5. Request for Protection and Preservation (Matthew 6:13a).

It may sound a bit odd that even though God knows that we need protection, we still need to ask. Jesus said to ask and keep asking until you receive (Matthew 7:7 [AMPC]).

So our children should learn to ask for protection and preservation, and they will receive these.

Teach your child that if they ask the Father, in the Name of Jesus Christ, according to the will of God, He will do it for them (John 14:13–14).

6. Thank Him and Praise Him again (Matthew 6:13b).

There’s nothing like too much thanks and praise. The more your child thanks and praises God, the more He’ll feel appreciated.

How do you feel when your child doesn’t appreciate you for the things you do for them? It’s just the same way.

So teach your child to be truly grateful.

Some things your child should be grateful for:

The air we breathe
That we are alive to see another day
For our mommies and daddies
For Jesus
For the Holy Ghost
For the Word of God
For a sound mind
For sound health

7. Plead Your Case – Bring Forth Your Strong Reasons (Isaiah 41:21).

Whenever your child asks for something, they should learn to give reasons why that prayer should be answered.

The prayers should be backed up by Scripture, and that makes it more effective than just praying random prayers.

This is because God is a God of order, and He has exalted His Word even above His name (Psalm 138:2; Isaiah 42:21).

"Pray with the Word because God is a God of order, and He has exalted His Word above His name" Share on X

Teach your child to check the Bible to see what Scripture gives them the right to ask for that particular thing.

Some example Scriptural backups:

Prayer for healing (Isaiah 53:4–5).
Prayer for finances for their parents (Malachi 3:10–11).
Prayer for wisdom (James 1:5).
Prayer for direction (Isaiah 48:17; Psalm 32:8).

8. Ensure that Your Children Learn to Say the Prayers by Themselves

This will build your child’s confidence.

At first, they might stutter over the words, but as they learn how to do it properly, they will improve over time, and they will begin to say their own prayers inspired by the Holy Spirit.

You could write out sample prayers they can learn, and over time encourage them to write out their own prayers as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

I personally have a dedicated prayer journal where I write out inspired prayers with the accompanying Scriptures that defend why I should receive what I’m asking for.

So, in summary, here are the 8 steps to teach your child how to pray:

Start with Praise and Thanksgiving (Matthew 6:9).
Seek First the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:10).
Request for Your Daily Need (Matthew 6:11).
Ask for Forgiveness of Sins (6:12).
Request for Protection and Preservation (Matthew 6:13a).
Thank Him and Praise Him again (Matthew 6:13b).
Plead Your Case – Bring Forth Your Strong Reasons (Isaiah 41:21).
Ensure that Your Children Learn to Say the Prayers by Themselves

Now, your turn to share your thoughts: In what ways have you taught your child to pray the will of God?

To help your child learn how to pray, I have a sample 13-page Prayer List titled, “Learn to Pray” for sale. It models the prayer outline described in this blog post.

Sample view of my Prayer List "Learn To Pray" - A 13-Page Prayer List — Sample view of my Prayer List “Learn To Pray” – A 13-Page Prayer List

In honor of today, 10th October 2022; I’m offering this Prayer List to the FIRST TEN PEOPLE for a discount of 50% — After the first ten people the price will be back to normal. Please take advantage of this discount.

Have a blessed day!

GET THE PRAYER LIST