A few weeks ago I asked our 6 year-old to say the prayer for the family before we ate dinner.  She was saying a very nice prayer and concluded it with, “And help this food to give us nourishment, whatever that means. Amen.”  My wife and I tried our best to restrain our amusement but failed.

Kids say some pretty funny stuff when you read the Bible and pray with them at home.  But the observation of our daughter pointed out a few things for me…

Sometimes we take for granted that our kids know the words that we are using when we pray or study the Bible.  When giving thanks for our meals I will quite often say, “Help this food to give our bodies nourishment.” There’s no telling how many hundreds of times our daughter has heard me say that.  Finally it came out that she just didn’t know, so we talked about it.

The other thing I took away is the importance of really thinking about my prayers.  I try to give each one my best effort, recognizing that I am communicating with God.  In addition, my children are listening and learning from my example of communicating with God.  No pressure.

It is also interesting to note the ‘nourishment’ that our souls get from focused prayer.  We often think of prayer as an outpouring, but there is also nourishment for our soul.  We have the chance to communicate with our Creator and think intensely on the issues that are impacting our lives and the lives of those we know.  It is a great privilege to be able to lift up the needs of other and ourselves before a God who knows and cares.

This week in our Dinnertime Devotionals I challenge your family to really look at prayer as we examine what Jesus had to say about the matter in Matthew 6.  For our junior families (elementary age) really help your children understand the words and the meaning Christ was trying to model.  For our older families, look at your prayer life.  Record and analyze your prayers and really give thought to this precious and nourishing form of communication with God >>> Dinnertime Devotionals 5