Conversational Prayer with God: Guiding Children in Faith (Part 2 of 3)

John 10:14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me..

John 10:27 The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice..

Real faith has to be alive – a faith that involves a real 2-way relationship with our Heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We want our children to grow closer to God every day…till one day they will gently slide into Heaven and into Our Father’s Everlasting Arms. Nothing to be afraid of. They know whose they are and where they are going. Isn’t that we all want?

Jesus has told us that He is our Shepherd and that His sheep know His Voice and they won’t listen to anyone else’s voice. All other voices are strangers. We all need to get to know His voice. It’s the only safe voice to follow. We all need to be listening regularly. But we tend not to. I know I don’t listen enough.

Helping kids Recognise God’s Voice

Model your relationship with God: show kids what a relationship looks like. Be spontaneous- this is how relationships are! Conversations aren’t planned. They are organic.

Without modelling a conversation with God, how will they know this is normal? Don’t just tell them good things that God has given you but also some of the struggles that they are able to understand – and how God resolved these things for you.

Perhaps you have never been invited to have a conversation with God and to expect an answer? I wasn’t – till I was 28 years old!

It’s never too late to start chatting with God!

We all need support when we start listening to God. Find a priest who is really open to listening to God or find a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal (CFR). There is a branch in Canning Town in London, England-phone them up! 

Or, join a Catholic Charismatic prayer group like I did! Pray to God to find one for you. In this way, if you attend as a family, you can learn to listen to God alongside your child!

But even before you do this-you can start talking to God throughout the day. Encourage your child to do the same and you can both be more aware of His Presence and to any way that He might be speaking to you.

In this way, a child can see that God is relevant to all parts of our lives and not just during prayer at bedtime. This will also show them that God is with them everywhere-not only in their bedroom when mum and dad are praying with them. Nowhere is out of God’s reach.

Bedtime Chatting

Of course, bedtime prayers are a great way to encourage a conversation with God. It’s when the day is over and it’s time to be still: to close their eyes and drift off to sleep. For some children, slowing down at this time of the day is much harder than it is for others!

If your children run you ragged at bedtime, may I suggest you try this excellent book by Catholic author Dr. Bottaro and His wife Barbara Bottaro? It has stories of many saints and a physical exercise your child to do along with the story. The exercise focuses their thoughts on their bodies and helps to calm and support stillness. Just read 1-2 pages to them each night. It’s basically about getting children still enough to pray. Catholic Mindfulness for kids here

Forgive me my sins

Encourage your child to tell God about their day and to thank Him for something He did for them that day. This will encourage you to talk to God about your day too! Don’t be afraid to ask your child to recall anything from the day that would have been out of God’s Will: a sin.

I remember as a child that this was always the first thing that my mum asked me to do as we knelt down for night time prayers. I wasn’t afraid to say my sins out loud for mum to hear. She wisely didn’t make any comments on my sinful behaviour. I can’t remember actually saying sorry out loud- but I knew that what I had done was wrong. Though it’s good to recall and say sorry for our sins- I wish that my prayers started off with remembering how much God loves me and wants to guide me and has great plans for me. Knowing that we are loved is so important- I think it should take first place. It’s a good place from which all other prayer can spring from!

A New Start and Getting it Wrong!

When I first started to have conversations with God, I was so excited and so expectant that He might actually talk to me! And He did! Through other people and through images that He blessed my imagination with. For me, this is the most common way that God speaks to me. However, as I have a good imagination, I often misinterpreted what I thought God was saying!

It’s all a huge learning curve – and this is exactly why we all need other people to bounce off. It’s like learning anything new. We all need support.

And please don’t let what seems ‘unusual’, new and different put you off…for me it’s been the most exciting journey of my life. Career wise it has taken me to different careers (nursing, midwifery, nursery teaching and becoming an author). Spiritually, I have experienced peace and healing that I never thought was possible. And even socially, it’s through the charismatic prayer groups that I attended that I have met my closest friends. My life was changed once I allowed the God of the Universe into my heart and take over the steering wheel of my life!

Please see 'Conversational Prayer with God: Learning to Listen (Part 1 of 3)' and 'Conversational Prayer with God: Helping Children Listen (Part 3 of 3)'