10 Simple Ways to Invite God Into Your Child’s Day

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I don’t know about you but I want my children to grow up in an environment where they instinctively invite God into every aspect of their day. I want to give them a leg up in this thing called…life.

 I want to do the heavy lifting so my kids can

reap the benefits. 

Don’t we all want that for our kids? In order to foster such a God-centered environment, we have to be intentional as parents. 

 Intentionality, an intimidating word that can evoke the same fear as the word “budget”. The word that screams, “This parenting gig is just too overwhelming, I can’t add or even think about one more thing. We are failing miserably. We aren’t enough. They are going to need therapy.” 

 Before we all run screaming from the room, take a deep breath, and realize that it while it does take some effort,  we have the benefit of working in tandem with the Holy Spirit.  

Here is a quick overview of ten ways that you can encourage a God-centered environment at home.  These tips are deceptively simple and yet when practiced consistently (not all at once) the impact can be HUGE!

Each activity is only 2-15 minutes long. *BTW, all of these activities have the perk of being effective in your life as well.

Here are 10 very simple ways to invite God into Your Child’s Day

1. Start the day with a Quick Prayer inviting God into your child’s day.

 Before the morning chaos starts, grab thirty seconds and your ragtag brood and invite God into your day. It makes such a difference! It makes all the sibling fights, the race against the clock, the spilled syrup and dog vomit all over the ground so… much..easier (I said easier not great).

2. Take Time to work on Memorizing a passage of Scripture

 Write down a short passage of scripture to practice memorizing each day for a couple of minutes.  You can also turn your verses into songs with or without hand motions (not that I know from personal experience or anything). 

3. Light a Candle to remind your child that God is present with us all day.

 Something about that flickering flame is fascinating to young and old alike. It helps remind us to slow down and remember that we are not alone, that the God of the universe is present today with us.

4. Read a Story or section from your child’s Bible. Discuss.

When you get to the end of the story, don’t be quick to fill the silence, with a clarification. Allow your child to sit in silence whether for 5 seconds or a minute. The Holy Spirit is at work and your child will internalize exactly as much or as little as they are ready for. You might be surprised by their insights.

6. Pray over boo-boos every..single..time.

I don’t know about you but my children, big and small, get hurt like a thousand times a day. From scraped knees to hurt pinkies, stopping to pray for healing is such an easy way to include God in the ordinary parts of our day.  It is amazing to see how such a simple five-second prayer brings comfort, peace, and calm to my children.

It really enforces the truth that God cares about every part of our                            lives even the small splinters in our thumbs. 

It is beautiful to see the kids instinctively gather together and pray over each other when they get hurt (they get a lot of practice throughout the day). 

7. Take Five minutes and as a Family Pray for the needs of 1-2 other people.

This is a great activity because it can literally be done anywhere at any time (no craft supplies needed, Hurray!).  You could focus on using this tool ongoing or for a season as it really fosters a heart of service and love towards others. 

8. Spend 2 minutes of Silence in the car. Just being with Jesus. No demands.

 WORD of Warning: This.. can.. be.. so.. powerful. 

However, you can’t just shout, “Kids, we are going to be silent for the next two minutes. You WILL SPEND this time with Jesus!”  It doesn’t work, trust me.

 I would suggest starting off with a quick explanation, “Kids we are going to spend some time just hanging out with Jesus in silence, enjoying his presence.” 

And a quick two sentence prayer, “God we love you, and we love spending time with you. Be with us during this time.”  

I would encourage you to set realistic expectations for this activity. If your children have never practiced silence before don’t feel frustrated when little Johnny makes faces at his sister, and weird sounds start erupting from the back seat (it will happen).  This can be a meaningful activity but as with anything it takes practices.  Stick with it! 

And to end say something really profound like, “Thank you, God. Amen.”

9. Bedtime- Spend 5 minutes looking back over your day. Ask God to highlight anything that you need to reflect on.

For a season, we ended every day by praying and asking God to lead us back over our day, both the happy and the sad, and highlight anything we needed to pay attention to.

  I would ask questions like, “What brought you joy today? What made you sad today?” paying attention to their emotions, and giving those feelings and that situation over to God. We would then pray for God’s blessing over tomorrow.

 Allowing your child space to reflect over their day without jumping in with suggestions is necessary for this practice. Some of the most special times that I have had with my child have been during this bedtime prayer.

10. Finish the Day by Praying a Blessing over your Child.

Keep it simple. My personal preference is to pray using words that my child understands with zero explanation required.

 Though my blessing seems to vary at times the main heart of it stays the same.  I pray that God would watch over my children all of the days of their lives, that their heart would be soft to things of God, and that their ears would hear his voice.

 It has been a beautiful, simple part of our everyday life. My kids now won’t go to sleep without “praying the prayer”.

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If you try any of these activities, let us know! Leave a comment, and don’t forget to follow Most Important Work on Pinterest. about you? What are your favorite ways to increase your child’s awareness of God? 

 If you try any of these activities, let us know! Leave a comment, and don’t forget to follo