The Spiritual Development of Children

What a scary-sounding title! In reality, a child learns to love God in much the same way they learn to love their parents. A tiny child will say he or she loves Mummy and Daddy because they have been told they do – and they get good feelings and cuddles when they use ‘love language.’ Building a relationship with God follows a similar pattern of familiarity and positive experiences.

When should I start to pray with my child?

It is never too soon. From the moment of birth – or even before – parents marvel at the miracle of new life. This is prayer. Put the feeling of awe into words:
“You are perfect and beautiful. Thank you, Lord, for my baby.”
It is wonderful how quickly this kind of prayer becomes a part of your love for the child – as you bring God into your new relationship.

Routine helps

Children respond very positively to routine. Whatever routine you develop, make a space for prayer time. This is often a cuddle time: part of reading stories and reviewing the events of the day, maybe after a bath. Your child will value the chance to review the events of their day in a safe and positive routine. Anything that has been important to you and your child is important to God.

Your prayer time might sound something like: “Shall we tell God about your sore finger? Johnny fell off the step today, Lord, and he cut his finger. It still hurts; please make it feel better tomorrow.”
Or “Mummy felt sad when you shouted. God, please help me to feel better.”

Including God in the day-to-day events and experiences of a child’s life ensures that their life is God-centred. It is not an opportunity for emotional blackmail of the “God please make Janie stop being so naughty” variety; praying together is a positive and healing experience – your own struggles, anger or frustration are not your child’s problem. It is, however, amazing how perceptive a child is, and many parents have been reduced to tears when their very young child prays for their parents with incredible accuracy and insight!

Remember – prayer is about love; love of God, love of your child, love of yourself as the best parent your child could possibly have. So – pray regularly, pray honestly, pray positively and “in everything give thanks”

Recommended Book

The Spiritual Growth of Children - John Trent (ed)
Passing on a heritage of faith to children is an incredible privilege God gives to parents. And now there's a tool to help make it easy! Inside the Parents' Guide to the Spiritual Growth of Children, you'll find dozens of simple, practical ways to not only tell your children what you believe, but to show them how to make faith in God part of everyday life.

• Parenting Courses
• Inspirational Bible Passage
• Spiritual Development
• Baptism
• Under 5s at Church
• Alpha