One of the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord teach us to pray.” Jesus responds, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
In my own life, my parents taught me the following night time prayer as soon as I could talk, “Now I lay me, down to sleep. If I should die, before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to keep.” This prayer ‘Now I lay me’ was written by Joseph Addison and was in ‘The Spectator’ a daily publication in England that only survived for about a year in 1711. The prayer has lasted a lot longer than the publication and I am so glad it did.
My job as a Dad is to teach my children to pray. The first prayer my wife and I taught our kids was, ‘Now I lay me.’ But we also pray at each meal that we sit down to eat, which is usually supper. Now when you pray for the meal you can also add in some other things. Here is how that might go, “Our Gracious Heavenly Father, we are thankful for the opportunity to be here together as a family. We miss Sam and Evan and we pray for your blessing upon them and for a safe return home. Please bless the food that we are about to partake of, to the nourishment of our bodies. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.”
Dad your job, which was given to you by God the father, is to take your kids to church and to teach your kids to pray. Research shows that if Dad does not go to church, no matter how faithful his wife’s devotions, only one child in fifty will become a regular worshipper. A link to the article I took that quote from is at the end of this article.
When I first read the article it made me angry. I feel as though I am on the front line fighting against the enemy and too many men are slipping away to go golf, watch the NFL, get drunk, sleep in or whatever else they do instead of going to church and teaching their children to pray.
“Our Gracious Heavenly Father, I come before you today with heavy heart. After reading the article below, I was convicted in my soul for the times I have bailed out on my fellow man that stayed engaged in the fight. Please forgive me. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me the guts to stand and fight against the enemy, satan, and to tell him, ‘Over my dead body, will you ever get my children.’ In Jesus precious name we pray this in expectation of it, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.”