Christian Parenting - Praying the Psalms

Have you struggled with how to teach your children about prayer and how to pray?  I have.  All Christians want their children to have vibrant prayer lives.  We want them to talk with God, hear from God and express their emotions to God but we are uncomfortable when our children are angry and pray with angry words.  What is a parent to do?

Turn to the Psalms.  There are 150 prayers God's people in the Psalms and they cover every possible human emotion in a way that brings glory to God.  There are prayers seeking God's judgment, prayers of thanksgiving; and prayers looking forward to the coming of Jesus.  There are psalms that begin with pain and end with joy, and vice versa.  Prayers of desperation and of confidence, joy and sorrow can all be found.  Even prayers that ask "where are you God?"  The psalms can teach us to teach our children to pray by studying them with our kids and helping them to see the progressions which occur.

One way you might want to use the psalms to pray is to plagiarize them.  What I mean is this:

1. Choose a psalm that shares an emotion you or your children are experiencing.  See this link for a great sample of psalms and their categories.
2. Read one verse and then write it out contextualizing it to your situation. Allow yourself to expand the lines as needed.
3. Return to the text and read the next verse or two and then contextualize it again.  Follow the same pattern and progression that the psalmist followed until you complete the entire psalm.  

In this pattern you will find that God can always be found in every experience.  If however your children can't write, or you are uncomfortable putting your emotions on paper, the same thing can be done orally. Another use is to memorize the psalms.  I am amazed at how often the psalms our family has memorized get repeated or paraphrased in our prayers. They shape our thinking and our mind and are therefore helping to shape our prayers.  This is wonderful, for our minds are truly being transformed and renewed as Romans 12:1-2 commands.  The Word of God is living and active, Amen.