What is prayer? To answer this question, we must understand that prayer is the only way that we can communicate with our Heavenly Father. We use prayer to come forth and bear all to The Father. You can think of prayer as a phone call to The Most High. When you call him, HE always answers the call and listens. You may be thinking how can we call God? Well, HIS phone number is in Jeremiah 33:3. (Jer 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Having a good prayer life is important for an individual as well as a family. Having a structed family with God at the top is a blessing and a joy to have. At home, there is an order: 1. The Father 2. Jesus Christ 3. Dad 4. Mom 5. Children
In our home, we pray as a family twice a day; morning and night before bed. Before prayer, we put on the armor of God. The whole armor can be found in the book of Ephesians chapter 6 verses 11-18. As followers and believers of The Most High, we need to remember that each day is a battle! There is a constant battle within ourselves, flesh vs. spirit. When we leave the home to go to work, school, to the market or anywhere; we need to always have The Armor of God! The armor has 6 pieces in total. Five of those pieces are for defense (belt, shield, breastplate, shoes, and helmet) and only 1 for offense (sword). All of them are important and you never want to leave any of them off. In the morning and night before bed, we gather as a family to first put on the armor. I lead the putting on of the armor and my family repeats and motions the putting on all of the pieces of armor, one piece at a time. It goes like this:
“Heavenly Father, I gird my loins with the belt of truth. I put on my breast plate of righteousness. I shod my feet with preparation of the gospel of peace. I take on my shield of faith which quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked. I put on my helmet of salvation. And most of all, I take my sword which is the word of God. Thank you, Father, for providing me with the armor of God”.
We do things a little different in the morning and at night. In the morning after the armor, I will pray first and then my wife and each child, except the younger kids. When we are all done praying, we say the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) in unison as a family.
(Mat 6:9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
(Mat 6:10) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
(Mat 6:11) Give us this day our daily bread.
(Mat 6:12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
(Mat 6:13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Then, my 4 year old son Micah, will say the Lord’s prayer by himself. At night, we put on the armor, I will pray and then my wife, then The Lord’s Prayer.
Now, in 1st Thessalonians 5:17, says to pray without ceasing. Which means to never stop praying. My wife and I tell our children that just because we pray together as a family in the morning and at night, doesn’t mean to not pray throughout the day or night. No one is that busy that they cannot take time to speak to The Creator.
Remember prayer is a direct line to The Father. The Father is always available, 24/7. HE is never too busy to hear from us!