I was pulpit supply.  I was told that at a certain time in the service Bobby would say the Lord's Prayer.  So Bobby and his father came to the front of the church, and Bobby, about three years old, with only one or two slight promptings from his father, recited the Lord's Prayer.   All of it.  Getting his tongue around phrases like "Hallowed be thy name"  and "Lead us not into temptation". 

The parents were proud.  The congregation thought it was wonderful. 

I was globersmaked!   My big question was "Why?" 

Hi seeler,

Our children were all taught the basics of prayer.  They have also had some instruction on the different types of prayer.

We have prayed for and with our children since birth.  When night time cuddling and stories were part of the daily routine, the routine always ended with a bed-time prayer.

At times yes.  Extemporaneous prayer is not something everyone feels comfortable with for any number of reasons.  Rote prayers have their place.  You probably tie your shoes based on rote memory.  Bomdas (or Bodmas) is typically learned through rote learning.  As are any number of formulas used in physics.  We don't tend to denounce rote memory or rote learning in these contexts.

That said, once the rote learning has happened and a foundation for understanding is laid one hopes that there will be some expansion from the rote aspect to critical thinking.

The question then being what of prayer benefits from critical thinking?

For starters, critical thought may help us to focus on the subject of a prayer.  Intercessory prayer, for example, traditionally has a pattern where the sphere of concern is always external to ourselves.  The rote element (intercessory prayer is me interceding on behalf of others) combines with critical thought to focus the concentration of the prayer.

We continue to have grace at meals.  Our daughters (18 and nearly 17) both lead grace as part of the meal chores (if you set and clean you also bless the meal).

We no longer tuck the kids into bed so I do not know if they have kept up with the practice.  That is thier choice.  I pray, briefly when I go to bed, simply because once my head hits the pillow sleep comes on in record speed (sleep of the just or the innocent).

I pray for my family daily at irregular intervals.

Whether my children do or don't is not something of which I am aware.  I suspect that prayer is not a first alternative for any of them.  Unless one goes Lutheran where all of life is prayer.  We aren't Lutheran so we don't have quite the same spin.

I pray with quite a bit of frequency through the day as I feel moved.

Grace and peace to you.

John

I'm not a parent, but I do teach children how about prayer at Sunday School. I'm actually reminded of a conversation that I had just yesterday with one of our ministers and a member of the youth group. She switched things up in the service a bit yesterday by doing the Lord's Prayer just before the children left for Sunday School (instead of doing it towards the end of the service) and she mentioned that she would like to make it a permanent change. I've always enjoyed the ritual of saying that prayer - the way it rolls off my tongue and the idea that people in churches of many different denominations around the world say that prayer in many different languages. I remember someone telling me that they had been to the worship service at the World Council of Churches when they met in Vancouver and how beautiful it was when everyone said the Lord's Prayer together in their own languages. As we were talking yesterday, it occured to me that it would be good to do some education with the children about the Lord's Prayer. The youth agreed, saying that he didn't really know what it meant, but would like to learn more. So, I think in the next few weeks, we'll be doing some talking about the Lord's Prayer - starting with explaining the language and then moving into talking about why we say it.

Our kid said grace before meals with us from about ages 4 to 5. Then last year, he started to say he doesn't have time for God anymore. (!)  

Make sure you teach them how to pray before you teach them how to think! It's imperative for the survival of the faith. Much better that, than let them grow up and decide what they believe about a god or gods - that's how Satan gets under their skulls!

Learning the Lord's Prayer and 23rd Psalm by rote was pretty standard stuff when I was in Sunday School so I imagine the parents (and the congregation) remembered that from their youth and thought it was great that little Bobby had accomplished this at such a young age.

I'm not much of prayful person myself and have been UU almost all of Little M's life so I have not taught him to pray. He knows the Lord's Prayer and the general idea of prayer from our visits to United Church congregations and family (my brother and father still always say grace at family meals), but we haven't made a practice of praying at bedtime, saying grace, etc.

Mendalla

By the time I met them they already knew how to pray.

Yes.

They put themselves to bed.

Yes, but not very often with them.

Rich blessings.

chansen, pray before thinking?  hmmm...  I choose to believe that my faith is an informed one.  Not even young children operate on 'blind faith'.  That's why one of their favorite questions is "Why?"

You have faith that your faith is an informed faith? That's very.....faithy.

All faith is blind. If you know, it's not faith.

Sorry chansen.  Didn't mean to say that 'informed' means knowing.  I hear what you're saying, but "faithy"???  lol  I guess I really wanted to suggest that little kids need reasons to believe and reasons to behave and reasons even to pray.  Hard to separate the thinking and the faith in all of that. 

Kids have reasons to behave. My 5-year-old doesn't know what a god is, and she behaves herself. She doesn't pray, of course, and she doesn't believe, because she's never been told that any supernatural beings are real and they really, really want her to believe in them.