Prayer Journal

Most of us have are probably familiar with the idea of keeping a prayer journal for your children- or perhaps you already do this!  I wanted to put a twist on the idea for today's blog.  Instead of obtaining your own prayer journal, have your children have his or her own journal.

Not only is it fun to create together, but it can encourage your children to pray and be conscious of talking to God throughout the day as they jot down their thoughts and prayers.  If you are reading this and are thinking, "no way is my kid going to make a prayer journal"- no worries! You can still create this journal together and perhaps make it a "good thoughts" journal or a "questions" journal or even a "nature findings" journal- you get the idea!

If your children are anywhere near the ages of mine, the most they can do is scribble or write their name, so encourage them to draw pictures (or paint) of their prayers.  It could be a prayer for someone who is sick, a praise item- anything.  As the parent, you can jot down what they are drawing and pray for it later on together.

So how did the boys and I go about this?  While my 1-year-old finger painted and practically dyed his hair red, Mishael and I collected a few blank pieces of paper together and cut them in half.  I chose to go a fairly simple route and stapled the papers together to make a flip book.  Mishael decorated the cover and then we talked about what he was thankful for and who he could pray for today.

Another way of making a prayer journal that would last longer is to pick up a simple journal from the dollar store and decorate the cover of it.  After decorating the cover, you can place some Mactac
so that the decorations will stick more securely.

The last thing I do before tucking my boys into bed at night is to pray with them.  Mishael has been so excited to look through his prayer book at bedtime!
 I would love to hear from you in the comments below.  Enjoy a prayerful and positive start to the week. Happy Connecting!

Decorating his prayer book, of course, turned into another one of his imaginative games!