Children Praying Series - Praise and Thanksgiving!

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from from evil, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen’.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

Can You see the word ‘hallowed’ there? It means that when we start praying to the Lord, first we are to honor Him and Praise His name. It’s as if we start our children praying by saying something like: “Our Father, You are Awesome! Your name is Great! May it be kept holy forever!”

If You look at the Psalms of David, You will see how often David himself praised the Lord. He encouraged all people to do the same.

Why was David so successful? Why could he defeat lions, bears and even Goliath? He knew the secret power of Praise. He said in Psalms 8:2 “From the lips of children and infants (children praying) you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” See? When we praise the Lord, we confuse our enemies and the victory in God is ours.

Actually, the Bible shares a story about the King of Judah – Jehoshaphat, who placed singers and musicians in front of his army, when he went to fight the enemy. Well, when the musicians started playing their instruments and the singers started singing, the enemy army was so confused they started killing each other. That’s how powerful Praise can be! When we praise God, we feel so full of life, so full of joy and so full of strength. Our spirit man grows and we become victors.

Oh, and one final thing about Praise. This is not something we are supposed to do ONLY on Sunday morning in Church. This is a way of life – the “Life of Jesus” type of life. Now that brings us to the next point in children praying: Thankfulness.

Thankfulness is the attitude of our heart, which makes us always want to praise and worship the Lord. To be thankful means to be s full of gratitude and gratefulness, that we want to burst forth in praise to the Lord just about everything. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says: “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

As you can see, the word ‘gratefulness’, which is a synonym of thankfulness, comes from the root word: ‘grace’. You know what grace is in simple words? It means God to come in our life and work in and through us. WOW! So, one of the most sure ways this can happen is when we have that attitude of being thankful in our heart. Why is that? Because when we have a certain problem or face a certain situation, and when we, instead of grumbling and murmuring and complaining, start praising and thanking the Lord, don’t you think the Lord Himself will come down and help us? We think He will, because He loves a cheerful prayer kid – one that knows we are victors, no matter what the situation or circumstances might be.

Hey, time to finish this little article on Praise and Thanksgiving, but remember – This is just the beginning of a new and exciting prayer adventure with God! Praise Him! Worship Him! Thank Him! Be grateful in your heart! Always give thanks – in every circumstance! Amen!

God Bless You!