How to Teach a Child to Pray

Our children / grandchildren need to know how to pray, but how can we teach them in a way they will understand? Prayer is simply talking to God but explaining that to a little one may be difficult. They may have a very active imagination but still struggle to understand how they can talk to someone they cannot see.

Somewhere over the years I came across The Five Finger Prayer. I don’t know whom to credit for this strategy, but I pray they are blessed as it is shared yet one more time. Please consider sharing with the little people in your life.

The Five Finger Prayer is a simple, visual and fun way to teach kids what to pray for.

Each finger on a hand represents a person(s) to pray for. Our hands and fingers are always right there with us, so our little ones will learn that Jesus is always with them too! Whenever they look down at their hands, they can remember to pray for these five different kinds of people in their life.

We teach our children that prayer can really be about anything that is going on in their life, but the Five Finger Prayer teaches them to focus on others and pray for them first. (Little intercessors in training 😊)

They should know it is not what we say when we pray that matters; it is what is inside our hearts that matters most. Prayer is something good to practice at least once per day to develop the habit. But after prayer has become a habit, it will hopefully become a natural part of each day, like talking with friends of family.

Jesus tells us in the book of Mark 11:24, “…whatever, you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” It is important to teach our littles that we pray and have faith that God is in control and will take care of us and the people that we pray for.

The Five Finger Prayer is not the only way to pray, but it is a way to start kids on their prayer journey. Children should know that they can pray with their eyes open or closed, with hands folded or open or raised, heads up or down. These are all things we do out of respect for God and those around us, but we can pray whenever, wherever, and however works best for us and whenever we feel God calling us to talk with Him.

Each finger is listed below with detail describing the prayer reminder that finger represents. There is also a Scripture reference for each of the 5 prayers that you can look up with your little prayer student. (A good way to teach them to go to the Word of God for answers.)

THUMB

Pray for those closest to you, closest to your heart, your loved ones.

COLOSSIANS 4:2

When the hands are folded to pray, the thumb is the closest finger to us and our hearts. “Those closest to you” can be your parents, siblings, grandparents, classmates/friends, or the first person who comes to your mind. Pray for them first; they are the easiest ones to remember! Encourage kids to begin their prayer by thanking God for this person. As Paul instructs in the book of Colossians, chapter 4.

POINTER FINGER

Pray for those who instruct/teach you, the people who point the way.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:25

Just like our teachers and instructors use their pointer finger to show us things, so we should use that same finger to remember to pray for them! Teaching is a big job, and the Bible tells us that they are judged more strictly as they are given more responsibility in this world. It is no easy job to teach people, so our teachers and instructors need all the prayer they can get. Remind kids to use this time pray for pastors, teachers, coaches and anyone who helps to educate, train, or teach them.

TALLEST FINGER

Pray for those who stand tall for us and lead us.

1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2

The tallest finger reminds us to pray for those who stand tall for us. This could be our president or other leaders in life, such as the police, fire fighters, military, or government leaders. You can remind kids that when they grow up and get jobs, this could also refer to their supervisor or boss at the job they work at. In the book of 1 Timothy, Paul is writing to Timothy and giving him instruction on how to do the important work that he is doing. Chapter 2, which is an entire chapter for instruction on worship, Paul writes to pray for “kings and all those in authority…”.

RING FINGER

Pray for those who are weak or in pain.

JAMES 5:15

The ring finger is known to be the weakest finger. Try to open a drawer handle with it, and it will be noticeably weaker than all the other fingers. This finger should remind kids to pray for those they know who are sick, hurt or in trouble. As James, the brother of Jesus writes in his book in the Bible, James, chapter 5, that “prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well….” Having the faith that if our prayers are offered in faith can make a sick person well, is truly life-changing. It is important that children understand that their prayers are important and that they mean something to God. He wants us to know that He can heal and change all of us, no matter what situation we are in.

LITTLE FINGER

Pray for ourselves.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

The last and smallest finger of the Five Finger Prayer should remind us that we need to pray for ourselves too. After praying for everyone else before yourself, kids should take a moment to recognize the good things they have that others may not and give thanks for those things. Paul writes a great and very well-known verse to the people of Philippi in the book in the Bible called Philippians. In Philippians 4:6, he says that we should pray instead of being anxious about “anything.” We should pray about what is worrying us and what is on our hearts and give it to God, for He is in complete control.

What a blessing it is to pray with little ones. Throughout my life I have been so inspired by the childlike, but MIGHTY faith unleashed through the prayers of children.

The world our children are navigating is becoming more and more difficult to traverse. How essential it is to teach them, from THE VERY BEGINNING OF THEIR JOURNEY, that Jesus is just a prayer away, that their prayer DOES CHANGE THINGS and they ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD’S PLAN.

Be blessed as you teach the little ones in your life how to pray!