I know I have been neglecting the Relief Society and Elders Quorum lesson of late; my deepest apologies! (You can see my families.com journal for my excuses list, LOL). I am especially sorrowful with this lesson, as I really loved it when I studied it in December. I would like to share with you something that I took from the lesson and have applied to my life over the last three months.
When talking of family prayer, President Kimball urges us to make it a kneeling prayer. “All of the members of the family, including the little ones, should have the opportunity to be mouth in the prayer, in turn, as directed by the one presiding.” Since I discussed this with my husband in December, we have begun to have everyone give a prayer, rather than just one person.
I would love to say the results are all good. However, our children are 5, 4, and 2, so the results are definitely more kneeling time! There are days when, like our scripture study, I just want to ‘get through it’. And yet we continue to keep this as our model for prayer.
The children’s prayers are generally shorter, of course. Some nights, my four year old only asks that “we can eat quickly,” and I have no idea where that comes from! We help our two year old, although he has begun to pick up on general things; for instance, after we prompt him to say “Dear Heavenly Father,” he moves on to “thank you.” When we say, “In the name of Jesus Christ,” he yells out, “Amen.” What a joy to hear him pray like this! We would never have had such an opportunity had we continued with just one person saying the prayer. At the same time, it is interesting to listen to my older two express their desires. Since I am one month away from delivering our fourth and am having those wonderful false contractions, it always makes me smile to hear my five year old daughter pray that “Mommy won’t have any contractions today and (the baby) won’t come out until she’s ready.”
By the same token, I enjoy listening to my husband when he takes his turn. He often thinks of things I forget, as I think of things he neglects. We make a great team, and what better way to demonstrate this to our children than during family prayer?
The spiritual benefits to our family prayer are wonderful, as well, but as a mom, I just really enjoy listening to my kids pray over something other than the food. I have loved listening to how their prayers have evolved over just a few months, and look forward to the next few years. They are receiving a model for their prayers, of course, but they are also providing a model to us; their prayers are sweet and sincere. They remind us that children can be as good if not better examples than adults!
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