Creative Prayer: Friend of the Day

Focus: Praying for a Friend

Before You Begin:

Establish a routine of praying together with children before bedtime.

The Prayer Time!

Each night as you pray with your child before bed, include one of your child’s friends in your prayers. Let your child choose which friend he or she would like to pray for.

Some children will enjoy selecting friends randomly, while others may want to create a list or even post a bulletin board with pictures of friends to use as a reference. Allow the decision of whom to pray for to be your child’s. If he or she chooses the same friend for several nights in a row, that’s fine.

If your child would like to, have him or her pray aloud for the chosen friend. Or take turns praying for the friend. Here are ideas of how to pray:

Pray for the child’s spiritual growth. For instance, in a child’s words, “Help (friend) to know you love him. Thank you that he learns about you at church.” Or, “Help me show (friend) that you love her. Even though her family doesn’t know about you, I pray that she learns about you from me and other people who know you.”

Pray for the child’s safety and heath.

Pray for specific needs of the child as you are aware of them. “Jesus, watch over (friend) as she takes a test tomorrow.” Or, “Help Kyle to get over his cold.”

Pray for the relationship between this child and your child. Thank God for giving your child friends. Ask God to help your child be an example of God’s love to his or her friend.

You may occasionally ask your child to pray for a who they don’t consider to be a friend. This could be a school bully or another person the child doesn’t care for. Pray that God will show his love to this child as well. You may also pray for an improved relationship between your child and this one.