In our Children and Families Ministry we are passionate about equipping young people and their parents, guardians and families with tools to develop their relationship with God prayerfully and spiritually.
Our pastoral team and team leaders are regularly asked how best to bring prayer and worship, God’s love and Jesus’ teaching from church on Sundays into everyday life.
This is what the Orange philosophy is all about; bringing the church and the home together (If you’re brand new to the Orange philosophy, click here to read about what it is, why we have adopted it and what it means for you and our young people!).
To run alongside our latest talk series ‘Deeper’, I’ve put together some incredible resources for you and your family to use to connect with God at home.
101 Ways to Start a Conversation with God
Via Parenting for Faith
One of the ways we encourage our young people to develop their relationship with God in our Kids ministry is through Chat and Catch.
Not sure what Chat and Catch is? Read our article on it here!
There are endless things you can talk to God about in our lives, but sometimes this amount of choice can make it difficult to start the conversation!
Parenting for Faith has put together some great ideas of topics for young people to talk to God about, to catch and to receive. These ideas are great for prayerful conversations over breakfast, in the car or anywhere you might want to spend some time talking to God.
Read 101 Ways to Start a Conversation with God here
Creative Ways to Pray with your Kids
Via 24-7 Prayer
As anyone who has or has worked with children will tell you, no two kids are the same.
This rule applies to praying with our kids too!
If you want your kids to develop in their relationship with God, finding ways to pray that best suit their interests, skills and personalities is a great way to start.
I think this creative prayer article from 24-7 Prayer is a really good guide for this. It’s got some great things to think about around engaging kids in prayer, and how you can incorporate prayer into your day-to-day life in a way they can connect with.
Read Creative Ways to Pray with your Kids here
Engaging Kids in Worship
At Sutton Vineyard we aim to create a space for Kids of all ages to feel welcome, safe and to grow in their understanding of faith and their relationship with God.
We want our Kids to feel the power of worshipping God and enjoy developing in their faith alongside friends and leaders. Engaging Kids in church can sometimes be challenging, and worship can be one of the greatest hurdles for us to navigate as leaders and parents.
To equip us to help our young people connect with God I put together an article discussing some of the challenges in engaging Kids in worship and how we can encourage participation.
Read our article on Engaging Kids in Worship here
Devotional Dippers Prayer Sticks
Making prayer fun is a really good way of encouraging our kids to connect with God, and I personally find products like these devotional prayer sticks really useful.
Prayer sticks like these normally include a theme, a verse, a question to discuss and a prayer point to encourage our young people to speak with God.
Find a time that works for you to pick a short devotional with your family. It could take as little as 5 minutes and helps you to turn your focus to God as a family.
If you’d like to give these prayer sticks a go but the cost would be a barrier, please send me an email at kids@suttonvineyard.org and we would be glad to buy a set for your family!
Devotional Dippers Prayer sticks are available here
Help! My Kid Won’t Pray!
Via Raising Prayerful Kids
Our kids might not always want to pray at the time or in the way we would like.
It’s normal for our children to resist if they’re asked to do something they don’t feel like doing.
This article from Raising Prayerful Kids gives some ideas of things to try if prayer feels like a struggle in your house including encouragement, perseverance and making prayer fun!
Read Help! My Kid won’t Pray! here
There are plenty of fantastic resources for families to encourage our young people in developing their relationship with God prayerfully.
If you want to chat about any of these resources, or are keen to learn more about equipping your young people, please feel free to drop me an email at kids@suttonvineyard.org!
