"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.."

"Parents, if you love your children, do all that lies within your power to train them to have a habit of prayer. Show them how to begin. Tell them what to say. Encourage them to persevere. Remind them that if they become careless and slack about it. Let it not be your fault, if they never call on the name of the Lord.

“Remember, that this is the first step in religion which a child is able to take. Long before he can read, you can teach him to kneel by his mother’s side, and repeat the simple words of prayer and praise which she puts in his mouth. And as the first steps in any undertaking are always the most important, so is the manner in which your children’s prayers are prayed, a point which deserves your closest attention. Few seem to know how much depends on this. You must be careful that they don’t say their prayers in a hasty, careless, and irreverent manner.

“Oh, dear friend, if you love your children, I charge you, do not let the early impression of a habit of prayer slip by. If you train your children to do anything, train them, at least, to have a habit of prayer.”

~ J.C. Ryle

This quote comes from the book The Duties of Parents by J.C. Ryle.

This book and this quote in particular reminds me of the importance of preparing children spiritually. As parents, we work hard to teach our children to talk, walk, eat, use the rest room rather than a diaper, read, write, and get a job. But do we prepare them for what is most important? Do we train them to know and love God?

We can not make them love God, but we can show them how.

This Sunday I am going to preach about the fact that Peace at Home and Work Is Possible and hope to speak to the role of children and parents in the home. It is vital for our health, the health of the church, the health of our cities, nation and world that families be strong and filled with the peace of God. This is something we all need to learn and be reminded of how to do.