When it’s Important?

When it’s important...

It is normal for teens to want to push against the norm and against doing what the rest of the family wants to do. Some things aren't critical to family life, like menu planning (Taco Tuesdays) or bill paying, but other things are!

If it is important to family life, don't just give up and give in. Ask questions. Find out the motivation behind their "push". Why don't they want to? What is it about it that they don't like? Is there something that can be done differently?

We were told by one of our teens that she didn’t want to pray with the family anymore. Our family prayer time IS important to our family life. We believe prayer is powerful and it’s a way for all of us to come together at least once a day in the midst of busy schedules and connect over important things going on around us.

She had multiple reasons why she just wanted to pray by herself. But not praying together is not an option, so we asked questions. It turned out she felt like our prayer time was too repetitive, too childish, and took too long. (Much of our style/format was created when our girls were little. Mom would start the prayer time by praying about what was on her heart. The girls would each take a turn, usually repeating the same prayer needs. And then Dad would close it out with what was on his heart.)

Because of this conversation, she suggested some creative and powerful ideas that brought new life to our prayer time. It gave her some ownership, refreshed what we were doing, and caused us to really think about who God is!

So now we take turns, first thanking God for being who He is (kind, powerful, loving, gracious, provider, healer, always with us, etc ). Then we pray for the needs of others (friends, family, pastors, bosses, etc.) The last time around we pray for something specific we are dealing with.