How has your week been?

In the middle of a somewhat bumpy week for me, I got great news! The Family Book of Advent gift edition, by yours truly, is now available at Cracker Barrel stores across the country. It’s Christmas in October!

 

Family Advent book

Nature gives us all kinds of examples that explain faith and faith principles. I love using what happens between the pelican and the seagull as a springboard for launching into a conversation about prayer. Here’s how you can do it too.

 

First, tell your kids the pelican story.

The brown pelican is the most famous of all the pelicans. It dives through the sky, plunges into the ocean, and uses its large pouch-like beak to scoop up fish.

If a pelican is distracted (not paying attention) it will lose its fresh fish dinner. Once a pelican has caught a fish, seagulls from all around fly and flap around the pelican, sometimes even pecking it on the head. Peck, peck, peck. That distraction can cost the pelican something good—a tasty lunch—and the seagull snatches the fish away. When the pelican stops paying attention and is distracted, it loses something good.

 

Second make the transition

We have an enemy, Satan, who wants to distract us from something good—prayer. He wants us to forget to pray. And he’ll do everything he can so we don’t pray. That’s because…
  • Prayer pleases God (Proverbs 15:8). God loves it when we pray!
  • Prayer is powerful. “When a believing person prays, great things happen” (James 5:16).

Third, ask a few prayer questions

  1. Why do you think God likes it when we pray?
  2. What are some things that distract us/keep us from praying? (we forget, we get busy, we don’t think prayer really “works”, we don’t have a set time to pray) OR What are some reasons we don’t pray?

Fourth–pray!

Take turns telling God the best thing about your day or telling him one thing you really like about him. Or ask him to help someone in need.

 

Wrap up with this pelican-seagull video. 

 

Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear about the prayer conversations you have with your kids.

 

For younger kids: Preschool won’t make the connection between pelicans and prayer. So introduce the prayer piece first (e.g. Prayer is good. God loves it when we pray. God answers prayer.) and then pray together. After that, talk about the pelicans and lay the groundwork for something you can refer to when they’re older.

 

Copyright © Carol Garborg 2016

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