8 Best How-To’s for Praying with Child-Like Faith

Do you ever wish you could return again to the simplicity of your childhood where there was less to question, less to accomplish, less to maintain? Adulting shapes us, often erases some of the child-like wonder and replaces it with measured logic. But sometimes in trying to be all we feel we ought to be, we lose a little of who we are beneath all the shoulds and should-nots.

What if we could go back, not physically to our childhood years, but to the freedom to trust and love and pray children are better acquainted with?

How would you pray today if you could lose the baggage of the years, the questions that arose from the prayers that were not answered in the way you expected, and the parameters you’ve put on what prayer looks like?

My children are 9, 8, and 4, and even at this age they have a hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that grown adults still have parents. Yet just as I will not stop being their mother when they grow up, so too does God never cease being our Good Father, nor we being His dearly beloved children. Romans 8:15-16 explains it well:

And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!” For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!”

(TPT)

If you’ve felt like you are on the outside, looking in, undeserving of the loving attention of God, may you know today that God accepts you because of what He has done, not anything you could ever do. He has a place for you near Him where His love can cascade over you and you can know with all sureness that you belong.

No matter how old you are, you are His child—His beloved child.

Take a moment here to pause and listen for the way He whispers to your heart, “You are mine. You are not alone. I’m here. And I love you with a love that is raging and wild and deep. There is nothing you can do to earn it; neither is there anything you could ever do to lose it. You are forever loved.”

Since we are children of God regardless of our physical age, perhaps children can best teach us how to pray as children. In observing the mannerisms of my own children, I’ve noticed things that come naturally to them that I can apply to my own prayer life. From these observations, I’ve compiled a list of top how-tos for praying with child-like faith.

1—Pray with expectancy

When my children ask me something, they have no doubt that I can fulfill their wishes. They know that I can hear them. They ask expecting a yes.

Isaiah 65:24 assures me that God both hears and answers me. In the ESV, it reads: “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” 1 Peter 3:12 TPT coincides, promising that “the eyes of the Lord Yahweh rest upon the godly, and his heart responds to their prayers.” I can pray with child-like expectancy because I am praying to a God who hears me, loves me, and is moved by the sound of my voice.

2—Lean on the relationship

Just as my children know our family name—know they belong to a family—so too do we, as children of God belong to the family of God. Children are free to be children because they know who their parents are. They are free to fulfill their role as children, knowing that they can count on us to fulfill our role as parents. In the same way, I can live confidently in my identity in Christ, knowing who He is and who I am because of it, and this increases my faith as I pray.

3—Bring up the small things

The questions ruminating in the mind of my 4-year-old are as varied as why God is invisible to where one particular car from his collection of hot wheels is at this moment. He freely shares his questions—the small ones as well as the big ones. I can learn from him that God wants me to also bring up the small things. He cares about my big questions as well as the ones I dismiss as not significant enough to bother Him with.

4—Pray with honest simplicity

My just-turned 8-year-old is an Enneagram 8, and she is apt to speak her mind, just precisely as she sees it—which is often in black-and-white. My near-10-year-old freely shares the highs and lows of the emotions she feels so acutely as an Enneagram 4. I can take a cue from both to bring myself, as I am, to God. He doesn’t want me to be a cookie-cutter image of anyone else. He wants the words of my heart—shared with honest simplicity.

5—Pray out loud

Children, mine included, often speak aloud whatever is on their minds. I can learn from them to verbalize my prayers. Praying in my head allows me to be less specific, less deliberate. When I speak or write my prayers, my openness creates a greater connection with God. Further, praying out loud together with others fosters unity and creates community.

6—Pray in the moment

When my children have a question or request, they don’t delay in communicating it. Rarely do they wait for a perfect moment to ask. So too could I learn to pray immediately and often. Children don’t have to work hard to “talk without ceasing.” If I prayed in the moment too, rather than overthinking the directive to “pray without ceasing,” I would find that God is really never distant nor ever not listening.

7—Imitate the prayers of others

Children are often described as sponges because they are so impressionable. They learn through observing, then copying, those around them. This pattern, which comes naturally to children, is also an apt description of discipleship. In 1 Cor. 11:1 GW, Paul exhorts, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” We can grow tremendously in our faith through wisely choosing our role models. Additionally, we can imitate the prayers of others to grow child-like faith as we pray. One of my favorite scriptures to pray is Colossians 1:9-1, which in The Passion Translation reads,

 Since we first heard about you, we’ve kept you always in our prayers that you would receive the perfect knowledge of God’s pleasure over your lives, making you reservoirs of every kind of wisdom and spiritual understanding. We pray that you would walk in the ways of true righteousness, pleasing God in every good thing you do. Then you’ll become fruit-bearing branches, yielding to his life, and maturing in the rich experience of knowing God in his fullness!And we pray that you would be energized with all his explosive power from the realm of his magnificent glory, filling you with great hope.

8—Repeat the same prayers

Repetition plays a significant role in a child’s learning. We see toddlers practice the same skill over and over until they begin to gain mastery. If you have a child who plays a sport or an instrument, you might find yourself encouraging daily practice. Repetition is also useful in growing our faith. Repeating the same prayers is a great way to practice praying until it comes naturally to you.

I hope these 8 take-ways are helpful to you! Openness and humility are key tenants of missional living, and sometimes learning from those younger than us is fruitful in growing us into spiritual maturity.

May I pray a blessing over you as we close?

May you know that God hears your every prayer. May you know that He leans in to listen, even when you pray about the littlest things in your day. May you know that you can come to Him as you are—always. May you learn, as you practice, to pray with child-like faith. In the precious and holy name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

P.S. Did you know The Uncommon Normal is also a podcast? Tune in on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or Spotify.

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