What better time to remind children to pray for the peace of Jerusalem than right now? With all the chaos in the news and American leaders becoming soft on their alliances with Israel, hearts need to be even more burdened to pray for this country!
The importance of the privilege of prayer should never be taken for granted. Teaching children at a young age that God hears their prayers and will answer is pertinent in affecting their hearts toward the matter of prayer in the future. Letting kids know first-hand how important this tool of communication is will stick with them for years to come.
Children need to know that prayer is not some religious repeating of monotonous empty words; but rather, it is the creature conversing with the Creator. What an amazing thought to ponder that man can talk to an almighty, powerful God.
Why not have a special day planned with an emphasis on Israel? Plan some fun foods and history lessons. Are you at a loss for ideas? Listed below are a few ways to engrave the country of Israel onto the hearts of your little ones.
- Bring out the globe! Go grab the old, dusty globe and give it a spin. Ask your kids to see if they can locate Israel on the globe. For older children, you can go a step further and point out Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth. Ask your kids if they remember the significance of these cities.
- Get the facts. Print out a fact sheet about Israel. Include things like climate, population language, religion etc. Fact sheets that contain visuals are extra helpful for kids' photographic memories.
- Play some tunes. Check out your local library for instrumental Jewish music. It helps to see the sights and hear the sounds of a particular country to really grasp the culture. However, one will really never completely grasp the culture until they visit the country itself.
- Preheat the oven. Bake some Jewish bread for your kids to get a taste of Israel. Now you will have the sights and smells of Israel in your home. Here is a great recipe to try.
- Read a news article. Enlighten your kids with current events facing Israel at the present time. Choose your articles wisely.
Great ideas! There are so many creative ways to live out our faith and teach our kids. I love hands on, real world ideas like these. This is one of the things I'm trying to get people to do by having family mealtimes--take time together to learn and discover.
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These are great practical ideas for teaching our children about the importance of praying for others. Thanks for sharing them.
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