“Pray Always,” Friend, Jan. 2007, 32
Pray Always
(A beginning reader can share this read-together story, or a parent or older sibling can read it to younger children.)
Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Parent: When Jesus lived on the earth, He always prayed to Heavenly Father. Sometimes He prayed alone. Sometimes He prayed with His disciples.
Child: Jesus loved His disciples. He wanted them to know how to pray.
Parent: He gave them an example of how to pray. It is called the Lord’s Prayer.
Child: Jesus began the prayer by saying, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Parent: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Child: Give us this day our daily bread.
Parent: And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Child: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
Parent: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Both: Amen.”1
Child: Jesus also told His disciples a parable or story about prayer.
Parent: One night while a man was fast asleep in his bed, a friend knocked on his door.
Child: “Please lend me three loaves of bread,” the man called from outside. “Someone has just come to visit me. I don’t have any food to give him.”
Parent: “Don’t bother me,” the sleepy man said. “It’s midnight, and my children are asleep.”
Child: “Please, help me.”
Parent: “I can’t,” grumbled the man. “I’d awaken everyone.”
Child: “Please!”
Parent: In time, the man climbed out of bed and gave his friend as much food as he needed. Jesus said the man did this because his friend did not give up—he did not stop asking for help.2
Child: Heavenly Father loves us. He wants to bless us, but we must be like the man’s friend. We must ask in faith and try to be like Jesus so we can receive Heavenly Father’s blessings.
Parent: Always praying is one way we work to receive Heavenly Father’s blessings.
Both: Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”3
Illustration by Adam Koford