Power of Prayer Family Home Evening {The Prophet Enos}

Tonight's Family Home Evening was short and sweet...but so important!  

Tonight we talked with our children about the power and importance of prayer, teaching them the story of the Prophet Enos and what he teaches us about prayer.  We read about him from the Book of Mormon Stories and then discussed one of my favorite newly-discovered quotes (you know I had to make a printable!;)

This quote from Corrie Ten Boom has really impacted me lately, and the way I pray.  I explained to my kids what a steering wheel is for, and what a spare tire is for.  I asked them whether we pray to our Heavenly Father ALL the time, so we can have his guidance in our lives, when things are good AND bad...or do we only pray to Him when we need something, like when we would use a spare tire.  That thought has hit me lately as well...am I trusting Heavenly Father to lead and guide my life...or do I forget about Him and praying to Him until I am in a moment of need?

We talked about how important it is to remember to pray not only when things are tough...but also when things are GOOD!!  We also talked about how our prayers need to be meaningful...not just the same repeated prayers over and over.  To help with that I thought it would be fun to have the kids list a few things that they want to thank Heavenly Father for, or things that they feel they need to ask Him for.

 

I found these buckets I had in my basement and filled them with rice.  Then I got out some chalk and these fun little chalkboards on sticks and we took turns listing things we want to be better about including in our prayers.

Once we came up with our items we put our buckets up on our mantle so we can remember throughout the week to try and make our prayers more meaningful and more full of gratitude.

We closed by each sharing an experience where we KNEW and FELT that Heavenly Father had heard our prayers and answered them.  It was so wonderful to hear my children's sweet and tender experiences with prayer already, and it encouraged me to be more vigilant and genuine in my own personal prayers.  I say it often, but I feel like these kids are teaching me so much more than I could ever teach them!