Teaching Our Families to Pray | National Equipped Conference 2026 | Pastor Nate Mason

Main message: Parents and leaders should intentionally lead children to love and habitually use the gift of prayer by teaching biblical theology and modeling prayer in everyday life. Prayer is both reverent (addressing a sovereign God) and intimate (drawing near with confidence), and must be cultivated early through instruction, imitation, and practical rhythms.

Key points:

• Aim: lead children to love and faithfully utilize prayer by instruction (teaching theology, defining terms, using resources) and imitation (parents/church modeling prayer).
• Teach biblical theology early—who God is, who we are, what sin and the gospel are—so children understand why prayer matters.
• Make prayer a joyful, regular practice: speak highly of prayer, prepare a focused place/time, use songs and simple resources (e.g., Big Theology for Little Hearts) to build familiarity.
• Practical habits: set regular family prayer times, ask kids what’s on their hearts, organize prayer topics (drawings/journals), return with praise when God answers, and follow prayer with concrete action.
• Persevere in parenting as the long game; enlist the church “chorus” of teachers and leaders to reinforce truth.

Scriptures mentioned: Hebrews 4:14-16, Ephesians 6:4, Romans 1:21, John 16:23-24