I know that my children will not love Christ until they really comprehend His love for them (1 John 4:10). I know that without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb 11:6). But even still, I want my children to be trained to love Him. I want to teach them to worship. How do we do that? First, and possibly most importantly, we lead by example. Let them see you love Christ.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Eph 6:4

Raising children is a rewarding and humbling experience. Children truly are a blessing from the Lord (Psa 127:3), but parenting can be challenging. I know that I make more mistakes than I can count, and a lot of my sin has been magnified during this season. But in all of the challenges, I am certain that kids raised in godly homes are at a great advantage. They have access to the gospel! They have access to the word of God. They have a front row seat to two sinners actively pursuing daily faith and repentance. If I can borrow Paul’s language in Romans 3, “What advantage do children of believing parents have? Much in every way!”

We as believing parents, fathers especially, have a great responsibility to train our children in godliness. Essentially, we are commanded to prepare these not yet converted souls to be Christians. Our example and training will not save our kids, but we are to preach Christ to them and give them a head start on their Christian journey. I want to point out just a few ways we can train our children to be Christians.

Teach Them to Pray

It might seem odd at first to teach your unconverted children to pray. You might say, “But they’re not saved. Why should they pray?” This is so important, because teaching our kids to pray is preparing them to take their first breath in the new life. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom 10:13). When we teach our kids to pray, we are teaching them to call on the name of the Lord. I’m not advocating for “pray this prayer, walk this aisle, and you’ll be saved.” But I think it is imperative that we help them build the mindset that God actually hears prayer (Psa 65:2). We get to give them a head start on building healthy habits that can be so hard to form later in life. We teach them to bow the knee to the Father now, so that when they are saved, by His grace, they can jump right into a vibrant prayer life.

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