Christmas Card Prayer Starters

By Tracy Klehn

Like so many families, each Christmas we receive several cards. They are usually accompanied by newsletters and beautiful photos that catch us up on the lives of family and friends. 

When Christmas comes to a close, our children gather the cards together and place them in a basket that hangs on a doorknob in our hallway. After family dinners throughout the year, each of my children head over to the basket, pull out a card and bring it over to the table (they usually can't resist opening it up and reading it on the way). Sometimes, the kids don't recognize the faces or names on the card. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to explain how they are related to distant cousins or to tell funny stories about longtime friends. 

After we have talked about the families on the card in front of us, we bow our heads and go around the table and pray blessings over these families. It's so touching to hear little voices pray that their friends would have a good school year, or that a coach would come to know Jesus. It's even more powerful to discover how the Holy Spirit guided those little hands to a very specific card… I recall one occasion when a friend was to have a major surgery the following day, and hers was the card the kids picked out. This gave us the opportunity to pray specifically for a successful surgery and a quick recovery. I know for a fact, even though I had the best of intentions to pray for that friend, had the Christmas card not reminded me, I would have forgotten. 

Once we finish praying, the kids place the "prayed for" cards in a clear bag which is placed in the back of the basket. We do this to make sure we pray for every family at least once throughout the year. Once the word got out that Christmas Card prayers is one of our family traditions, we've received even more cards--which just goes to show you what a meaningful gift prayer is! My aunt has even been known to send multiple cards to us so she can be guaranteed to have several prayers coming her way throughout the year.

I love our family meals together and I love our family prayer time.  I hope that as our children "Get Active" in prayer they will come to value the power and privilege of intercessory prayer. I also hope they'll see it as the gift it truly is and will continue to go to "The Throne of Grace" for many Christmases to come.

Ideas to help you and your children with Christmas Card Prayer Starters:

1. Save your Christmas Cards and place them in a pretty basket in your kitchen. After family meals, randomly choose a card and then pray.

    

2. Place a handful of cards on a bulletin board close to the kitchen table so you can be reminded to pray for certain families during meal time. Every month, rotate in new cards.

    

3. If family dinners aren't one of your family traditions, think through a regular family time that you could add prayer into. Perhaps it's at bedtime, in which case you could have a basket of cards in each of your kid's rooms and have them choose a card to pray over before they go to sleep.

    

4. Place the cards with your "Quiet Time" journal and Bible. Before you end your devotional time choose a card that you can pray over. While the kids are eating breakfast set that card in the center of the kitchen table and ask them to pray blessings over that family throughout the day.

    

5. If your car is the place where you spend the most time these days (waiting in carpool lines, going to soccer practices, etc.) keep your Christmas cards in a Ziplock® bag in your glove box. When you find yourself "waiting" pull out a few cards and "wait" on the Lord for those friends and family members.

    

6. Let your loved ones know that you prayed for them. You can simply say, "We prayed for you this week!" Or, you can ask them if there's anything going on in their lives that they would like specific prayer for because the Lord brought them to your attention with the card. Another idea is to drop them a note in the mail or send a quick email just to let them know you have and will continue to intercede for them.

    

7. Take as many opportunities as you can to let your children know when their prayers have been answered and/or when you become aware that people you've been praying for really needed it. This communication helps your children to see that God is working through their prayers.

    

8. Rest in the fact that when you pray for the people in your Christmas Cards you are "putting feet" to Ephesians 6:18, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perserverance and petition for all the saints."