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Prayer and Devotionwith Children
Finding God in the Heart of Your Family by Mary Kretzmann 
 
Excerpted from:
 Finding God in the Heart of Your Family
 
 by Mary Kretzmann 
“…But Jesus said,
‘
 Suffer the little children
,
and forbid them not, to comeunto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ 
”
Matthew 19:14
Chapter 6: Prayer and Devotion
Prayer invoking the presence of God, Christ, Guru:
 Divine Mother, Heavenly Father, Dearest Friend, Beloved God, Jesus Christ, Babaji-Krishna, Lahiri Mahsaya, Swami Sri Yukteswarji, Beloved Guru, Paramhansa YoganandaSaints of all religions, we humbly bow to you all.May Thy Love shine forever on the sanctuary of our devotion, And may we be able to awaken Thy Love In all hearts. Aum, Peace, Amen.
Beautiful Snow
A few months after our youngest son, David, turned three, he came to our bedroom earlyone morning looking for me. Because he was so little and couldn’t see out the windows, Iknew he hadn’t yet realized that there was a blanket of snow making everything outsidemagical and white. As I heard his little feet approaching, I lay very still, hiding placeunder the covers, peeking to see his reaction to this visual delight of a winter wonderland.Upon entering the room, he stopped short in front of our sliding glass door, seeing this beautiful scene for the first time in well over a year. He was quiet and awestruck, andthen he put his hands together in a prayer, and said in his child’s mispronunciation,“Divine Mudder, heavenly Fawdder,” etc… and he stumbled through all of the names of the gurus (above) valiantly
(”Hiri shashashaya”
for example). Finally, at the end of the prayer he concluded, “I love you.
 AUM 
, Peace, Amen.”He was a very active little boy, and up until that moment I wasn’t quite sure if our spiritual efforts with him were having any effect at all, and now I saw this wonderfulresponse to God’s beauty! It really struck me because he had never seen us respondoutwardly in prayer to the gifts of God’s beauty, and yet now this sprang from his heart.(Though, I realize, our prayers at the children’s bedtimes often expressed gratitude toGod for the blessings in our lives…) Reflecting upon this, I realized it was a fascinatingmental and spiritual leap that he made that day. He saw snow, and was stuck by thewonder and the beauty of it, and then knew by some childlike intuition that praying toGod and the Masters was the appropriate channel to address his gratitude to the unseenCreator of the snow.
 
We had made it a part of our bedtime ritual to say this prayer with the children ever sincethey were quite young, even before they could speak complete sentences. We simply prayed it aloud, quietly, lovingly, after tucking them in. The children could sense thereverence as we prayed this prayer every night with them, whether they mumbled alongor not. Indeed, each of them went through a phase around age four when they would letus know they did not want to do the prayer anymore. We would reply, “That’s fine. Justlisten quietly, and with love in your heart, while I pray.”They seemed satisfied with that. After a few months of quietly listening, they wouldsimply and naturally join in, as though nothing had ever happened, and we never felt thatresistance again. I believe it was some sort of independence streak normal to four-year-old children.
Sacred Stories
This has been such an important part of awakening in the children love for God, Christ,guru, and saints of all religions, that I have dedicated an entire chapter later in this book.But I mention it here to emphasize the point that the stories serve not only the purpose of spiritual
knowledge
, but they are an important avenue to keep the presence of God in thechild’s daily thoughts and feelings. As we feed their bodies every day; so we also need tofeed their souls.
Sacred Pictures
Along the same line, we have kept a picture of Paramhansa Yogananda, and our line of gurus, near the beds of our children even since they were infants. Babies and youngchildren truly are old souls in little bodies, so it is very possible that they will receivesome benefit from gazing at that holy face in the natural course of failing to sleep andwaking up each day. Give them the normal playthings, of course, but do not limit them to
only
those things.Eventually, each child had a small bedside altar. This became an easy place to do simple prayers and a short mediation before bed.We also keep a large, beautifully framed photograph of Paramhansa Yogananda’s Mother in our home, as an embodiment of the presence of Divine Mother. Those sacred eyes have blessed me many times in the normal ups and downs of life. Yogananda said, later in hislife, that she was a liberated saint, a free soul. Her example of spiritual motherhood offersa high beacon of inspiration.
Infinity
Devotion and faith come from within, but the wise parent can help to awaken these soultendencies within each child. We have all lived many lives, and it is extremely likely thatyour children have lived recent past lives in which they were somehow devoted to Godand truth. This can be deduced simply from the fact that the child has the karma to
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