Well, my 4 year old doesn’t like tacos, but that’s besides the point…Most people love tacos! They are easy to make, easy to eat, and you can’t seem to get enough of them! That’s why this is a great segway (real subtle there) into teaching your kids how to pray with TACOS. TACOS is an acronym that helps engage and lead others in the process of not just praying, but praying to build a relationship with God.

T - Thanksgiving

A - Adoration

C - Confession

O - Others

S - Self

I really love this method of teaching the kiddos how to get involved with prayer because it breaks it down and makes it simple for them to understand. Each letter can be its own prayer unto itself. First, let me explain what each section means.

Thanksgiving: This means giving thanks to God for all the things in your life. When my kids stumble with this one, I usually ask questions like, “What is something you want to tell God ‘thank you’ for today?” or “Is there anything that happened today that you are grateful/thankful for and want to tell God?”. For my kids, sometimes it’s as simple as, “Thank you God for letting me have treats at school today!”. I don’t discourage anything my kids say, and encourage them to talk to God as if they are talking to me or my husband.

Adoration: This section means to tell God how wonderful He is all the time. I encourage my kids with this one by asking questions like, “How would you tell God how amazing He is? What words would you use? Do you think ‘amazing’, ‘wonderful’, ‘strong’, ‘mighty’, ‘loving’, ‘faithful’ are words you could use for Him?” Yes, I understand that I may be leading my kids with some of these questions, but this is also about teaching them the attributes of God in a way they understand.

Confession: This portion is all about admitting your sins and asking for forgiveness. When I talk to my girls about this, I usually ask, “Did anything happen today that made you feel yucky inside?” or “Is there anything you feel bad about that happened today?”. Sometimes the girls come up with something about how they hit or pushed someone at school.

Others: This means teaching kids (and adults) to pray for other people in their lives. It can be friends, family, people that are being unkind to them, even the dog! There are times when my kids pray for EVERYONE, and times when they pray for only a few.

Self: Last, but not least, is praying for themselves. This is where they talk about things from their personal lives, as well as when they bring their requests before Him. Sometimes the girls say things like, “Please help me have sweet dreams tonight!” and “Please help me have a great day tomorrow!”. 

One of the ways we introduce this prayer idea to our kids is by writing the letters on each side of a small block. Each person rolls the block, and whichever letter it lands on is the type of prayer they say. Another way to help kids learn this idea is to use Scrabble tiles and place them in a baggie or a jar, and have each person pick a tile out of the bag. The best part of using the acronym is that you can use it as an individual, as a family, as a group, or use it in your own prayer journal.

Hopefully this offers some guidance and ideas to help teach your family how to pray! Below is a link to the blocks we use as a family.

2 inch Wooden Blocks

https://amzn.to/3YzfD4S