I suspect you didn’t expect a pastor to be telling you to STOP prayer this morning! But it is something I regularly tell my children to do. It is something I have used plenty of times in Sunday School and children’s talks. I’ve even encouraged my entire church to do it.

STOP is a little acronyms we used to use to teach children about prayer. Not that we are teaching children to STOP praying. Of course not. Rather, STOP helps them think about what they might pray for.

S stands for sorry. We want to encourage our children to say sorry to God for the wrong things they have done and the ways they have disobeyed him. We want to teach them a posture of ongoing repentance and faith.

T stands for thanks. After we have confessed our sin to God, we want to help the children think about the things God had done and to encourage them to thank him for them. Again, we want to teach a posture of ongoing thankfulness to God for all his good gifts.

O stands for others. We want to encourage them to pray for others and their needs. The bible is full of commands about preferring others needs above our own, serving others and praying for one another. Remembering to petition God on behalf of others is something we want to instil.

P stands for please. There is nothing wrong with asking God for the various things we need. The bible encourages us to do this. But we want to engender a sense that we bring our needs to God after we have done these other important things.

So we teach our children to pray STOP prayers. Which, as an adult, I have often used to help me remember the various things that I should be praying about too. I find it a helpful way of remembering key things I want to bring before God.

Perhaps you could give it a go?