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Ever since my daughter was born, I have prayed with her each night before bed. "Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me. Bless thy little lamb tonight." She is still too young to understand the words, but I think there is benefit in starting the spiritual discipline early. I hope my dedication to this simple nightly prayer will someday prompt my little lamb to her own conversation with the tender Shepherd.

Enacting spiritual disciplines before our children models the Christian life in ways they can imitate. When New Testament scholar Susan Garrett and theologian Amy Plantinga Pauw wrote Making Time for God: Daily Devotions for Children and Families to Share, they hoped to invite families to adopt a regular devotional routine. Devotions in the book center on a diverse selection of Old and New Testament passages, include solid theological truth, and try to avoid trite questions. Together parents and their children can practice the disciplines of Bible reading and prayer. The Healthy Hectic Home notes that "a regular devotional time with the family … can build togetherness even within a busy family."

For many families the discipline of daily devotions includes prayer. Elizabeth Power of Salisbury United Baptist Church teaches children how to pray using powerful visual aids to help young minds. Holding a picture of a baby helps a little girl pray for her young brother. A preschooler thanks God for the flowers as he looks at a photograph of a daisy. Like the parables of the New Testament, these images are grounded in Scripture—drawing biblical reinforcement from the wisdom of Psalms and the teachings of Jesus. As Marilyn Chandler McEntyre writes, "To contemplate such objects is to recognize a Creator who cares for and about little things." Using creative techniques such as Power's can help children grow comfortable expressing themselves to their heavenly Father—a habit that can find a special place at meals, in the car, or at bedtime.

Another habit parents can foster is participation in church. Theophan, a 19th century Russian recluse, believed parents were responsible "to raise their children not only as Christians, but as holy Christians." For Theophan, this meant encouraging spiritual formation in all areas of life to combat the wiles of the Devil. Families who discipline themselves to attend church regularly find this practice encourages the holistic formation Theophan advocated. Unfortunately, as Stephen Carter writes in "We Interrupt This Childhood," "fewer and fewer children attend [a church] with any regularity." McEntyre notes that while the programs a church offers are certainly important, it is the relationships children develop in the faith community that can teach invaluable lessons. She writes, "If the local church is to be the 'village' that helps raise the child, we need to take very seriously the connectedness implied in the terms 'family of faith' and 'body of Christ.'"

As our children learn personal practices of spiritual devotion, they become ready to put what they have learned into action. Children, as well as adults, can extend hospitality, practice generous giving, and engage in ministry. Christine Pohl, in her book Making Room, describes hospitality as "basic to who we are as followers of Jesus." Dorothy Bass, in Receiving the Day, discusses "traditional practices of time" and encourages families to enact these practices with their children. Whether we are encouraging our children to invite a friend home for dinner, sacrifice a week's allowance for a church mission project, or volunteer at a homeless shelter, we can infuse these actions with spiritual meaning and include them as a vital dimension of spiritual formation. These "others-focused" spiritual disciplines can connect with established practices such as Scripture study, prayer, and faithful attendance at church.

It is hard, however, to teach something we ourselves have not yet learned. Books like Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline and Dallas Willard's Spirit of the Disciplines can help us learn more about the foundational actions of the Christian life. And a spiritual director can help us stay accountable to these commitments to Christian growth by encouraging and guiding us toward spiritual maturity.

We can also follow the guidance of the great reformer Martin Luther, who considered the spiritual formation of his children paramount. He spent many an evening around the table discussing spiritual things with his family, for he wanted his children to develop an intense love for God and others. Luther believed that "no power on earth is so noble and so great as that of parents." As we parents internalize the disciplines of the Christian life, our thoughts and actions will reflect the Christlikeness we pray our children will someday embody.