Faith-Forming Habits

By Rachael Botting, Ph.D.

You can download this resource (PDF format): 5-Minute Faith-Forming Habits

One of the things we often hear from parents is that the busyness of everyday life makes it hard to develop consistent and intentional family faith practices.

The good news is that the emerging research suggests that the most important things parents do with their children do not require hours of time. 

Simple, spontaneous conversations about God and small habits that consistently remind children about God’s presence in our lives play a major role in shaping a child’s faith.¹ A lot of what happens at camp follows a similar pattern – the Bible teaching is important, but it’s also the short pre-bedtime prayer rituals, the conversations on the way to dinner, and the silly Christian songs or memory tools that make camp a formative tool.

In this resource, we’ve provided a short list of “micro-habits” – short but meaningful ways to keep your family focused on God, just like they do at camp!

1. Spoken Blessings

Many camps integrate short, memorable, and meaningful prayers at key parts of the day. Developing a ritual of blessing is a great way to remind children about God’s love for them and help them develop a habit of focusing on God. Use short scriptures or create your own blessings to pray over your kids at the start and end of the day.

a. Start of the day: 

i. (Child’s Name), may the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

ii. (Child’s Name), go into this day knowing that you are loved by the Almighty God!

iii. (Child’s Name), may the peace of the Lord go with you, wherever he may send you, may he guide you through the wilderness and protect you through the storm, and may he bring you home rejoicing, once again into our arms!

b. End of the day: 

i. (Child’s Name), may the Lord give you peace as you sleep, and wake you to another day to work and play.

ii. I love you, (Child’s Name), and I pray that you will love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and that you will love your neighbor as yourself.

2. 5-Minute Check-Ins 

For most families, asking, “How was your day?” does not tend to generate the conversation parents are hoping for. Instead, try using one of the classic camp reflection tools at the dinner table or before bed.

a. Highs and Lows: What was the best part of the day and the worst part of your day?

b. God Sightings: How did you see God or share God today?

c. How, Pow, Wow, Chow: Share how you saw God, the best part (wow) of the day, the worst part (pow) of the day, and the favorite food (chow) of the day!

3. Scripture Memory Challenge 

Sometimes, sharing a 30-minute devotional every day as a family just isn’t feasible. Even if you can’t read and discuss scripture together, taking a few moments as a family to memorize short snippets of scripture is a great way to deepen faith and foster conversation. Designate a time each day when children practice their verse before engaging in other activities and create a reward for memorizing a certain number of verses.

4. Car Conversations 

At camp, conversations often happen while moving from one activity to the next. At home, car rides offer a similar opportunity for short but meaningful conversations with your children about faith. Integrate some of the questions below into your daily travel and see where the conversation takes you!

a. If you could ask God anything, what would you ask him?

b. What is your favorite part of God’s creation?

c. What do you think it means to love God?

d. When you were at camp, where did you most feel God’s presence?

e. Who in your life would you say you are learning the most from right now?

f. What are you learning about yourself through [insert activity you are headed to or from!]?

¹For more insight on this, see “Handing Down the Faith” by Amy Adamzyck and Christian Smith.