Nat Crawford - Executive Coach, Speaker, Leader

Each night when my boys go to bed, we engage in our bedtime ritual. At the Crawford household we are committed to our traditions! This ritual is special to us not only because it’s quality time together, but also it lays the foundation for a better day tomorrow. There’s no doubt some nights I’m exhausted. I’ll try to back out of one the bedtime activities. But then… “Dad…” Simon says with that “you’re not getting out of this” look. “Please, Dad! Please” Landon adds with his cute wink. “We can’t skip, Dad. It’s tradition!” Simon reminds me. “You’re right, Si” I smile and get back to the routine. Even when I’m tired, I won’t deviate; because I know my days of being an active participant in their bedtime activities will be gone. When that transition happens, I will continue these five bedtime activities because I know it creates a better tomorrow. I’m aware you may not want to do all five. That’s fine. I simply wanted to share our process because it has been so powerful. We read

“Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub.” This might make you chuckle as you think back on family dinner prayers. “Now I lay me down to sleep. Pray the Lord my soul to keep.” This might take you back to your bedtime ritual or maybe Metallica’s famous Enter Sandman. For many people, their prayer life goes no further than these simple and repetitious prayers. But isn’t there a better way to pray? Absolutely!  What is prayer? Prayer is simply conversing with the God of the universe. It’s a conversation…but one with God! Now think about this. Imagine you went to you best friend, spouse, or child and talked to them in cute, memorized phrases. Chances are they’d be annoyed and you’d be bored. Why would we want to do that with God? We shouldn’t. So, what’s the alternative? There are various prayer models to follow. Even Jesus Christ told His disciples (and us) how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13). The reformer Martin Luther wrote book “A Simple Way to Pray.” He suggested praying the Lord’s praye