Did you have family prayer when you were a kid? How often do you pray together in your own family? If you are finding it difficult, here are a couple of helps:

1. Family prayer doesn't have to be long. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Certainly, it should not be long when little children are involved, or they may lose interest and tire of prayer and come to dislike it.”

2. Family prayer doesn't have to be with the entire family every time. Elder Joe J. Christensen said, "With schedules as they are, you may need to have more than one prayer.”

3. Family prayer doesn't have to be perfectly reverent. Elder Bednar says when his children were young, "Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking."

4. Family prayer is better when you aren't rushed. Tanya Headrick says that her family's prayers changed when she started preparing for the morning craziness. She wrote, "By preparing ahead we now have a calm morning routine that allows ample time for thoughtful, meaningful, sincere family prayer."

5. Family prayer is absolutely essential. Elder Neil L. Andersen said, "With the influences of evil that surround our children, can we even imagine sending them out in the morning without kneeling and humbly asking together for the Lord's protection? Or closing the day without kneeling together and acknowledging our accountability before Him and our thankfulness for His blessings? Brothers and sisters, we need to have family prayer."