The Simple Change That Deepened Our Family’s Prayer Life

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

- Matthew 6:6

There was a time when our family’s prayer life felt… good.

Faithful. Consistent. Solid.

But if I’m honest? It didn’t always feel deeply intentional.

We prayed together in the mornings during devotion time, again at lunch, and always before supper. Derek faithfully typed up a prayer each morning. I prayed during my personal Bible reading. At bedtime, Derek led the kids through the Lord’s Prayer, Luther’s Evening Prayer, and Psalm 23. He prayed specific blessings over them, asking God for wisdom, protection, and even their future spouses. The kids prayed on their own before sleep. And at the end of every day, Derek and I prayed together for our marriage, our businesses, and the stewardship of the gifts God has entrusted to us.

It was a beautiful rhythm.

It was a strong foundation.

But something was still missing.

Not more prayers.

Not longer prayers.

But deeper intentionality.

Around that time, Derek read Lead with Prayer by Ryan Skoog, Peter Greer, and Cameron Doolittle. The book was written primarily for business leaders, but as he shared parts of it with me, we couldn’t stop thinking about our home.

It talked about designating time and space for prayer.

About making prayer visible.

About leadership, especially fathers, setting the tone.

And that’s when it hit us.

Prayer was woven into our days, but we hadn’t set apart a place.

There was no physical space that quietly said, “This is where we meet with the Lord.”

We needed a prayer room.

So we looked around our home. And do you know what we found?

A walk-in closet.

It was packed with old dresses, wrapping paper, and decorations. Nothing glamorous. But it connected to the room where the kids did some of their homeschool work, and it felt like the right spot.

So we cleaned it out.

We carried things to storage. We donated what we didn’t need. And slowly, that cluttered closet became something different.

We added a simple folding table and two chairs. We placed a Bible there. Prayer cards. A running prayer list. A notebook for written prayers. A timer for silent reflection. A little book called There’s a Prayer for That. We set a cross on the table and a small statue of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

One of our daughters decorated the walls with pictures of hand-drawn Bible verses. Watching her use her God-given artistic gifts to make that tiny space beautiful felt like worship in itself.

It wasn’t fancy.

But it was set apart.

And that changed something.

Derek began taking each child individually into the prayer room after reading with them at bedtime. He gently guided them, showing them how to use the prayer list, how to sit quietly, how to talk to God about real things. He modeled what intentional prayer looks like.

Soon, the kids could choose: pray with Dad or go into the room on their own during the day.

And even if they didn’t choose it, Derek still went at his usual time.

Because leadership isn’t just about inviting, it’s about modeling.

I started using the room too. Especially on the hard days.

When emotions were high.
When I felt overwhelmed.
When homeschooling felt heavy.

I would slip into that little closet, close the door, and breathe.

It became my refuge.

A place to lay down burdens.

A place to refocus my heart on Christ.

Now, I won’t pretend it was wonderful from the beginning.

The kids resisted at first.

They complained.

So we connected prayer room time to our family’s token system. The kids earn tokens for chores and for living out our family values. They can trade them for screen time, special snacks, or even cash. Adding prayer room time as a token-earning opportunity helped build the habit.

And then something beautiful happened.

We didn’t need the tokens as much.

They started going on their own.

Their prayers grew more thoughtful. More specific. More aware.

And our home felt different.

More grounded.

More connected.

More aware of God’s presence in our ordinary days.

Creating a dedicated space for prayer didn’t replace our other rhythms: it deepened them. Setting aside both time and place reinforced something powerful for our children:

Prayer isn’t just something we check off.

It’s part of who we are.

If you’ve ever considered creating a prayer closet or prayer room, let this be your gentle nudge.

You don’t need a big house.
You don’t need perfect décor.
You don’t need to “feel” spiritual enough.

You just need a willing heart and a small space.

Because when we intentionally invite God into the center of our homes and when we visibly prioritize meeting with Him, we are shaping our children in ways that echo into generations.

And friend, that is holy work.