Now is the time to explore all possible ways that help to engage family members while praying.
Remember when you were little you had certain time durations for praying together? Getting everyone together during mealtimes or at bedtime used to be a golden opportunity to sit down and pray as a family.
There are families with no ritual of praying together and wish they could be started one day. If it’s about lacking the confidence to pray out loud, it’s never too late to start again.
Get in the company of your nearest and dearest before you visit the mezuzah store. Praying together as a family can never go wrong, especially if you start with the Holy mezuzah.
Why change the routine?
The best aspect to know about routine changes is that it takes you out of ‘normal’ phases and helps you grow beyond your limits. Here are ways to make praying time divine and exceptional.
Praying at the entrance of your home
This is one of the renowned cultures among Jewish families. They attach a Holy mezuzah at the doorpost of every room in their home, except the washrooms.
The mezuzah is a parchment with an inscription of the Holy prayer. The recited prayer is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The presence of a mezuzah on the doorpost of the house acts as a reminder to seek God for his blessing upon the family, room or house. According to different activities conducted in every room, you can start with the culture of assigning a short prayer to everyone.
For instance:
“Thank you for the food that we ate today”: on the kitchen doorpost.
“Thank you for good night’s sleep”: on the bedroom doorpost.
These short prayers can be attached together with the Holy mezuzah parchment to the doors of these rooms. This would encourage all family members to notice them and acts as a reminder to pray while moving to and from the rooms.
Jar/box/bowl full of thankful messages
There must be times when we all are looking for God’s blessing, especially when it is easy to feel scared or fearful. We all need a reminder to thank God for his goodness. As a family, you arrange the best time to get together to talk to each other once a day. Everyone can mention one good thing they are grateful for and write it on a piece of paper. Once all the messages are collected, place them in a jar and pray to multiply all the blessings tenfold.
This jar will act as a reminder of God’s blessings for all family members.
Pray out loud!
This requires you to buy a mezuzah online and attach it to the doorpost first. The appearance of a Holy mezuzah at the front door will help to build faith and expectancy. Sit together and talk to everyone in the family about the times when God heard your prayers.