A Prayer for Children: Joy and Happiness

The joy of being that dwells within the present

Hearing a child laugh lightens your mood and puts a smile on your face. For a moment, the joy of the child gives the weary mind relief. By living in the present, children can express the gift of joy that dwells within each of us.

Things do not have to be perfect for a child to be happy. There was a little girl with Down syndrome who received horse therapy where my son did. I looked forward to seeing her every week. She would show up smiling and in character. I would ask her dad, “What are we today?” and for the most part, every week was different.

In making room for children’s imagination, delight, and joy, we are lifted up to a world of limitless possibilities for our own happiness, which is reflected in our interactions with others and our expectations of good.

The day she came dressed as a princess is especially vivid in my mind. Beautiful pink dress, golden crown, her riding boots, and a magic wand. She also announced that her horse was a unicorn. She indeed was enchanting, and her magic was the joy she was able to sprinkle around her. Unimpeded, she was creating the world in which she wanted to live, and the core of it was pure joy.

We can support the children in our lives by encouraging them as they create their vision of joy. At this moment in time, we are experiencing unrest, insecurity, and fear, among other emotions, and our children perceive and interpret the circumstances according to what they see from the adults they trust in their life.

In making room for their imagination, delight, and joy, we are lifted up to a world of limitless possibilities for our own happiness, which is reflected in our interactions with others and our expectations of good.

A Prayer for Children’s Joy and Happiness

Let’s find that space of joy within us as we move into a time of prayer. As we center our hearts and minds in sacred delight, our worries, fears, and challenges dissipate.

We visualize our hearts linking with the hearts of the dear children in our lives through joy.

We cease to put limits on what is possible and embrace what is real. Joy is real.

We hold a safe place for children to explore their imagination and to be free to live their vision of happiness.

We release, let go, and trust that joy will light the road that leads us to a life where we can be all we can be.

We let our hearts come out and play with all the children in the world!

Amen.

A Shared Family Prayer for Joy and Happiness

We pray together with a sense of joy and possibilities.

We see beyond whatever we might see or hear in the news. We play on the fertile soil of our imagination.

We cease putting limits on what we think is possible. All things are possible, which includes a happy and fulfilled life here and now, for us and for our beloved children.

Children are expressions of the joy of God.

As we go forth in these uncertain times, we claim our joy, share our joy, and let it be the compass in our journey to a future filled with happy blessings.

And so it is!

Together we affirm:

Did you know? All children are welcome to pray with Unity Prayer Ministry associates.