Don’t pressure your children. In your prayers say the things that you want to tell them. Children don’t listen through their ears, but only when divine grace comes to enlighten them do they listen to the things we want to tell them. When you want to say something to your children, tell it to the Panagia and she will bring it to pass. This prayer of yours will be like a spiritual caress which embraces your children and will grab their attention. Sometimes we try to caress them and they react against it, but they never react against the spiritual caress.
(Elder Porphyrios, +1991)
-From the book Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives & Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece by Herman A. Middleton
