PRAYING WITH YOUR CHILDREN

MEMORY VERSE: and God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of the God called to Hagar out of heaven and said unto her, what aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath the voice of the lad where he is, Genesis 21:17

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deut 6, Ps 89, Isa 34, Rev 4

BIBLE STUDIES: Genesis 21:14-22

When it comes to spiritual activities like praying and fasting, many parents don’t engage their children because they believe they are too small. As parents and adults, please do not despise little children especially when it comes to spiritual matters. They may be very little but Jesus does not play with their prayer requests. Matthew 18:10 says take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. If you are thinking a child is too small to hear from God, you are making a big mistake. This is why I weep for parents whose children miss Sunday school, they doing those children a great disfavor.

There are several reasons why you need to start engaging your little children in spiritual activities. There are several reasons why it pays to ask them to agree with you when you are seeking the face of God on an issue. Matthew 5:8 says blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. In other words to see God in action in your situation, you must possess a pure heart. To always get a quick response every time you pray to God, you need to be pure in heart. To improve your spiritual signal so you that you can hear God every time He speaks, you need a clean heart or a pure heart. What is a pure heart? A pure heart is a heart that is devoid of bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy, negative thoughts e.t.c. Most children are in possession of such heart because they are innocent. They don’t keep grudges, they are not jealous, they hate no one, they judge no one, their heart is empty of malice e.t.c. Because they are in possession of such heart, their spiritual signals are very good and every time they call on God He listens.

We see in our bible studies that it was the cry of Ishmael (the young son of Hagar) that caught the attention of God. God could not stand the cry of this young boy; He had to urgently send an angel to sort Hagar out. Another reason why your children needs to be your prayer partner is that once in a while, worries of life and other emotions make it difficult to hear when God is speaking. During this period when your faith is weak, God speaks through the mouth of these little children. If you do not make them your prayer partners, God speaking through them to you might be difficult.

ACTION POINTS: Give your children the opportunity to lead prayer during devotions. Ask for their inputs during bible studies.