Teaching Children to Pray

Today as I was researching some information on my lesson to the children for tonight, I ran across this article that just really resonated in my spirit. I wanted to share it with you. It is as follows:

Teaching Children to Pray
By: Teri Spears
A historical sign of revival is children hungering after prayer. While Jesus was walking among us, children were drawn to Him. He blessed and prayed for them. In the Azusa Street revival, there was tremendous spiritual activity among the children. They were intercessors, they saw visions, and many of them were healed. Again today there is a real stir and hunger among children. They want to touch Jesus. We must not be guilty of over looking one of our most powerful resources, our children. We have all heard the saying, “When you change the world of a child, you change the world.” We must teach that child to embrace the world of prayer, enabling them to change their toys into prayer tools, their games into prayer walks, and their conversations into intercessions. Remember that early impressions can become lifetime commitments.
The story of King David killing bears and lions as a child is a constant
reminder that children are powerful in God. What he learned as a child brought him to the forefront to kill Goliath and eventually become king. Joseph is another example of a child dreaming dreams and being ridiculed. But the ridiculing soon became ruling. Let’s not ever count a child out. We may be raising a prophet for the new millennium, an evangelist for the end-time revival, an intercessor for the nations of the world, or a prayer warrior for your local church. Don’t allow your weary years to tarnish their early expectations. Our children’s minds are like canvases, and we must be careful who holds the brushes.
We, as adults, pray for many things of importance to us. Our families, our health, salvation of others, finances, the list could go on and on. But what do adults teach children to pray about, and how do we teach them to pray?
Most children growing up in Christian homes are familiar with the rudiments of prayer.
At least they know the proper ways to begin and end a prayer. Heavenly Father and Amen. But if children are to view prayer as more than a monologue during a church service or a cute recitation before bed, they must be taught.
We teach them to ride a bicycle, to say thank you, to be on time, to clean
their rooms, to respect authority; all of this is good and necessary. But where on that list does the most important aspect of their lives come in?
Prayer becomes more meaningful to children when they practice it.
Encourage children to pray wherever and whenever the need arises. Whatever concerns them, we must encourage them to pray about it. The most promising age to reach them is seven years old. This is why we must teach our children to pray!! We are engaged in a civil war of morals and values. Many of us have slept through the first round of this civil war. Wake up! The only thing we can take to heaven is other people and our own children.
Teaching children to pray is an exciting challenge, but an awesome privilege! In one of my Sunday night prayer meetings with my children, I was taking requests. They love to give prayer requests!
Sometimes you want to laugh and sometimes you can hardly keep the tears from falling.
This particular night we had requests ranging from: my dog has fleas, I skinned my knee, to my brother hit me, my goldfish is sick, but then the bomb dropped. “Would you please pray that my Daddy will be a Daddy? He has moved all his stuff out of his closet and he is gone.” You must be so careful to handle all requests with importance. Don’t teach false hope, but teach faith. God won’t manipulate a father to come home. The father has his own free will. But a child’s petition to God will never be ignored.
We are just the facilitators. God is the sovereignty. God has made prayer
available to everyone, even the youngest child. He is no respecter of persons. And that doesn’t just mean race or social standing. He loves children. If in His limited time in an earthly ministry, He took special time with children, how can we not follow His example? This is one of the most important ministries of this time. It is our responsibility to make prayer an exciting adventure—to entice children to join us in communion with the Almighty. Put aside your feelings of inadequacy. The Holy Spirit will be very close when you touch God’s special “little” people. Make sure prayer time with the children God has put in your care is a joyful time. There is no greater privilege than teaching children to talk to God. You will find they are naturals at it.
This is an excerpt from Teri Spears, booklet, Teach Me To Pray
(This booklet also includes suggestions for praying with children
and children’s prayer meetings.)

Pretty Awesome! This is exactly the direction the Lord is leading Children's Ministry of Warrior Assembly of God in and in my home! It is so exciting to get confirmation from the Lord! Hope you will join in the call to raise up intercessors and forerunners! Our children are our future, what do you see or desire?

Blessings,
April Thomas

A Daily Prayer for Parents and Their Children

I found this prayer the other day that is incredible for us to pray over ourselves as parents and also for our children. There was not an author on it but the contents of it is taken straight from the word of God.

“Daily Confession of Faith”

In Christ I am anointed and a powerful person of God.
I am a joint-heir with Jesus and more than a conqueror.
I am a doer of the Word of God and a channel for His blessings.
If God be for me, who can be against me?
I am blessed coming in and I am blessed
Going out. My enemies are fleeing before me. God has commanded
His blessing on my storehouses. He has opened His
Good treasures and I shall lend and not borrow.
I am the head and not the tail.
He has given me power to make wealth.
I dwell in the secret place I have
His protection and provision. God is my refuge, my fortress
I am not afraid of the snare of the fowler. No
Evil shall befall me and no plague shall come nigh
My dwelling. God has given his angels
Charge over me and they are bearing me up in their hands lest
I dash my foot against a stone, as declared in Psalms 91.
I Peter 2:9 establishes I am a chosen generation,
A royal priesthood, a holy nation.
I am a peculiar person called out of darkness
Into His marvelous light.
I Peter 2:24 states, I have been healed by the stripes of Jesus.
Cancer, sugar diabetes, heart disease, sickness,
Afflictions, infections, or any other disease can not enter my body.
I am without spot or blemish,
An intercessor, the righteousness of God, saved, and washed in the
Blood of Jesus.
“No weapon formed against me shall prosper, and every tongue
Which rises against me in judgment You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their
Righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.
I am saved from wrath by Him and justified
by the Blood of the Lamb.

Lord I pray that those may prosper that love Jerusalem and that peace will be within them and prosperity in their houses according to Psalms 122:6-9.


Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
(Author Unknown)

I hope this encourages you today as it has for me!
April Thomas

The School Year has Officially Started!

The 2009-2010 school year has officially started! As parents, Allan and I have been praying over Austin and his second grade year and Austin has also used his prayer card to pray over his school year, staff and friends. So as I hugged and kissed him this morning on his first day I had the peace and comfort of my Jesus that he is going to have a great year and be in the safe and protective arms of my Lord and Savior! I also declare in Jesus name that he will be a light in the dark places and be a living testimony for Jesus! There is power in the words we speak over our children! "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6. Pray for your children to be leaders and not followers, that they will influence other children and teachers with the love of Christ that is in them, not follow those that have not come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. As my pastor said not long ago, "Beware of the beautiful side of evil". Those words are so true. Your children are never too young nor too old to have your prayer covering surrounding them. Pray over everything they want to do or participate in and who they want to do it with because God is all knowing and knows the beginning and end. Although it may seem harmless, it may not be Gods plan for them or send them in a direction that is not His will. If we pray I know God will keep us from harm and pour out His blessings on us for obeying Him. I encourage you today and everyday, as Ephesians 6:10 says, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."

Blessings,
April Thomas

The Serenity Prayer for Parents and Children

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen. By Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
God has really been speaking to me through this prayer for the last few days. First about us as parents praying this prayer for ourselves. As parents, when our children are faced with adversity of any kind we have the tendency to swoop in and fix their problems (self included!). If we never allow our children to problem solve on their own then they will never learn this life tool for themselves, I also believe that in some children it will give way to low confidence, low self-esteem, and timidity. As stated in the previous blog entry, we need to pray a spirit of Boldness over our children. We need to encourage them first to pray about the problem (the Serenity Prayer would come in here good), then encourage them to solve the problem themselves first. Then if the problem becomes more than they can handle, that is when we should step in, and of course their are problems that are not for our children to handle, we need to pray for discernment over the problem. We are our children's spiritual covering, God placed us in authority over them, which is why it is so important to keep our children covered in prayer. By doing so we can defeat the enemy and his plans to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy hates a praying parent because we have power through God and His word. We also need to pray for a spirit of Boldness for ourselves, in our parenting, and in speaking the word over our children.
Second, the Serenity Prayer is also an excellent prayer for our children to pray for themselves. For children, the abbreviated form of the prayer that is mostly used will be easier for them to learn: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." For them to understand what they are praying you can break the verse down and explain it to them as follows: (this is my interpretation, God may reveal something more to you.)
1. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
explanation: There are somethings in this world we have to give to God and He will handle it as He wills. We can pray about it, but it is not ours to do something about it.
example: Your friends parents are getting a divorce and your friend is very sad about it. You cannot change the fact that they have chosen to divorce but you can be there for your friend and you can give it to God and pray for the family. Only He can change the situation if it is His will and the parents submit to His will because God gave us a free will.
2. Courage to change the things I can.
explanation: God may speak to you or you may have a pull toward something to change or make a difference in, and if God calls us he will equip us and give us the courage to accomplish His will.
example: There is a classmate that does not have any friends and is sad all the time. God may speak to you or you may really feel like you need to try and be their friend. This is something you can change and God will give you the courage to go up to that person and extend friendship to them and also the words to speak life into their life.
3. And wisdom to know the difference.
explanation: If we pray about it, God will let us know if it is something we can change or not. He is all knowing, which means He knows better then we do.
example: When I taught my Children's Church kids "How to hear the voice of God" by Becky Fisher, they learned that when we get a thought in our mind, or a feeling about something, a good way to know if it is from God is by what is called the Red, Yellow, and Green light like a traffic light. Red light is a yucky, scratchy feeling inside, this means Gods is telling us its not from Him. Yellow light is a confusing feeling, not sure about it, God is saying we need to stop and pray about it until we get a Red or Green light from Him. Sometimes our flesh is involved here, either it is from God and our flesh doesn't want to do it or it is not from God but our flesh really wants to do it. Last is the Green light a good, happy, or like going over the hill on a roller coaster feeling (if you like that feeling! ha ha). This means that God is saying go for it I'm preparing your way!
This word and revelation was encouraging and an eye opener for me I hope it will be for you too. Together we can make a difference in our children's life by allowing God to flow in and through us!
Blessings,
April Thomas

Prayers to Pray Over Our Children

One of my daily tasks as a parent is to pray over my son. I also encourage him to pray about different things in his life that are going on at the time. Right now his prayers are very concentrated on the new school year, he uses the prayer card that I posted a link to on my first blog entry. He is seven now and for the last 6 months I guess he has really started to bloom in his prayer life. Although every child is different, so don't get frustrated if you don't see results as you would like, God has His timing for all of us and it is perfect! I did not step into mine until I was 26 years old. I was not raised in an active christian home, I did not see my parents have a relationship with God, therefore I did not know how to have a relationship with Him. I will get into this deeper in another post. My point is if we as parents do not lead and set the example at home, then our children are missing out on how to have a deeper relationship with God and we are also opening the door to outside influences to lead them. Is it possible for a child to have that relationship with God even though it is not taught in the home? Absolutely! I have children on Wednesday night that get on our church bus that are growing everyday in their relationship with God. How much more would that child know and grow if it was a daily learning experience at home?
Here is some prayers I use in praying over my son, when I first made this a daily goal for myself I did not know where to start so I am going to post some I found in different book, websites, ect. Our words are powerful, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21)
A must read for parents is "The Power Of A Praying Parent" by Stormie Omartian, this book is full of specific prayers for your children young or old and also scriptures verses to go with the prayers. There is power in the word of God!
Here is some prayers to bless our children from John Kilpatrick's website:http://www.johnkilpatrick.org/childs-blessing.pdf
The following prayers are from the book "How to Be a God Chaser and a Kid Chaser" by Tommy and Thetus Tenney.
It is titled "A 31-Day Kid Chaser's Prayer Guide for God Chasers":
Day 1: Claim a spirit of REVERENCE.
Scripture focus: Proverbs 9:10
Prayer declaration: A respect of the Lord.

Day 2: Claim a spirit of HUMILITY.
Scripture focus: James 4:7-10
Prayer declaration: A heart of submission

Day 3: Claim a spirit of PURITY.
Scripture focus: Matthew 5:8
Prayer declaration: A longing to be clean

Day 4: Claim a spirit of PURPOSE.
Scripture focus: Proverbs 4:25-27
Prayer declaration: A sense of direction

Day 5: Claim a spirit of SIMPLICITY.
Scripture focus: 1 John 2:15-17
Prayer declaration: A lifestyle free from the world

Day 6: Claim a spirit of COMMITMENT.
Scripture focus: Joshua 24:14-15
Prayer declaration: A determination to stand firm

Day 7: Claim a spirit of DILIGENCE.
Scripture focus: 2 Peter 1:5
Prayer declaration: A willingness to work

Day 8: Claim a spirit of SERVANTHOOD.
Scripture focus: Galatians 6:9-10
Prayer declaration: A desire to help others

Day 9: Claim a spirit of CONSISTENCY
Scripture focus: James 1:5-8
Prayer declaration: A lifestyle of steadiness

Day 10: Claim a spirit of ASSURANCE.
Scripture focus: Hebrews 10:22
Prayer declaration: A depth of conviction

Day 11: Claim a spirit of AVAILABILITY.
Scripture focus: Isaiah 6:8
Prayer declaration: A readiness to obey

Day 12: Claim a spirit of LOYALTY.
Scripture focus: Ruth 1:16
Prayer declaration: A zeal for fidelity

Day 13: Claim a spirit of SENSITIVITY.
Scripture focus: Luke 10:30-37
Prayer declaration: A heart that is soft

Day 14: Claim a spirit of RELIABILITY.
Scripture focus: 1 Corinthians 4:2
Prayer declaration: A depth of dependability

Day 15: Claim a spirit of TENDERNESS.
Scripture focus: 2 Kings 22:19
Prayer declaration: A brokenness before God

Day 16: Claim a spirit of MATURITY.
Scripture focus: Hebrews 5:12-14
Prayer declaration: A capacity to grow

Day 17: Claim a spirit of HOLINESS.
Scripture focus: 1 Peter 1:16
Prayer declaration: A Christlike lifestyle

Day 18: Claim a spirit of COMPASSION.
Scripture focus: Mark 8:1-2
Prayer declaration: A capacity to care

Day 19: Claim a spirit of REVELATION.
Scripture focus: Ephesians 1:15-18
Prayer declaration: A longing to listen

Day 20: Claim a spirit of SELF-DENIAL.
Scripture focus: Luke 9:23
Prayer declaration: A sacrificial heart

Day 21: Claim a spirit of CONFIDENCE.
Scripture focus: Philippians 4:13
Prayer declaration: A baptism in boldness

Day 22: Claim a spirit of INTEGRITY.
Scripture focus: Romans 12:17
Prayer declaration: A commitment to honesty

Day23: Claim a spirit of REPENTANCE.
Scripture focus: Luke 3:8
Prayer declaration: A willingness to change

Day 24: Claim a spirit of TRUST.
Scripture focus: Psalm 125:1
Prayer declaration: A reliance on God

Day 25: Claim a spirit of UNITY.
Scripture focus: 1 Corinthians 1:10
Prayer declaration: A peacemaker's heart

Day 26: Claim a spirit of TEACHABILITY.
Scripture focus: Titus 3:2
Prayer declaration: A hunger to learn

Day 27: Claim a spirit of PRAYER.
Scripture focus: Isaiah 40:31
Prayer declaration: A desire to wait

Day 28: Claim a spirit of SUBMISSION.
Scripture focus: Ephesians 5:21
Prayer declaration: A choosing to yield

Day 29: Claim a spirit of RESTORATION.
Scripture focus: Isaiah 61:1-2
Prayer declaration: A mantle of reconciliation

Day 30: Claim a spirit of AUTHORITY.
Scripture focus: Matthew 16:19
Prayer declaration: A warrior's anointing

Day 31: Claim a spirit of GENEROSITY.
Scripture focus: Matthew 10:8
Prayer declaration: A desire to give

I really love the way Tommy and Thetus Tenney have laid out this prayer Guide. It leaves room for you to add your own prayer, it also gives opportunity for the Lord to speak to you through the scripture verses, and anyone can use this, You can use it to pray over your children, yourself, your Children's Church, your Youth Group, or your Congregation.
I hope these are helpful tools and hope that together we can make a difference for God's kingdom. Let's raise up some mighty soldiers for His kingdom! Please feel free to leave a comment below if this blog is helping or if there is a subject you would like to see on here!
Blessings,
April Thomas

Equipping Our Children with God's Word

This entry is inspired from our church's Monday Night Women's Meeting. For the first hour of our meeting, we have a time of prayer, reading the bible, praise, whatever you feel led to do. Well I brought my Children's Church material to pray over and study. I started praying, "God, what is your heart for the kids this Wednesday?" As I was looking through my material, I felt a pull toward a particular Children's Sermon titled "Hiding God's Word in Your Heart." So then I said "Lord what are you trying to tell me?" Then He said "My Word is going to be an important weapon against the warfare the children will encounter this year." I was also led to this scripture: 10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18
We need to equip our children with the tools they need to be bold in the Lord. I believe God was saying that one of the most important tools we can give them is The Word of God. Here is a link to a website on how to teach your children The Armor of God, which is what I believe God is saying is going to be crucial in their daily lives this year. http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/armorofgod.html
We also need to show and teach our children how to hide God's word in their heart by helping them learn scripture that will combat the things they will be faced with, not only just in school but throughout their lives. Wednesday night part of my lesson is a scripture card game. You take a scripture verse, write each word of the scripture and where it is in the bible on separate index cards, as they start to memorize the verse you start taking out a card that they have to fill in the blank of the word on the card you took out, you do this until they know the whole verse. Very easy to do and fun for the kids!
One of my discussion points for Wednesday is to ask them, "Would it help us at school if we hide God's word in our heart?" How? Let me give you an example: Someone says,"You can't play basketball, you can't even dribble the ball!" God's word says: "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Philippians 4:13" (there is many more scenarios which this verse is good for) Another example: "What if something frightens you?" God's Word says: "For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7"
I encourage you to pray for direction on some scripture verses to help your child/children memorize. My prayer is "Lord, You are all knowing. I pray that you would give me wisdom and revelation on scriptures that will help the children in Children's Church and my son combat things they will be faced with. You know their coming and going, the beginning and end. Please help me to help them."
I believe all scripture is important, please don't think I am making any scripture more important. But I do believe God has spoke a word to us and He will equip us with the tools we need for this time.
Also during the last hour or so of our Women's meeting we come together and share things we've heard from the Lord and just what is on our heart. At the end we prayed for "Boldness". Boldness for ourselves, not to be afraid to witness to people and to be bold enough to be obedient to the things God tells us to do, and for boldness in our children as well. I hope you will join us in that prayer, we all need God to strengthen us and to give us boldness in the things He calls us to do. I am going to post some prayers you can pray over your children from different books I have tomorrow. Together, through God's guidance, I just know we can make a difference!
If you would like to come to one of our Monday night Women's meetings it starts at 6p.m. and usually ends at 8p.m. We meet in the sanctuary at Warrior Assembly of God, across the street from Jack's in Warrior. We would love to have you!

Praying for the Upcoming School Year

I believe that especially now with all that our children are faced with in school that it is extremely important to be in prayer about the upcoming school year. Last night in Children's Church I did a lesson on this, and it was incredible the reponse I got out of the children. These children are faced with so many things at school. Here are some of the things that were shared: "I just want to have a good friend this year", "I want to have a nice teacher that is not mad all the time", "I want to do better on my report card", "I don't want to be the one that gets picked on", and the list went on. I believe it is very important that we sit down with our children and ask them some questions about what they are concerned about for this next school year and then start praying about it with them. We can make a difference and it all starts with prayer, we need to seek God's heart for our school's through prayer and His word and start praying it back to Him. Even if your child is in daycare or preschool this is very important if not more because those people are influencing your children a good part of the day, you can never start too soon! I am including some things I passed out to the children last night that are good tools for you to use to help them to make a difference in their own lives through prayer. I believe that if we equip our children now with the tools they need that when they are faced with a situation they will know what to do, it will be second nature to them. How awesome would it be for your child to be the light and make a difference in another child life? How much more would our children actually learn academically if they were equipped to handle all of the emotional challenges of school?

Here is a link to the Prayer Card I used, if you cannot order it then just write it down, this is an awesome tool, my son put it by his bed and prayed it last night before bed.
http://http//www.navpress.com/images/pdfs/9781600061837.pdf

Here is a page I passed out titled " Specific Prayers to go with My Prayer Card":
1. God, I struggled very hard in_____________. Please help me to do better in this area this school year.
2. God, I had a bad attitude about______________. Please help me to have a good attitude about it this year.
3. God, these 3 things I would like to do better in this school year.
a._________________
b._________________
c._________________
4. God, I was not so nice to_________________ last year. Help me to reflect your love and attitude toward them this year.
5. God, I really want to make a difference in my school this year. I pray that you would show me some things I can do to make a difference. (after you have prayed this and God starts telling you some things or you have a "pull" toward something you can write them on the following lines and then pray that God would show you how to achieve them and that He would give you the strength and courage to start doing them and accomplish them.)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

I hope this stirs something in you and we can "Parent with Passion" and help make a difference!