How to Help Your Kids Hear God’s Voice
Jesus often gave natural lessons that had spiritual implications.
For example, when He spoke in parables about the harvest, He was using a natural reality that His listeners would have been familiar with in order to teach them about a superior one in the spiritual world (see Matt. 13). Likewise, husbands and wives are to love one another (see Eph. 5). That is absolutely true in the natural. But the united family is also prophetic imagery for Jesus’ love for His Bride, the Church. The structure and commitment of the earthly family speaks prophetically of what it means to be a part of the family of God.
The prayer that Jesus taught to His disciples began with the words, “Our Father.” We are united under the family of God—brothers and sisters in Christ, who raise up sons and daughters. Every expression of His kingdom, every manifestation of His will on the earth, reveals itself within the context of family. Once you leave the concept of family life—the relational aspect of God’s nature—you have left the subject of the kingdom.
When I was a young father, I spent the majority of my prayer and Bible-study time devoted to discovering what the Scriptures had to say about being a good husband and father. As a priority for a pastor, that might sound strange to some, but those were the topics that consumed my time and focus with the Lord. I knew that my family was the first and most important church I would ever pastor. So, I wanted to know what the Lord had to say about family. I didn’t want to succeed in ministry but fail at home. I didn’t want to impact crowds without impacting my own children.
“I knew that my family was the first and most important church I would ever pastor.”
We began to develop this culture within our home by nurturing each one of our children’s personal relationship with God. Each child is unique. What worked for my boys didn’t work for my daughter. Remember, the Bible says that we are to raise up each child “in the way that he should go” (Prov. 22:6). It doesn’t say that we are to raise up our children in the ways we think they should go. We have the honor of stewarding the destinies and futures of individuals who have been uniquely designed by the Creator of the universe to impact the world for His glory. There’s no better setting than the home to teach children about God’s heart for them.
Cultivating your child’s intimacy with God, however, will not happen by accident. The busyness of life tends to invade all of our good intentions. The most important things have to be intentionally scheduled; otherwise, as various things begin to pull on us, we will lose sight of the important role we play in our children’s lives. Tools such as the Moments with Jesus Encounter Bible allow parents and grandparents to engage with children in a purposeful way. We will never regret sowing time into facilitating our children’s relationship with God.
“We have the honor of stewarding the destinies and futures of individuals who have been uniquely designed by the Creator of the universe to impact the world for His glory.”
Beni and I tried to cultivate our kids’ connection to God in a variety of ways. We expected our children to hear God’s voice, so they learned to expect it as well. We tried not to make it a spooky, intense ordeal for them but rather simply invited them to listen to God’s voice frequently, but without pressure. We would be in a small group with both children and adults, and I would say, “Tell me what you think God’s doing in their life” pointing to someone in the room. Children would often speak with clarity and insight, bringing great encouragement to that individual. We were training them to hear God and speak from their conviction. Eventually, it became very natural for them.
We also invited them into our own relational journey with the Lord. I remember several times through their growing-up years when I became upset at something or was disrespectful to someone—maybe one of the kids or the guy driving the car that had just cut me off. I would confess to the whole family and have my kids lay hands on me and pray for me. We invited them to experience our conviction, but also participate in our repentance and forgiveness as we pursued the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.
“We expected our children to hear God’s voice, so they learned to expect it as well. We tried not to make it a spooky, intense ordeal for them but rather simply invited them to listen to God’s voice frequently, but without pressure.”
They began to understand that everything in our lives rotated around our value for the presence of God. They witnessed our prayer and Bible-reading times, our worship, our mistakes, and our victories as we matured in Christ. And we made a point of bringing awareness to their growth as well. When one of them would honor or serve the other, I would stop them, saying, “Do you know what that was?” They would look up at me as though they were in trouble. But I would say, “That was a fruit of the Spirit. That was kindness. It is an evidence of the Holy Spirit working in your life. I’m so proud of you. Good job.”
We have the incredible responsibility of demonstrating what God and His world are like when we raise our children and grandchildren. As parents, we rule our homes for the purpose of protection, but we also serve with the purpose of empowering our children. We want to release young people into their destiny. That is the privilege of parenting.
Our book, Moments with Jesus, invites your children or grandchildren to powerfully encounter the Jesus who worked miracles, spread hope, and joyfully blessed children, knowing each of them by name. In these pages, they will get to imagine what it would have felt like to be standing next to the Son of God, the Son of Man. Through engaging storytelling, the children in your life will be able to feel for themselves the incredible truths of the gospel: God sees and knows them, Jesus chose them and sacrificed everything for them to be with Him for eternity. The kind of atmosphere created by these insights inspire children to dream the dreams that bring glory to God. With that as their foundation, our children will be ready to take on any giant that comes their way.
