prayer

January 18, 2017

Developing a Kids Ministry Prayer Team

I’ve probably never met another Kids Minister who said he did not believe in prayer. But, do we really? Do we truly practice biblical praying when it comes to our kids ministries? I must confess that as a kids minister I often rushed into action exerting my own efforts and then prayed, “Dear God, bless this mess!”

Lately, God has spoken to me and made me aware that every Kids Ministry should have a Prayer Team. It occurred to me that our churches will always have folks who do not feel led to teach kids on a weekly basis. But, they would agree to be part of a Kids Ministry Prayer Team. My vision would be to enlist a team of folks to your Kids Ministry Prayer Team. The goals of the group would be to:

Pray for you on a regular basis. Pray for your health, your wisdom, and your protection from the evil one. Receive from you “personal” prayer requests.
Pray for kids leaders on a rotating basis. Part of this assignment would also be to write notes of encouragement to leaders letting them know that they had been prayed for.
Participate in “prayer walks” throughout your kids ministry areas … asking God to reach boys and girls and for protection against evil in your ministry area. Some might be willing to prayer walk through your ministry area while teaching is occurring.
Pray for a dedicated classroom and leaders regularly.
Pray for leadership needs in the Kids Ministry area.
Pray specifically for physical and spiritual needs of the kids and families in your Kids Ministry.

I believe there are many folks who would be willing to be a part of your Kids Ministry Prayer Team. Why don’t you take this possibility to the Lord in “prayer” and see what develops?

Jerry Vogel is an Editorial Ministry Specialist in LifeWay Kids. He is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University and has served over 40 years in Kids Ministry at the local church level as well as at LifeWay. Jerry currently teaches four-year-olds at his church.

Bible Study, Devotional, Kids Ministry, Parenting, Prayer, Preschool, Preteen, Resources, Spiritual Disciplines

October 2, 2015

Teaching Kids to Pray

By Kids Ministry 101

by Mary Wiley

No matter if a child is learning to deal with his parents’ divorce or is just sad because he has to wait his turn to play on the swing, kids face battles both big and small. As parents and those who serve kids in the church, you can equip kids to fight those battles wisely through prayer. Teaching kids the spiritual discipline of prayer can feel daunting, and for many parents, they don’t feel capable of teaching their kids something that they also find to be a struggle. We want to equip you in the way you equip kids and parents to strengthen their prayer lives through three resources tied to the movie WAR ROOM.

Below are 5 tips and 3 resources to help you equip kids and parents in their journey toward healthy prayer lives. Let us know what you would add in the comments!

Tip #1: Model prayer daily.

When kids see that you view prayer as important, they will realize that it is also important in their own lives.

Tip #2: Pray for God to do big things.

Remind kids that God is big enough to do all things. He can heal the sickest of the sick and help the most helpless. Praise God for His power and also rely on Him to work.

Tip #3: Pray for God to do small things, too.

Being afraid of the dark or not being able to find a favorite toy might seem big to some kids, but we know in the grand scheme of things it’s a small thing. Make sure to pray for the small things. Never tell a kid their prayer request isn’t worth praying for. All things are worth taking to the Lord, and the Bible says that He cares for all of our concerns.

Tip #4: Talk about what it means to pray without ceasing.

This is a verse we like to throw around sometimes without a lot of explanation, but for a kid’s concrete mind, this sounds like never opening our eyes and having a really bad crick in our necks from bowing our heads for so long. Help kids understand that God wants us to talk to Him like we would a good friend – throughout the day.

Tip #5: Start now!

Don’t feel defeated if you haven’t been praying with your children each day. Each day is new and there’s no better day to start than today! Don’t worry about teaching your children perfectly. Ask God to help you and your children better understand prayer. He is faithful!

3 Resources for Kids:

Peter’s Perfect Prayer Place

This story for ages 4-8 follows Peter as he tries to find the perfect place to pray to God. Peter learns that God hears his prayers, no matter where he is, so the perfect place to pray is anywhere that you are!

Prayer Works

This training guide will equip your 8-12 year olds to develop a strategic, growing prayer life. It is filled with activities, illustrations, and journaling prompts for kids to experience to help them think through why they should pray, why their prayers matter, and if God will answer their prayers.

This Means War

Isn’t being a teenager a war in itself? Grab this book for those 13 and up to encourage them in their prayer life. This book includes journaling space and also short chapters that answer questions that teens have about prayer. There is no better skill to teach your children than to teach them to pray. As you seek to equip parents and children’s ministry leaders, consider offering up these resources developed alongside the movie WAR ROOM. Our children are walking into battle everyday. Let’s teach them the right way to fight.

Encouragement, Prayer

April 16, 2014

Devotional: Are You in a Slump?

By Cristy Whitlock

“God, I really need a hit this at bat. I’m in such a slump. Help me get a double?”

I remember having these conversations with The Lord during softball season. Maybe it sounds silly, but my belief in God’s sovereignty and His tailored pursuit for my love is enough to convince me that He cares about batting averages. After praying these things, I remember standing on second base, third base, or even back in the dugout after a homer and thanking God for helping me see the ball into the zone.

When you play a game often enough, slumps are inevitable. Over time, exhaustion, apathy, and a gradual decrease in attention to details can bring about disappointment. This can be true in kids ministry. Your kids ministry team might be doing extremely well this season. Maybe your numbers are growing, volunteers are overflowing, and you’re watching kids catch onto the beauty of the Gospel every Sunday. If this is the case with your church right now, praise God! Seasons of abundance are encouraging and strengthening to the rest of us!

For those in a slump, here’s one piece of advice:

Ask God for help.

While this seems obvious enough, sometimes we forget to make requests to The Lord. If God cared about the amount of hits I got in a season of softball, he most certainly cares about the details of your kids ministry. So today, tell God exactly how you feel. Are you tired? Are you out of ideas? Do you need encouragement? Ask.

“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Cristy Whitlock serves with the LifeWay Kids Marketing Team. A native Texan, her heart for ministry led her to Nashville in 2013. Her passions include loving on African children, playing sports, and serving in college ministry, which she does at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN.

Encouragement, Prayer, Sunday School, Training

December 10, 2013

Prayer: Teaching Kids Spiritual Disciplines

By Jeff Land

Developing the discipline of prayer in kids is like trying to build muscle. It takes a lot of time and repeated practice. Each time you encourage your child to pray, he becomes more keenly aware of the ability that he has to talk with his Father.

“Thank you God for the birds. And thank you God for Mama and Daddy. And thank you God for my lovely bed. And thank you God for our “wunnerful” house. And help Will to not be in chaos. Amen.”

I love nightly prayers with my boys. Nash is a wonderful prayer already. I love his use of words like lovely, wonderful, and chaos that are not normally words you would hear from a 5-year-old. We have prayed with our boys since they were young. We pray at mealtimes and we pray at bedtime. We pray in the car on the way to school. Our boys know that prayer is an important tool that God gave us as a way to communicate directly with Him.

As a Sunday School teacher, it bothers me when kids are too shy to pray because they don’t know what to say. I pray that I am teaching my boys that they can talk to God and tell Him anything. God already knows how their days are going, who the bullies are, and how badly they want their pet fish to be healed, but He never gets tired of hearing from them. As adults we must pattern a life of talking with God about the small things and the big things.

A few weeks ago, I had the honor and blessing of leading my oldest son, Reed, in praying the most important prayer he will ever pray. Reed is a timid child in many ways, but when it came to accepting Christ, he wanted in all the way. He gladly prayed a prayer asking Jesus to forgive him and be his Savior.

Here are five ways to help kids practice their prayer muscle:

1. Have them pray Bible verses.

Encourage kids to choose a favorite Psalm and pray it as a praise to God. This helps them feel comfortable about not knowing the “right” thing to say.

2. Ask kids to say sentence prayers.

Allowing kids the opportunity to pray simple one sentence prayers in groups helps them to become comfortable with prayers in public.

3. Listen to songs about prayer.

Recently, I heard about recording artist Mandisa’s song “Dear John” in which she recorded prayers for her brother’s salvation under the track of her singing the song. Last week as my wife drove down the highway with our son’s in tow, Reed blurted out “Nash, I need you to pray the special prayer so one day you will live with me in Heaven.” Dear John just happened to be playing on the radio. God hears the prayers of His children.

4. Create a prayer board at home.

Place a poster board or sheet of paper on a wall or your fridge. Write down your families prayer request and pray for them daily. Mark times when God has answered those prayers.

5. Pray often and pray with your kids.

Priscilla Shirer wrote that she prayers over her sons that they will be men of honor, integrity, and character. Each morning we pray the same prayer over our boys. Kids notice when you pray for certain aspects. They ask questions and learn about the way you feel about prayer. If it is important to you, your kids will notice.

Read these other posts:

Read other posts in the Spiritual Disciplines series.

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Jeff Land loves Life! That’s pretty great, because his job here at LifeWay is the Team Leader for Bible Studies for Life: Kids. Jeff loves his life which is so blessed by his amazing wife, Abbey, and their four sons, Reed, Nash, Will, and Tuck. A natural encourager and fun-lover, look for Jeff’s posts about teacher appreciation and game ideas. When not serving at work, Jeff serves 2nd graders at his church, First Baptist Church, Joelton, TN.

Leadership, Training

October 17, 2013

Garbage In…Garbage Out

By Jerry Vogel

I very well remember the first time I heard the expression “Garbage in…garbage out!” It was used to describe computers and the fact that they can only “spit out” what has first been “placed in.”

I think about the same time yet another phrase surfaced — “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Once again, I realized that a lemon can only produce lemon juice when it gets squeezed. Not cherry juice…Not orange juice.

Aren’t we as kids leaders much like that, too? When we find ourselves in the midst of a group of children and get “squeezed”…the only thing that can come out is what we have been “putting in” on a regular basis. Obviously, none of us want that to be “garbage.” We should concern ourselves with spending time with the Lord on a regular basis and filling ourselves with His Word, wisdom, and guidance.

We can have all of the greatest activities for kids at our finger tips, but if we have not been spending time with God, we will never be the teachers he wants us to be.

Read Psalm 1:1-3 and consider whether or not God is calling you to spend a little more time with Him so that He can fill you with substance. After all, we as teachers teach from the overflow of what we are learning from God. We teach what we are!

Leadership, Missions, Prayer, Special Needs, Sunday School, Training, Vacation Bible School

August 19, 2013

6 Ways to Pray with Kids

By Cristy Whitlock

The following post was written by Mona McDonald, Family Ministries Coordinator of First Southern Baptist Church Scottsdale, Arizona.

You can make a difference in the lives of children and their families by praying for them and by teaching them how to pray.

The prayers of a child are special to God because the child is special to Him. One of the greatest gifts teachers can give to a child is to teach them to pray. Prayer can be fun and simple to teach. Try these ideas with children and encourage their families to try them, too:

• Prayer walk outside, thanking God for the beauty of creation
• Prayer walk your church and school campus, stopping at doors to pray for the person who works or teaches in that room
• Adopt a missionary kid your class can pray for; obtain a picture of the child so they can see for whom they are praying
• Take children to the altar one at a time and pray with her about something she suggests
• Make a Prayer Notebook using a three ring binder and sheet protectors. Include letters and pictures of missionaries, government leaders, or church leaders in the notebook as prayer reminders
• Make it a “special gift” to be prayed for on their birthday; Numbers 6:24-26 is a great scripture to pray for each child

You can also pray these Scriptures for children and families:

Deuteronomy 6:5: May this child love the Lord our God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength.

Joshua 24:15: But as for these households, may they serve the Lord.

Uncategorized

December 5, 2012

Praying for Kids and Families

By Katie DeCillo

The following is a guest post written by Mona McDonald, Family Ministries Coordinator at First Southern Baptist Church Scottsdale, Arizona.