I believe one of the biggest fears Christian parents have is that their children will not follow God as they grow older. The tension builds. How much should I talk about God? Not too much to where they would get annoyed, but not too little to where they are ignorant. There’s a balancing act that ensues.
What if there were a few ways where you could join God’s activity in your children’s lives today? I believe there are. Now, you should notice that these 3 things are not geared towards sitting down and preaching to them, but they are geared towards joining with them in experiencing God. In fact, these 3 things come from a great book that I highly recommend called, Experiencing God by Henry & Richard Blackaby.
So, without further ado, here are 3 ways you can join God’s activity in your children’s lives.
1) Pray for your children.
As parents, you won’t know all that your children are facing. You won’t always know what is best for your children either. Acknowledging this reality is freeing because it should point you to the one who knows all. God knows all that your children face on a daily basis. He also knows what is best for them.
Through praying for your children you will be better prepared to guide them in the way of Jesus. When tough times come for your kids (which they will), you’ll be grounded in God’s desires for them. It is always a mistake to assume that God’s desires for our kids are the same as our desires for them. We may pray for no adversity in their lives and yet God knows that they may need to face that adversity for them to become who they were meant to be.[Tweet “Through praying for your children you will be better prepared to guide them in the way of Jesus.”]
Lift up your kids in prayer every day and be sensitive to what God is doing in their lives. You’ll have to slow down to do this, but it will be worth it.
2) Talk with your children about God’s activity.
Every day, you have the opportunity to talk to your kids about the things of God. If you don’t think that this is your responsibility, just read Deuteronomy 6.
What should you talk about, specifically? Talk about what God has done in your life. Talk about what He is doing in your life right now. Talk about what He is doing in other people’s lives. Ask your children what He is doing in their lives.
It is your responsibility to show them when God is doing something in their lives. If you help them see God working in their lives, they’ll be more likely to see Him working on their own.
You can reframe questions to make them God-centered. I love what Blackaby says in Experiencing God about this, “Instead of ‘What would you like to be when you grow up?’ I asked, ‘What do you sense God wants you to do?'”
Remember, the key is not to preach to them, but to help them experience Him![Tweet “The key is not to preach to them, but to help them experience Him!”]
3) Serve with your children.
Quite frankly, there is probably no better way to join in God’s activity in your children’s lives than to serve alongside them. What would this look like?
Serve dinner at a homeless shelter, go on a mission trip together, serve at your local church in an area where you can all be involved at the same time. Many families support a child through Compassion, Holt International, or other organizations which is a great way to serve with your children. They can help you write letters to the child you are supporting. The possibilities are there, you just have to be intentional about finding them.
When you engage in serving alongside your children you are creating memories that point them to God.[Tweet “When you engage in serving alongside your children you are creating memories that point them to God.”]
We must constantly be alert to God’s activity in our children’s lives and be ready to get involved as God invites us. – Henry Blackaby <– Tweet that
Have you done any of these three things with your children? What has your experience been? Let me know in the comments below.
If this article encouraged you, please share it with your friends/followers so they can join God’s activity in their children’s lives.
