Charlie Gibson and the rest of his national television news coharts are nightly telling of the downward spiral of our nation’s economy. Each week in our church staff meetings, the evidence is seen in the ever increasing number of prayer request forms asking for God to provide jobs and income.
In answer to this mounting dilemma, this past weekend, the Spirit of God woke me up early Saturday morning and challenged me to lead our children in this assault against their families. Then, later in the day, He once again reminded me of His directive to have our children to stand in the gap for their parents.
So, in our three weekend services this past weekend, I reiterated what the children are already hearing on the news about the job situations. Then, I personalized the national news by asking if there were any children whose dads or moms have lost their jobs. Many hands went up in each service. I then briefly shared a prayer principle and led the children in prayer for their parents. We ended this portion of the service by telling them what we expect to happen … parents getting the right job with the right hours with the right salary and benefits SOON!
I plan on making this a continual part of our services. These are teachable, trainable moments. These are times to DEMONSTRATE how prayer works and allow the children to SEE what God will do.
I challenge you to join in with me. Each week, I will add a 3 or 4 minute teaching about prayer. One week, I will teach that Jesus promised, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name I will give it.” What a great time to show the importance and power of praying in Jesus’ name. Another week, I will teach from Matthew 18 about the importance and power found in the prayer of agreement. Another week, I will teach that prayer has no age limits. After the teaching, we will pray and then ask for testimonies.
Here are some suggestions:
1. If you are in a small group setting, journal the requests.
2. Train your children to pray. Demonstrate as you pray for one need and then back off and let the children take over.
3. Pray boldly with confidence. Your boldness will be contagious.
4. Demonstrate expectation. Dare to believe that your prayers are causing change in families’ economic situation.
5. Finally, hold on until you get what you desire. Like Jacob of old when he wrestled with the messenger of the Lord, don’t let go until you get what you so desperately need!
