National Day of Prayer Kids' Event—a Children’s Prayer Walk!
Photos from a recent National Day of Prayer Children’s Prayer event in Oklahoma City.
Click on a photo below to enlarge.
| Children Pray in the USA banner carried in by kids at the National Day of Prayer Children’s Prayer Walk, OKLA. City |  |
| Kids praying with members of the military at the NDP Children’s Prayer Walk |  |
| Firemen receiving prayer on NDP Children’s Prayer Walk |  |
| Cheri Fuller at the NDP Children’s Prayer Walk with her grandson, Noah. |  |
A Children’s Prayer Walk is a wonderful way for our nation to say that prayer isn’t just for adults; it’s for kids too! The National Day of Prayer Children’s Prayer Walk is a fun way to unite the family and the community. The prayerwalk can take place at a church, park or other public place. Kids get a passport and go to each station—police, firemen, emergency workers, schools, leaders, etc. to pray for those people.
If you’re interested in doing this event in your city or town, write cheri@cherifuller.com for a “Children’s Prayer Walk Idea Kit” and video of a NDP Prayer Walk. A picture is worth a thousand words! Start planning now!
To learn how to start a National Day of Prayer Children’s Prayer Walk in your community, click here.
A Legacy of Prayer
We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. —1 Thess. 1:2
Some people have the resources to leave large sums of money to their loved ones when they die. Others will leave a great legacy through hospitals and university buildings named after them. A few will leave vast real estate holdings or a family business. But this verse expresses the greatest legacy we can leave to our children, grandchildren and loved ones: it’s the legacy of prayer. Your prayers for your family and others are never in vain. God will hear and bless them and fulfill His plans for their lives as you pray. But the blessing won’t stop when you leave this earthly body for heaven. Your prayers will continue to have an impact! Your prayers will outlive your life! You can give your kids many gifts and be a positive influence in this life, but the greatest influence and gift you can give them is your prayers.
From Cheri Fuller’s new devotional, One Year of Praying Through the Bible (Tyndale), Sept. 2003
A Prayer For You:
Father, I thank you for the gift of prayer and for my children, grandchildren, other family members and friends. I pray today on the behalf of . Bless them, draw them into a closer relationship with you, and help me to be faithful praying for them constantly as long as I have breath!
JUST FOR KIDS (and their parents)
Hotline From Heaven
A big part of prayer is the listening part. If we leave the listening out of prayer, it’s like asking someone questions and then turning and running out of the room. We’d miss the very answers we wanted! So let’s take a look at our “Hotline from Heaven.”
Did you know that God wants to talk to you? In chapter 10 of John, Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd and we are His sheep. Sheep always recognize and listen to the voice of their shepherd—that’s what keeps them from getting lost or eaten by a wolf! For some of the same reasons, Jesus wants you to recognize His voice when He speaks to you.
No matter how young you are, since you have the same Holy Spirit inside you as grownups do, you can hear God. He loves to hear you talk to Him when you pray. But prayer isn’t just talking to God. Prayer is also listening, because God loves to talk to you, too.
“Around us is a world lost in sin, above us is a God willing and able to save; it is ours to build the bridge that links heaven and earth, and prayer is the mighty instrument that does the work. If we do our part, God will do his.”
—E. M. Bounds
How do you know God will speak to you? It’s a promise! In Jeremiah 33:3, God says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Some people call this verse, “God’s Hotline”—and you can use it to call Him any time, day or night. God will never put you on hold or just leave you a voice mail message! He is straining His ears to hear you. But when you call on God, don’t forget to listen for what He has to say back to you!
You can prepare to hear God by getting quiet and waiting a few minutes. (Waiting is hard for everyone, but we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us be still and wait.) It also helps to get rid of any “clutter” that can block you from hearing God. You see, God is speaking all the time, but there is inside clutter (sin in our hearts, like disobeying or lying) and outside clutter (like the noise of video games, TV or a CD player) that make it hard to hear God.
To hear God, start by confessing the things you’ve done wrong, because sin clogs up your “spiritual ears.” Turn off the TV and video games and plug into God. You may be surprised at what God says to you!
Cheri’s article originally appeared in PrayKids! Magazine
God Speaks to Kids
After you get rid of the “clutter” and start to pray, invite the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts and prayers and wait a moment. Here are some ways God may speak to you:
- Sometimes He shows you what He wants you to pray by putting someone’s name in your mind or you sense a burden for them. If so, pray for them!
- God may bring a picture into the movie screen of your mind of who you can help or what’s on His heart for you to pray about
- God often directs our prayers by bringing a Bible verse to our mind. So it’s important to pray with your Bible handy!
Changing Our Minds About Children
“You fly in after speaking all weekend to pray with kids? And why do you have ‘Prayer Class’ instead of doing a regular Sunday School lesson?” someone asked me recently. They were referring to the “Prayer Class” I was leading for children aged 6-12 on Sunday mornings once a month.
“Because the kids are terrific pray-ers,” I answered, “and this is how God has provided for them to Know Him—through talking and listening to Him!” For example, last Sunday in our church, before the kids were dismissed for children’s church before the sermon, they all came up to the front of the sanctuary and Samuel, nine, was asked to pray at the microphone before they left.
“Lord, help us all to have fun worshipping You and to have a good day. For anyone who has been hurt or who’s in pain, please heal them. And God, make us all holy! In Jesus name, Amen,” he prayed. Samuel’s prayer was short but like the young Samuel in the Bible, impacted many.
Those of us who work, play and pray with children know there is no junior version of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who burdens adult Christians to pray for an unsaved person at home or an unreached people in a foreign country also indwells Christian children. God can guide a seven-year-old on what to pray, just as He reveals His will to a 27 or 70 year old person.
One of those times I observed this was a Sunday morning prayer walk when I led kids from our church around a public elementary school nearby. In my small group, one little girl saw the blue “Disabled Parking” sign and prayed, “Jesus, help the kids who have trouble learning and who have to be in wheelchairs or have handicaps. Protect them from teasing and let them know You love them.”
As we continued walking around the building, another child said, “I was really sad when my parents got a divorce. Let’s pray for all those children whose moms and dads are divorced.”
“Help their parents, Lord, to be godly and loving. Help their families get back together and please comfort the kids,” she prayed.
The children prayed for teachers and the principal to know Jesus, for every student to be saved, and even for the janitor. It took only twenty minutes, but I believe the children’s prayers made an eternal difference.
Too often, kids are not brought into the prayer circle and as adults we underestimate their spiritual capacity. We figure when they grow up, when they have longer attention spans or vocabularies, they can join the prayer meetings, but in the meantime, we have to keep them busy at home and church. But the truth is kids can be wonderful prayer partners right now. They can learn to pray effectively if we tailor prayer times to their present ability to focus and show them how to target their prayers. As we do, God can use their prayers to impact the world.
Here are some ways:
Change your mind about children’s spiritual capacity. Ask God to open the eyes of your understanding so you can see the children in your life as He sees them. Ask Him to change your limited perspective and broaden your vision of their potential.
Start young. Teach your children to talk to God when they’re toddlers and pray with them throughout childhood. Giving them real things (problems at school, events in our nation or city, people who are needy of God’s help) to pray about now increases the likelihood of their becoming pray-ers for a lifetime. Harness their childlike faith and model how to share thoughts with God in a natural manner. Then they can experience answers to prayer and build their own history of God’s faithfulness and know Him more as they grow.
Invite them to pray for specifics. Assign small prayer targets to each child, like this, “Jen, could you pray for blessings and healing for Grandma since she’s in the hospital?” “Kelly, would you pray for Dad before he leaves town for God’s protection?” Assure them that God is listening and that their prayers will make a difference.
This article was adapted from When Children Pray:Teaching Your Kids to Pray With Power, (Multnomah Publishers) and originally appeared in ParentLife Magazine. Reading the many wonderful stories of God working through the prayers of children in this book will inspire your heart and give you many practical suggestions and ideas on teaching your kids to pray.
