How do you mobilise children to pray? The question was thrown to children at a recent conference and the immediate suggestion is as expected of children of this generation – through the Internet by for example, starting a blog, creating a Facebook account and going on Skype. Also proposed were the more conventional ways such as attending prayer conference and bringing friends to church.
Interestingly, the adults’ reply to the question was: Start from ourselves – parents and teachers – by setting the example of praying and gathering to pray; and get the churches, from top down to children’s leaders, excited about prayer. In addition, children must be exposed to local and overseas outreach work through, for example, the Children At Risk ministry, and taught to pray for the work.
The response from both ends of the age group – children and adults – have been noted by the conference organiser who will then map out strategies to increase prayerfulness among our children.
The discussion was held at the recent Children in Prayer (CIP) consultation held in Penang organised by the Malaysia National Prayer Network. Thirty children, 23 youths and 63 adults participated in the three-day conference aimed at raising prayer awareness among children and youths.
Asked what God was doing among the children in the country, the children said:
- God is using His children to preach to the ‘Ishmaelites’, to pray for people and share the gospel;
- He is building the next generation;
- Blessing His children with prophetic gifts; and
- Drawing children to Himself and protecting them from worldly things.
The adults’ responded similarly. “He has put His call upon us (adults) to take on the mandate to raise the next generation of prayer warriors for Him. The enemy is attacking the next generation. The only way to protect them is to teach them to pray,” one adult participant stressed.
Another adult participant commended the organiser for the consultation, noting that they had laid a “crucial building block in God’s Kingdom for the next generation”. Besides the discussions, the children and teens also learnt from the adults how to lead effective prayer lives and worship more passionately.
One adult participant commented, “I can feel the presence of God in all sessions, especially the praise and worship sessions. I learnt how to explode and can feel the presence of God more clearly now. At the last session, as the kids were praying for the adults, they began to be filled with the Spirit and cry. It is as if they knew what the adults were going through and were feeling the adults’ burden.”
Another adult participant was inspired by the different generations from different denominations coming together in one unit at the consultation.
However, Zoe Lim, 13, felt that the messages were directed more at the parents at the consultation than the children. She also hoped that someday, such consultations would be organised entirely by children under 20.
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