Giving Children Opportunities to Pray

Every children’s pastor wants their students to become prayer warriors. Sometimes we teach about prayer consistently and encourage prayer, but we still don’t see a prayer life in our students. That may be because most children’s pastors leave out one step.

Teaching children to pray is a great thing. Teaching children how to pray is even better. But if we don’t give children opportunities to pray in the church, they may not consider it that important or they might feel like that’s something adults do.

Here’s some ways to give your students opportunities to pray:

Let children pray at the altars. When your church has altar calls, are children allowed to pray for needs? There is some teaching that is involved in letting children pray for adult’s needs at the altar, and your pastor must be a part of that decision, but there is nothing greater than child prayer warriors praying for people’s needs at the altar.

Let children pray for your needs. If you have a need, let your students know about it, and ask them to lay hands on you and pray. This is a humbling experience, but there’s nothing like a child’s prayer to touch the heart of God.

Prayer Team: Have a children’s prayer team where your students get together once a week to pray for needs.

Home Prayer: Give the children something to have in their hands to pray at home.

Armor Bearers: Have your students each chose a leader in the church. It is that student’s responsibility to go to that leader, let him know the student has decided to be his armor bearer, and ask what the leader would have him pray. Each week, the student is to touch base with the leader about that leader’s prayer needs. (You might want to clue your leaders in first so that nothing is said to discourage the children.)

Include Children in Prayer Meetings: Children in the Bible were included in prayer meetings. When your church holds church wide prayer meetings, find a way to make sure the children are part of it.

Prayer Shields for Children’s Pastors

Children’s ministry is important to God. That’s why children’s pastors are attacked spiritually and are prone to discouragement. For that reason, it’s important for children’s pastors to have prayer shields.

A prayer shield is an intercessor or someone who stands in the gap in prayer. Children’s pastors need intercessors to stand in the gap for them and the ministry God has entrusted to them.

Ezekiel 22:30 I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.

Pray and ask God who you should have as prayer shields. They must be people you can trust and who will pray for you daily. Once you’ve established two or three people to be your prayer shield, communicate with them weekly to give them input on how they should pray.

This link has a guide on how to pray for pastors and leaders.

Adventures in Prayer Map

An international prayer ministry, Every Home for Christ, has Adventures in Prayer maps for children. These maps are absolutely free and include steps and a schedule for children to pray for every nation on Earth within one month. What a great way to teach children about prayer and about missions. You can order children’s prayer maps here.

Adventures in Prayer (targeted for ages 5-12)

Features an easy step-by-step system to help a child understand the important aspects of daily prayer. The map also features an easy-to-follow numbered world map identifying all 228 nations of the world, photos of children from other regions of the world and even a survival challenge.

Prayer Challenge for Children’s Ministry

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

We all struggle with our areas of ministry at times. Usually when this happens, we evaluate what went wrong, or we develop a plan solve the problems we face. Those things are good, but I have a challenge for you in 2013. Pray about everything.

If you want to start a new ministry, pray and ask God how and when to start it.

If you have problems with workers and staff, pray and ask God how to handle these problems, and pray for the worker you’re having a problem with.

If you feel like you’re not getting through to your students, pray for them and ask God what to do about it.

If you’re not reaching the lost and nobody ever gets saved, pray and ask God how to change that.

If you’re lacking resources, funds, or workers, pray for them.

If students in your ministry are going through difficult times, pray for them, and teach them to pray.

Pray for wisdom. Pray for guidance. Pray for favor and open doors. Pray that God draw you closer to Him so you can hear His voice.

Take God at His Word, and pray for your ministry this year. You might be surprised at the results.

5 Finger Lord’s Prayer

The 5 Finger Prayer

1. Praise

Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name

The prayer starts out by praising God for who He is. Just as we can’t do anything without our thumb, we can’t do anything without God.

2. I Want What God Wants

Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

Pointing your second finger toward Heaven, teach children to pray “I want what God wants.”

3. Biggest chunk of prayer

Give us this day our daily bread.

Our third finger is our biggest finger, just like praying about our needs and the needs of others takes the longest time in prayer.

4. Relationships

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

The ring finger represents relationships. We ask God to forgive our sins so we have a right relationship with God. We ask Him to help us forgive those who have offended us so we have a right relationship with others.

5. Smallest Finger

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Your pinky finger is your smallest finger. That’s why we use it when we ask God to deliver us from temptation and the evil one. Compared to God, the devil is very small.

End With Power

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Remind the children to use their thumb as they end the prayer with praise. Have them bring their thumb over their other fingers to make a fist. This reminds them that their prayer are powerful.

Let the Children Pray by Esther Ilnisky

Let the Children Pray

How God’s Young Intercessors are Changing the World

by Esther Ilnisky

Description:

“From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise… to silence the foe and the avenger” – {Psalm 8:2} Praying children not only get God’s ear, they get results! Better yet, praying children become praying adults. In “Let the Children Pray”, Esther teaches you how your children can be released to pray with purpose and power. Your children can be equipped and released to join the growing army of young warriors who are helping to change both generations and nations. God’s response to the children’s prayers (remarkable testimonies included) confirm a new generation of mighty prayer warriors in our homes and churches – a virtually untapped resource for such a time as this!

My Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Most churches have children occupied in the back room when corporate church prayer meeting take place as if they’re too young to pray. But children can be taught to be intercessors. What’s more, in the Bible, children were always included in prayer meetings. Children’s prayers are powerful. That’s why I loved what Esther Ilnisky wrote in this book. She teaches how we can equip and release our children to pray. All children’s pastors should read it.

Prayer Sponsors For Children

School has started, and children are entering a spiritual war zone. They need prayer. That’s why having a prayer sponsor for each child in your ministry is essential. Here’s a few ideas on how to have prayer sponsors.

Advertise in the congregation. Let the members of the congregation know that they are committing not only to praying for a child every day, but to connecting with that child at least once a month. They should also send the child a birthday card and thinking of you postcards occasionally. Let the sponsors know they are committing to this for one year.

Launch the Program with a Special Day. You could have a special banquet where the prayer sponsors will sit with the children they’re praying for. Or you could have a special children’s anointing service and have each prayer sponsor pray for his or her child. Free plans for a children’s anointing service can be downloaded at this link.

Give Information. Prayer sponsors should be given information about the child they are praying for including age, grade, school, parent’s names, address, email, and phone number.

Have a list of suggestions on what to pray for. You could put these suggestions on a bookmark they can place in their Bibles. Make the bookmarks out of card stock paper. Here’s a list you could use.

School
Family
Health
Activities
Relationship with God

An Opportunity to Give. You can also use this as a way to raise funds for children’s ministry. Give the sponsors enough offering envelopes for the year and suggest they give a certain amount of money to the children’s ministry once a month in the name of the child they are sponsoring. If there are any trips or special events that cost money, the money they give will go toward the child they’re sponsoring.

Invite prayer sponsors to children’s ministry events, and let them know what’s going on in children’s ministry in your church.

The prayer sponsor program can be one of the most effective programs in your children’s ministry. Prayer changes things.