Practice Makes Perfect! (Training Kids to Hear Gods’ Voice)
Risk and reward go hand in hand in the Kingdom of God. When God distributes a spiritual gift to his child, his child is then responsible to use that gift. If the gift is not used it weakens and if left dormant too long becomes seemingly non-existent until it is used again.
This spiritual principle applies to the natural world as well. Take bodybuilding for example. If a bodybuilder consistently works out his muscles grow bigger, however, if he stops, his muscles deflate and become flabby, turning to fat. We have all seen the professional athlete who retired, stopped working out and his muscles turned to body fat.
A spiritual gift when consistently used and exercised grows and develops but when left alone shrinks. As spiritual people, we run the risk of becoming spiritually weak in our gifts if we stop using them. So how can children practice hearing God's voice through visions and pictures?
The obvious answer is in church. Children can practice safely in a kids' church environment that is stewarded well by the children's team in the church. It is a safe, protected place for kids to practice and learn to receive revelation and impart interpretation. It is a controlled environment where gentle instruction and encouragement can lay a firm foundation for children to learn to hear God's voice. This could be considered level 1.
A next step could be practicing at home. Parents can help children practice by having children intentionally ask God questions and write down or draw what they hear or see. Once the revelation has been written down the child can ask God for an interpretation (what does this mean?). This can be done with parents present. This way parents can assist children in the mentoring process of learning to hear God's voice. The child can also ask God to show them something for their mum, dad, or sibling under the safety and security of their parents covering. This could be considered level 2.
The third and riskier step is for children to practice at school or at their sporting or community clubs. As children become more confident they can ask God to speak to them for a friend, a teacher, or a coach. This is where the risk goes up exponentially, but so does the reward.
Can you imagine how encouraged a child will feel if they are accurate when they share God's voice in their spheres of influence?!
This step would best be done in conjunction with kids' church leaders and parents who recognize the gift on a child's life and intentionally train and develop the child to a level of gift maturity that is coupled with the wisdom to exercise their gift in a secular context.
As an adult, I find this tough! I always feel scared, there is a danger in stepping out, but oh the joy if I am accurate and can bless someone with an encounter with the living God!
Just last week I went to get a facial (yes I am a male!). During the facial, there was a time where I was left by myself. I asked God ‘Do you have a word of knowledge for this woman?’ God showed me this women's grandmother in a church with a Priest. I recognized that she was very religious. The Priest was doing religious rituals with her that she took very seriously.
The women came back and my heart was beating a million miles an hour, but I mustered up the courage and asked her “were your grandparents religious?" The woman got excited and told me how her grandmother was super-religious, how her prayers saved her life, and that she witnessed miracles because of her grandmother's prayers! I was blown away and shared the vision I saw about her grandmother. She was blown away and recognized that God was real at that moment. She said she had tingles all over.
This woman wasn't a Christian, she was open to spirituality but not a born again Christian. My hope is this encounter increases her hunger to know Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. I walked away so thankful to God and humbled by his grace.
Risk carries a sense of failure if you are wrong but such joy when you are accurate and I have discovered that God is more interested in our taking a risk than our being right. Every time I have taken a risk he has rewarded me with greater revelation post me risking, whether I was accurate or not. We serve such a good God!
So as parents, how can we train our children in revelation and interpretation?
Of the three levels described in this blog the second level of intentionally training your kids to hear God's voice in the safe environment of your own home might be the best place to start?
However, if you have been intentionally teaching your children to hear God’s voice and are confident in their ability and proficiency, it may be time to release your children to share God’s voice in their school with their friends.
If this is the case, touching base with them after school and asking them how they went will allow an open environment for you to continue to mentor your children safely in the exciting journey of sharing God’s voice with others.
ANDREW AUSTIN
Childrens' Pastor
Being His Presence In Every Place
