“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
During my recovery from my recent hernia repair surgery, my precious Isaac would come up to me, close his eyes, bow his head and whisper a prayer. He would say, “Mommy, I prayed that your tummy would feel better.”
The other day he asked me how my tummy was feeling. I told him that my tummy felt a lot better and Jesus heard his prayer. He cheered, “Jesus heard my prayers, YAYYYY.” He was so excited that his prayer was answered. Can you imagine how much his faith blossomed? A big God heard and answered his prayers! So, now he has a moment to look back on to see that Jesus can and will answer prayer.
In today’s world, our children are bombarded with everything that can diminish their faith – news, media, school, and friends. That’s why it is so important to introduce them to Jesus early. Personally, even when I strayed away from God, I found my way back through prayer and reading God’s promises in His Word due to my upbringing by two saved parents.
So, here are several Faith builders that you can implement in your home to increase the faith of your child/children:
PRAYER – It is so important to pray with your Children daily. I’m not talking about the standard, “now I lay me down to sleep” prayer at night. I’m talking about really teaching them how to pray. Prayer is our direct line of communication with God and our Children need to know that they can talk to Jesus at anytime.
When they get hurt – pray for them while you are putting a band-aid on their boo-boo. Have them pray with you each day before they leave for school – pray that God will cover and protect them and help them with their studies.
When they have a problem or are worried about something, pray with them. The other night, Isaiah came to our room and said he had a bad dream. I prayed with him that God would chase the nightmares away. The next morning he said, “Mommy, I had good dreams after we prayed.”
SUNDAY SCHOOL – Trust me, children are paying attention in Sunday School and are learning valuable lessons that will build their faith in God. Remember the stories of Moses, Joseph and Jonah? Those stories show the power of God and how He used ordinary people to make a Big difference in the world.
Ask them what they learned in Sunday School and have conversations with your children to reinforce what they learned.
READING THE BIBLE – Start with a scripture a day. Even today, those scriptures and promises that I learned earlier on in my life encourage me when I am going through a difficult moment.
There are also great children’s devotions that you can use during reading time. Allow them to read it with you so that they can get some sight word practice also! One that I would recommend is Sarah Young – Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions for Kids
I also recommend: The Story For Kids, Discover the Bible from Beginning to End
You can also make learning scripture fun by incorporating scripture when you are sharing a reward for good behavior. They have the neatest products now like:
A Little More Faith 