hold on

The Heart of a Child: Know Real Love
by

The Heart of a Child: Know Real Love

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twenty-nine of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twenty-nine with an important reminder to let God’s love shape both your words and your actions.

Know Real Love

“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.“
1 John 3:18 (NIV)

How do you know if someone loves you?  If someone says they love you but they don’t act like it, do you believe them?  Why?  What does genuine love look like?  What is your criteria for the answer given?  In what ways has God expressed His love for you?  Do you believe Him?  Why?  Do you think the children (of any age) around you believe you love them?  Why?  When you have been corrected, by people or by God, has that been done in ways that you knew you were still loved?  How?  How will you love others in a way that they will know it to be genuine?

It seems that words only go so far when it comes to expressing love.  We can say it all we want, but if our actions do not show love to others they will soon doubt our words.  Children seem to be especially vulnerable as they try to determine if our words are true.  Training up a child in the way they should go will generally require a good amount of correction.  God’s training and discipline of His children is always done in the context of His love.  When our service and sacrifice for others remains visible in the midst of correction, we help them know genuine love.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help you know the depth of His love for you and for them.  Pray that you would learn to love others with deeds and actions, in addition to words.  Pray that you would pay attention to God’s discipline of you so you would know how to love others even in the midst of necessary correction.  Pray for the courage to love fully, just as Christ has loved you.  Pray for eyes that would see those who feel unloved and then pray for the wisdom to love them with the genuine love of Christ.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Live Obediently
by

The Heart of a Child: Live Obediently

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twenty-eight of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twenty-eight with an important reminder to live as children who are obedient to God.

Live Obediently

“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.“
1 Peter 1:14 (NIV)

How obedient are you?  Why?  Would the people who spend the most time with you agree?  Why?  What level of obedience do you expect from others?  Does it differ depending on who the “others” are?  Why?  How much disobedience to you find acceptable in your own life?  In the lives of others?  How does knowing that something is right affect your desire to do it?  Why?  How does love change your desire to be obedient to someone?  Does it change how you view the disobedience of someone?  How?

Life is filled with rules, laws, and instructions that each of us have to choose our level of obedience to.  Often our expectations of obedience by others exceeds our own practice of obeying.  As Christians, we expect children to obey their parents because God says so but our lifestyle may not always reflect our obedience to God even though He calls all of His children to the same obedience.  Fear of punishment can be a motivation to obey, but God’s expectation is that we would be obedient because it is the right thing to do for people who love Him.  When we obey because it is right, we help others learn obedience.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help you evaluate your own level of obedience.  Pray for the humility needed to model an obedient life that others can see.  Pray that your love for God would compel you to do what is right.  Pray that God’s practice of forgiveness would be your example when the children (of any age) around you fail in obedience.  Pray for the courage to do what is right, and lead others in that direction, even when it seems no one else does.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Live In the Light
by

The Heart of a Child: Live In the Light

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twenty-seven of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twenty-seven with an important reminder to live as children of the light.

Live In the Light

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.“
Ephesians 5:8-10 (NIV)

What things do you typically associate with light?  How about with darkness?  Why?  Which do you prefer?  Why?  Do you know children who are afraid of the dark?  Are you one of those children?  What things help to dispel, or at least lessen, that fear?  Do you always want light to expose everything that is hidden?  Why?  Does being reminded that the light will always expose things hidden by darkness influence the choices you make when it appears no one is watching?  Why?  How does God’s love make being exposed by His light a desired thing?

Many children are afraid of the dark because it hides the reality of a safe environment, and may even contain unseen dangers.  When we live as children of the light, we allow God’s light to assure us of the safety He provides and to reveal to us the dangers of the world we live in.  Even while the light may expose our sin, we can be confident that God’s love is great enough to offer forgiveness and restoration when we turn to Him.  Choosing to walk in the light not only helps us to see where we are going, that choice serves to remind us that we don’t walk this life alone.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them pursue a life that is lived in the light of His Word.  Pray that you would trust God enough to seek His light both for clarity and correction.  Pray that you would know true freedom from living in the light and that you would apply that freedom to those who need to move from darkness into light.  Pray for the courage to change when God’s light exposes that need.  Pray for humility as you shine God’s light without condemnation.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Imitate God
by

The Heart of a Child: Imitate God

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twenty-six of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twenty-six with an important reminder to live a life which imitates your Father in heaven.

Imitate God

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.“
Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

Have you ever visited the reenactment of an event or seen a replica of a historical item?  Why would a person do that?  Have you ever tried to imitate someone?  Why?  Were you successful?  What makes you want to imitate someone?  Does the level of someone’s love for you influence how much you want to be like them?  Why?  Do the people closest to you ever say you look, act, and/or sound just like your parents?  Are they right?  If you could choose one characteristic of your life that you would want others to imitate, what would it be?  Why?

The value of the reenactment of an event, or replica of an item, in learning about the real thing is dependent on the accuracy of the imitation.  As His children, God calls us to imitate Him because not only is it good for us, doing so is what allows the people around us to see Him in us.  When we encourage the children around us, and the child within us, to imitate God, we show the world whose child we really are.  It is God’s immense love, demonstrated through His Son, Jesus, that ought to motivate us to be filled with a great desire to imitate Him.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to fill them with a desire to imitate Him.  Pray that you would be a student of God’s Word where He reveals Himself through its pages, as well as through His Son and His Spirit.  Pray that you would live a life worth imitating as those watching you see Jesus represented well.  Pray for a spirit of discernment that leads you to imitate the things of God you see in a person rather than simply imitating that person.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Put Away Childish Things
by

The Heart of a Child: Put Away Childish Things

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twenty-five of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twenty-five with an important reminder to remain child-like even while putting away childish things.

Put Away Childish Things

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.“
1 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)

When was the last time someone told you to grow up?  Why?  What is the difference between childish ways and child-like actions?  Is the difference more about the action or the attitude?  Explain.  How does the normal growth from infancy to maturity relate to what should happen after we are born into God’s family?  What are some things that keep people from growing up?  Are there things you hold on to that God would view as childish?  What are they?  What should you do about it?  What will you do?

We typically don’t fault an infant for crying when it is hungry or in need of something.  We understand, and hopefully teach better responses, when they take what they want with no regard for others.  However, when they carry that type of behavior into adolescence and beyond, we consider the selfishness to be very childish.  When God instructs us to put away our childish ways, the starting place is usually with our attitudes.  When we replace the childish attitudes of selfishness and entitlement with the child-like attitudes of sharing and generosity, we find the child within us grows toward maturity.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to give you patience with them and an understanding of their process of growth.  Pray that the childish things in their life, and yours, would be identified so they can be put away.  Pray for wisdom in knowing how to keep a child-like faith while putting aside childish ways.  Pray for a spirit that longs for a maturity that seeks the good of others.  Pray for the humility necessary to both change and gently guide others to growth.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Respond to God’s Call
by

The Heart of a Child: Respond to God’s Call

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twenty-four of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twenty-four with an important reminder to respond appropriately to God’s call.

Respond to God’s Call

“Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.’“
John 1:12-13 (NIV)

Are there certain invitations that you are more likely to accept than others?  Why?  What makes an invitation “acceptance worthy” to you?  Have you ever been invited to an event that you knew was way above what you deserved?  How did the invitation make you feel?  Did you accept it?  When you have an open invitation to bring others with you, do you?  Why?  How much do you want others to enjoy the best things you have been able to experience in life?  How has responding to God’s calling impacted your desire for others to know Him?

I have had opportunity to do ministry with people that I felt were way ahead of me in just about every way possible.  Being invited to join them was both a great privilege and very humbling.  Many times when we share God’s calling of people to Himself, the initial response may be one of unworthiness.  Yet God makes it clear that His invitation and promises are for everyone, the “whosoever” part of John 3:16!  As we work and interact with children of all ages, our presentation of the gospel with our words and life ought to lead them to respond to God’s call.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them recognize, and respond to, His calling.  Pray that you would understand the wonder of God calling people to Himself.  Pray for the humility needed to respond to a calling you don’t deserve.  Pray about how you will be involved in helping children know that God’s calling is for them.  Pray that your response to God’s calling would be shared with the children around you, even as the child within you accepts it.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Live As God’s Child
by

The Heart of a Child: Live As God’s Child

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twenty-three of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twenty-three with an important reminder to live as God’s child.

Live As God’s Child

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.“
John 1:12-13 (NIV)

What are some values, qualities, expectations, or characteristics that represent the family you belong to?  How well do you reflect them?  Are there attributes that others see in your life that identify you as coming from a specific family?  How would you describe God?  What are His characteristics that you appreciate the most?  What are some benefits that you normally expect to experience as part of a family . . . especially as a child in that family?  What does living as God’s child mean to you in terms of both responsibility and privileges?  Why?

Like it or not, people that know your parents tend to have certain expectations of you based on whose child you are.  When we claim God as our Father, people who know God, and even those who don’t, have certain expectations of what a child of God should live like.  But it is not just people.  As you read God’s Word you find He has set forth the standard for how a child of God ought to live.  Living as God’s child gives us a combination of great responsibility and great privilege.  When people observe how we live, there ought to be a family resemblance to our Father.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to assure them of their value as His Child.  Pray that you would live as a godly example of what a child of God should look like.  Pray for the humility to lead others toward a life that seeks to imitate Jesus in both attitude and action.  Pray that each child would know the joy of living as the child of a Father who loves them beyond measure.  Pray that God’s presence would be seen in each of His children, including you.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Live Unhindered
by

The Heart of a Child: Live Unhindered

Praying for children has been heavy on my heart during this current season of school and church buildings being closed with the need for social distancing, self isolation, and stay at home orders.  I pray often that families will be able to shield children to some extent from the negative emotions that cling to this COVID-19 pandemic.  This is day twenty-two of the devotions from my “The Heart of a Child” book to help each of us pray for a child of any age, including our age.  Through time in prayer, this devotional journal was written to help you understand, and live, some important traits of living and praying with the heart of a child.

Here is day twenty-two with an important reminder to let nothing hinder you in your pursuit of God and to not be a hindrance to someone else.

Live Unhindered

“Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’“
Matthew 19:13-14 (NIV)

Have you accomplished every thing you had hoped to by this stage in your life?  Why, or why not?  What are some hindrances that either stopped you or seemed insurmountable at the time?  How does the attitude of people around you influence your willingness, and even ability, to press on when things become difficult?  Does the level of that influence change based on who the person is?  In what ways?  Are there ways your words or example may be hindering a child from approaching Jesus, or even wanting to?  What will you do about it?

As a child of any age, we all have people we look up to that likely have more influence on us than they even know.  Likewise, there are people looking to each of us as examples, and how we represent Jesus will either encourage or hinder them from seeking Him.  Our words, both in content and tone, can either lift someone up and point them to Christ or knock them down with such discouragement they feel they have no hope.  God’s desire is that we would build up and welcome one another so we would not become a hindrance to anyone’s faith.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to remove anything that would become a hindrance to true faith.  Pray that you would be an encourager of children as they seek to know God.  Pray that you would examine anything in your life that has been a hindrance to you having the vibrant relationship with Christ that He desires.  Pray that the lies of the enemy would be defeated so that you, and children of all ages, would know the value each person has to God.

In prayer,

Tom