hold on

The Heart of a Child: Enter God’s Kingdom
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The Heart of a Child: Enter God’s Kingdom

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-one 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-one with an important reminder to become like a little child in order to enter God’s kingdom.

Enter God’s Kingdom

“He called a little child and had him stand among them.  And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’“
Matthew 18:2-3 (NIV)

What is the most exclusive place or event you have been to?  Were there requirements or expectations you had to follow in order to gain access?  What would have happened if you had chosen not to accept the conditions of entrance?  What makes humility so valuable when you approach situations that are above what you know you deserve?  Do you think children are more likely than adults to freely accept gifts they know they haven’t earned?  Why?  In what ways do you think we must become like children in order to enter the kingdom of God?  Why?

Entering an exclusive event or location usually requires at least two things — an invitation and an agreement to abide by certain expectations set forth by the host.  There is good news when it comes to entering God’s kingdom; He has issued the invitation to “whosoever will” and made it possible through Christ for anyone to meet the requirements of entrance.  In fact, the expectations are easy enough to grasp, that God tells us we must become like little children in order to have the humility necessary for entrance into His kingdom.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them know how welcomed they are in His kingdom.  Pray that no one would view God’s kingdom as being out of reach for them.  Pray for the humility to become like a little child so that you may enter the kingdom of God.  Pray that you would be welcoming in the way you interact with children so they would grow in their sense of belonging.  Pray that you would always be truthful about the simplicity of God’s invitation.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Accept What God Has Revealed
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The Heart of a Child: Accept What God Has Revealed

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 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 with an important reminder to know, believe, and trust the things God has revealed through His Son, His Word, and His Spirit.

Accept What God Has Revealed

“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.’“
Matthew 11:25 (NIV)

What are some things that you find difficult to understand that seem easy for others?  How about things that are easy for you yet others struggle with?  Why?  Have you ever been in a group where it seems everyone except you understands something that is going on?  How did it feel?  How do you feel when you learn a “secret” that opens up a pathway to greater understanding?  Are you likely to share that knowledge with someone else who is struggling to understand the same thing, or keep it to yourself?  Why?

In my hobby of wildlife photography, it is often someone’s willingness to reveal location information that leads me to be able to photograph a specific animal I am looking for.  Most of the time, though, that information only comes when I admit I don’t know everything and ask for help.  I suspect it is an element of pride that keeps the things of God hidden from the “wise and learned” even as those things are revealed to those with the faith of a child.  When we trust the “inside information” that comes from God’s Word and His Spirit, we open our hearts to a greater understanding of the things of God.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask that God would help them have a greater understanding of His kingdom and righteousness.  Pray that they would be open to God revealing Himself in ways they understand.  Pray for the humility to go to God with the child-like faith He requires.  Pray for an understanding of the things of God that would exceed that of those who think themselves to be wise.  Pray that you would be generous in sharing with others about all that God has revealed.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Know the Goodness of God’s Gifts
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The Heart of a Child: Know the Goodness of God’s Gifts

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 nineteen 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 nineteen with an important reminder trust God to give good gifts.

Know the Goodness of God’s Gifts

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!“
Matthew 7:11 (NIV)

What is the best gift you have ever received from a person?  What is the best gift you have ever given to someone?  What makes a gift “good”?  Have you always received what you have asked?  Why?  Have you ever received something better than what you asked for?  Did you recognize it as better immediately, or did it take time to learn the real value of the gift?  How does love influence the gifts you give and receive?  When love is the motive, are the gifts you give and receive more about what is wanted or what is best?  Why?

Some of the greatest gifts I have received did not seem that great at first glance.  As I look back on life, I realize I have learned to trust the goodness of God’s gifts, even when I don’t understand them, because I had parents who gave of themselves out of love.  We didn’t have everything that others had, and there were times when I didn’t think what I had been given measured up, but I generally understood (eventually) that the gifts given to me were both good and for my good.  God makes it clear that whatever ability we have to give good gifts pales in comparison to His ability and desire to do so.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them understand the absolute goodness of His gifts.  Pray that you would know the goodness of God so you can share of that goodness with others.  Pray that God’s love would be expressed by you in the way you love others.  Pray that you would give of your best as you represent the goodness of God to the people around you.  Pray for a heart of understanding when the goodness of God’s gifts take time to recognize.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Have Hope For the Future
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The Heart of a Child: Have Hope For the Future

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 eighteen 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 eighteen with an important reminder find hope for the future through a complete trust in God.

Have Hope For the Future

“Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD. “They will return from the land of the enemy.  So there is hope for your future,” declares the LORD. “Your children will return to their own land.“
Jeremiah 31:16-17 (NIV)

How do you feel when you think about your own future?  Does that answer change based on the length of time you define “future” as being?  Why?  When you think of the future that the children of today will face, how hopeful are you?  Why?  What role does faith have in your level of hope?  What is it that you’re really asking God to provide when you pray that a child of any age would have hope for the future?  How can you be more involved in helping others see Jesus as the only real hope for both now and the future?

Hope seems to be one of those words that either has great meaning or no meaning depending on how we define it.  Some of our “hopes” are no more than wishful thinking and we know it.  But when we place our hope in the promises of God, we find a confidence in the future that comes through faith in a God who views eternity as easily as we view a single moment.  It is in Christ that hope for the future exists.  That means a huge part of our prayers regarding hope for the future must center on people living in relationship with Jesus.  It is this hope that not only helps us now, but prepares us for eternity.

As you pray for a child of any age, pray that they would know a hope that is more than wishful thinking.  Pray that they would allow God to open their heart and mind to the wider view of eternity that allows them to see beyond today’s struggles.  Pray that your hope would be centered with confidence in the promises of God so that your message of hope to others would be believable.  Ask God to help each person you are praying for cling to an everlasting hope that cannot be taken away.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Know God’s Comfort
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The Heart of a Child: Know God’s Comfort

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 seventeen 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 seventeen with an important reminder to turn to God for His comfort so that you can be a comfort to others.

Know God’s Comfort

“For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.  As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.’“
Isaiah 66:12-13 (NIV)

Are there times when you have been comforted?  When?  What worked?  Have you ever not been comforted by the efforts of someone who was trying to comfort you?  Why?  What things make a person’s efforts to comfort you seem real?  Why?  Is compassion related to comfort?  How?  Does a person’s experience in situations similar to yours help you to accept the comfort they offer?  Why?  How does the comfort offered by a person differ from the comfort that God can give?  In what ways are they the same?  How does the experience of God’s comfort give you hope as you pray for a child of any age to be comforted?

We live in a world filled with loss of many kinds.  It is in the midst of loss, even perceived loss, that we find the need to be comforted.  An uncomforted child of any age can quickly become an angry, confused, and/or hurt person that acts out in ways that are often inappropriate.  When we experience sadness, God desires that we come to Him for comfort so that we would be able to comfort others with the same comfort that we have received from Him.

As you pray for a child of any age, pray that they would be open to receiving the comfort God desires for them.  Pray that God would use you as an instrument of His comfort in the lives of others.  Pray for the courage to look to God for comfort that exceeds the comfort the world can offer.  Pray that the comfort you receive from God through His Spirit and/or through people He sends your way, would equip you to share comfort with others.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Knowing Peace
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The Heart of a Child: Knowing Peace

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 sixteen 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 sixteen with an important reminder to know the peace that God promises which surpasses all understanding.

Knowing Peace

“All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children’s peace.“
Isaiah 54:13 (NIV)

What is peace?  How much of it do you have?  Why?  What is the source of your peace?  Explain.  When is it most difficult for you to feel at peace?  When do you most need to know peace?  Are those two times related?  How?  Does peace mean that all conflict has been removed from your life?  Explain.  What role does the teaching from God’s Word have in helping you experience peace in the midst of conflict?  Does your usual demeanor help others experience peace?  Why?  How does the peaceful demeanor of others help you to know peace in difficult circumstances?

Since Jesus said we would have trouble in this world, I have to believe the peace He promises is something different than simply a lack of conflict.  In fact, He tends to shine most brightly in our life when we learn to live with His peace in the midst of the difficulties we find ourselves in.  If we want to help others know real peace, we must begin with accurate teaching from God’s Word.  But it is not enough to simply teach it, we must live it in such a way that the children around us would know what true peace is because they can see it in us as we live for Christ.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them know the peace that can only come from Him.  Pray that they would see that peace lived out in your life as you trust God in the midst of conflict.  Pray that your accuracy in sharing the truth of God’s Word would lead to a greater peace in your life and in the lives of those around you.  Pray that you would seek to end and resolve all conflict even as you live with peace in the midst of it.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Draw Near to God
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The Heart of a Child: Draw Near to 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 fifteen 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 fifteen with an important reminder to know and experience God’s desire for you to draw near to Him as He draws you to Himself.

Draw Near to God

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.  I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth — everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Isaiah 43:5-7 (NIV)

Who in your life do you feel closest to?  Why?  What factors brought the two of you to that point of nearness in your relationship?  Were there other people who helped?  How?  When you think of your relationship with God, how close would you say you are with Him?  Why?  What has brought you to that point?  Have people helped you to draw near to God or have they made you feel more distant from Him?  How?  Knowing that God longs to draw His children near to Himself, how does your life express that longing of God to the children around you?

While physical proximity can help, feeling near to someone usually has more to do with a connection of the heart than a joining of hands.  God says that when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.  As we share the love of God with a child of any age, we tell of His desire to draw them near.  Being wanted goes a long ways toward building the bonds of closeness and no one is wanted more fully than we are wanted by God.  His desire for the children around us, and for the child within us, is that each of us would be brought near to Him and find a closeness like no other.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God to help them know His love for them.  Pray that each child would be brought nearer to God as they see the example of your closeness with Him.  Pray that your desire would always be for a closeness with God that no one could separate you from.  Pray that each child would know they are wanted by God even if they feel unwanted by everyone else.  Pray for the courage to live in such a way that no child would ever believe they are unwanted.

In prayer,

Tom  

The Heart of a Child: Tell of God’s Faithfulness
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The Heart of a Child: Tell of God’s Faithfulness

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 fourteen 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 fourteen with an important reminder to know, and tell of, God’s faithfulness.

Know Godly Discipline

“The living, the living–they praise you, as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness.“
Isaiah 38:19 (NIV)

Who is the most faithful person you know?  What makes them that way?  Have you ever changed your opinion of how faithful someone was?  Why?  Do you believe in God’s faithfulness?  What specific things have influenced your level of belief?  Are there things that you do that would help or hinder the view others have of the faithfulness of God?  What?  Who did you learn about faithfulness from?  Who is learning about faithfulness from you?  What are they learning?

In a world where promises are often broken without thought, it can be difficult for a child of any age to grasp the absolute faithfulness of God.  Experience with people has taught us to be skeptical and just because someone kept their word once, it doesn’t mean they will keep it again.  That is why the telling of our stories of God’s faithfulness in our life is so critical.  We need reminded, and the children around us need reminded, that God has been faithful in our past and His nature, along with our experience, will teach us about His continued faithfulness.  Your story of God’s faithfulness needs to be shared and heard.

As you pray for a child of any age, ask God that they would always know of His faithfulness.  Pray that you would find ways to share the lessons you have learned of God’s faithfulness.  Pray that God would help you to be a more faithful person so that the children around you would have a visible example of what faithfulness looks like.  Pray for the courage to tell your stories of God’s faithfulness.  Pray that God would help you to learn from the testimonies of others.

In prayer,

Tom