Spiritual Revival and Children

By Kim Butts

A great many adults and churches today are praying for spiritual revival. While revival might be a complicated concept to teach children, the idea of spiritual hunger is not. One of the best things you can do for your church Children's spiritual development is to teach them to pray in a way that grows hunger for God. When God fills that hunger, that's revival! Here are some ideas:

Teach children to recognize quickly the presence of sin in their lives, confess it, and repent of it. It is rare in this day and age to find people who are willing to admit their sins, and a sensitivity to sin will be valuable to children as they grow. Children need to understand that nothing we do that saddens God and grieves the Holy Spirit is acceptable in His sight—even if it is a very small thing. Teach them that as soon as they recognize sin, they should confess it to God and repent. Then, be sure to help them learn confidence that the Lord's loving forgiveness and willingness will cleanse them: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:9).

Teach children to develop humility before God. Perhaps the biggest barrier to revival in our day is the lack of humility among God's people. Prayer and fasting are a critical part of humility, because there is no better way to deal with pride than to do without what is essential for life. If children can begin to learn the importance of fasting and prayer, they will be equipped far beyond most adults in our culture today.

Teach children to recognize and reject idols. Nothing should take first place over our relationship with our Heavenly Father. For young people, idols often develop in several areas: hobbies, recreation, leisure time, friends, family, jobs, or even involvement in church activities. Teach your children that whatever distracts our primary attention away from God is an idol. Encourage them to make lifestyle changes that will lessen the influence of whatever their idols are, thus allowing Christ to be first.

Teach children to earnestly seek after God's heart. It is one thing to pray for what is on our own heart; it is quite another to pray what is on God's heart. When these two things become one and the same, prayer increases in power and effectiveness. Help children learn that spending time in God's Word is indispensable to knowing His will for their lives. When they remove the patterns of this world (idols) from their lives, and focus on spending time with God in His Word, they can be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Ro. 12:2). This will give them a firm grasp of God's will for their lives, as well as the people and situations they pray for.

Teach children to have a heart for the lost. When they spend time in the Word, they will see that the lost are clearly on God's heart. There is no point in praying for revival without an all-consuming passion to see lost people come to Christ.

Teach children to develop a lifestyle of praise. God desires our praise, and praise comes quite naturally to children! It is only as we get older and more self-conscious that we tend to hold back the more expressive forms of praise in public. Teach young people that without God we are hopeless and helpless—and that with God we are filled with hope and victory. A lifestyle of praise from the lips of repentant, humble children honors God  . . . and opens the door for heaven-sent revival.

Kim Butts is a vice president with Harvest Prayer Ministries and the author of The Praying Family. She is also an advisor for PrayKids!, a magazine for children produced by Pray!.