I love to see the purple-shirted children’s ministers at my own church gather for prayer in their classrooms every Sunday.

Sometimes their arms are wrapped around each other’s shoulders as they seek God’s presence and power for the children that day. They intercede for specific children. They ask God to expose schemes of the enemy against the children and the ministry time so they can dismantle and avert them through spiritual warfare prayer. Sometimes they lay hands on the teacher and pray for God to speak through him or her. Oftentimes the children see their leaders praying like this as they come into class, and join in. As a parent, I feel secure and privileged in placing my children under this spiritual leadership because I know they are seeking God themselves as they help my children to hear from and follow Him, as well.

But many church children’s workers do not understand this important role of prayer, nor do they see it modeled in their church. As a prayer leader, you may need to encourage your children’s ministry director and workers to this vital truth. Here are some thoughts if you are given the opportunity.

The best way to train children’s ministers is to model for them what you want them to do. Pray with them, for them, over them. Many parents are the children’s workers. The principle still holds. Pray, pray, pray! It is vital in this process that the children’s ministry leader be committed to prayer, and a cheerleader for the children’s efforts and spiritual capacities. It’s also important to have a children’s ministry team that is tracking with this paradigm. Talk to leadership about some of these ideas. If you’re a leader in your church, you can help to bring about some important opportunities.

• Hold monthly or quarterly meetings that include instruction about training and equipping children in prayer.
• Bring in your church’s prayer ministry team and ask them to pray over your children’s ministers on a regular basis.
• Encourage your children’s ministry team to attend prayer conferences. Keep checking www.prayerleader.com for possible conferences in your area. Have a debriefing time afterward to discuss and pray about how to apply what they learned to children’s ministry.
• Recommend good books on prayer and children’s ministry. Consider reading through one together at the same time. Provide thought and/or discussion questions to help the team make direct application to their own ministry.
• Make sure children’s ministers have “time off” to be fed and nurtured by what is being shared and experienced in the larger congregation, so they can come back with fresh vision, enthusiasm, and power. Regularly cross-pollinate your teams with new members, especially seeking out people who are strong in prayer.

--Adapted from Prayer Saturated Kids (NavPress 2007) by Cheryl Sacks and Arlyn Lawrence.