As parents we want to hear God’s voice but most of all we want to be able to teach our children to hear the voice of God. We can “train them up in the way they should go”. But we want their hearts to burn brightly for Jesus when they are teens and into their adult years. We want our children to be fervent lovers of God throughout their lives.
I always loved reading the story of Samuel in the bible to my daughter. I think it is a key component when teaching our children to know the Lord’s voice personally, so that they can talk to him and have a personal relationship with Him, that will increase as they mature. When my daughter was young I would read her the bible story of Samuel. (1st Samuel 3:1-19) Samuel's mother was a woman named Hannah. She wanted a son more than anything, so she prayed and asked God to give her a son. She promised God that if he would give her a son, she would give him back to the LORD to serve him all the days of his life. God gave Hannah the son she asked for and she kept her promise to God. When the boy was old enough, she took him to the temple and presented him to Eli the priest. So Samuel served in the temple under Eli. Eli trained Samuel in the ways of the Lord. Samuel heard his name one night while he was sleeping and thought it was Eli calling him and went to Eli’s room a couple of times and Eli told him to go back to bed. Finally Eli knew it was God speaking to Samuel and told Samuel to go back to bed and when you hear your name again say “speak Lord your servant is listening”. The lord spoke a powerful message to Samuel. God speaks today. Some people think that God only calls grown-ups. That is why I like the story of Samuel, because he was just a young boy when God called him. God knows your name just as he knew the name of Samuel and God still talks to boys, girls, teens and adults. It is important to learn as a family to hear the voice of God. My daughter was very young when she heard the voice of God. We would pray about everything. We would practice listening to his voice. We would ask him about vacations, ministry, parties and ask the Lord about it before doing it. The Lord told me as my daughter gets older that she would pray to him about things and he would speak to her. Not sure what it meant but I journaled it. When she was in Middle school she came home from school all excited about a school dance. She knew she had to pray and ask the Lord. God told her not to go and she did not go to that school dance. Was she upset yes. She wanted to go more than anything. But God knows best.
Come Monday morning she found out some bad things were going on at that dance and she was so happy the lord protected her. God has a plan and a purpose for everything in our life. God speaks to all of us today saying, "Come, follow me." So, listen for God's call and answer just as Samuel did, "Here I am!"
Monica McKeen
Kids In Ministry
978-235-1815
Related Blogs:
Training Children to Hear God's Voice
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