Amazing Spiritual Capacity that Children Bring to Prayer
By Cheri Fuller
Faith comes naturally to children—and it’s a quality that particularly fits kids for prayer.
During delivery of her first baby, Chia, a children’s pastor in Tulsa, OK, suffered an embryonic embolism, which means the fluid in the baby’s sac entered her blood stream and clots were carried to both of her lungs, which collapsed. This resulted in a series of three heart attacks and additional clots to Chia’s brain. As she lay in the Intensive Care Unit in a coma, many people prayed for her. The situation looked tragic and impossible.
But thousands of miles away in England—and knowing nothing of his former pastor’s condition—five-year-old Joshua told his mom, “Chia will live and not die!” He refused to eat breakfast, saying he was going to fast and pray for Chia. His mother remained puzzled about his behavior until a few days later when they received word that Chia was in ICU. Continuing his prayer vigil, Joshua asked his mom to help him record his prayer and send it to her in the hospital.
Joshua started his message with Psalm 27 and then shared about his baby sister Jennifer, his mom and dad, and his new bicycle. He concluded by saying, “I’m going to end this by praying for you. In the name of Jesus, I speak to those blood clots in Chia’s head and I speak life to Chia and I know she will live and not die and I want her to go back to her house soon and take care of her baby girl and enjoy her . . . by His stripes you are healed, Chia. In the name of Jesus, I ask that the Spirit of the Lord would heal you, Chia, and help you get well. And I’ll keep praying for you until I hear that you’re totally, totally, fully well, and I love you, and I just want to end this by saying, Love from Joshua! Three kisses, three big hugs, and three big prayers until you are well.”
The prayers of this five-year-old reached heaven. Chia’s physician later reported in her medical records: “This is the most amazing case I’ve ever seen in my medical practice. For the first three or four days of this horrendous episode, the patient was considered to be essentially brain dead. . . . Then she showed an apparent miraculous recovery. The medical aspects of this case are detailed in the progress notes. What is not in the notes, however, is the extreme and continued support and prayer of family and friends. This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen and must be considered a miracle.”
Hearts of Compassion
Children may be small, but they have enormous hearts. They feel deeply about problems and suffering in the world and can pray with compassion, a key ingredient of effective prayer. They talk to God from the heart about the pain they see and experience in the world.
A compassionate prayer from a little one can bring healing. Ken had prayed with and for his daughter Kerry since her birth, and she grew up feeling comfortable talking with God from an early age. When she was three years old, this prayer power rescued her dad.
One weekend when Kerry visited her single dad’s home, he suffered excruciating pain from a kidney infection. The doctor’s office was closed, and Ken dreaded spending money for the emergency room. At his wit’s end with pain, he asked Kerry, “Daddy really hurts—would you pray for me?”
Kerry put her hand on his stomach and asked God to heal him, closing her simple prayer “in Jesus’ name.” Not long after her prayer, Ken tucked his daughter in bed for the night, retired to his own bed, and slept through the night for the first time in days. When he woke up, the pain was gone.
Maybe children’s prayers are so effective because tenderhearted kids like Kerry connect to and represent the heart of Jesus. When Christ saw the multitudes, He was “moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matt. 9:36, KJV).
Trust in God’s Provision
We adults tend to see obstacles and analyze complications until our problems begin to look like a mountain. We ask, How can God do anything? Kids, on the other hand, have a wonderfully simple trust. They believe God is bigger than the mountain, that He can move anything and provide anything—even a horse.
When a California family moved from a small lot in a big city to seven country acres in Oklahoma, six-year-old Dallas really wanted a horse. With an old farmhouse that really needed fixing up and many other expenses, there was absolutely no money for a horse. Her parents told her to put the request in God’s hands by praying about it.
At every meal and every night before she lay down to sleep, Dallas earnestly prayed for a horse. After a week of fervent prayer, she confidently announced at the breakfast table, “Dad needs to go ahead and fix the fences!”
“Why fix the fences now? We’ve got lots of other things we have to do first,” her mom answered.
“The horses are coming. They’ll be here soon. So Dad needs to fix the fences! God told me He’s sending horses!” Dallas said.
Only two days later, a young woman who taught at the nearby Pony Club unexpectedly appeared at their door with two older but fine Arabian mares. If the family would take care of the horses and let them graze on their seven acres, Dallas and her siblings could ride them whenever they wanted.
James tells us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17) and He delights to give good gifts to His children. God, our Father, who feeds the sparrows and dresses the lilies, can provide for the needy, whether big or small, as we approach Him with simple, childlike faith.
Straightforward Simplicity
Children also tend to be simple, straightforward, and honest with God in their prayers. While adults may long-windedly hash over the problems they’re praying about (as if God isn’t aware of it), kids pray short, to-the-point requests. Jesus must have appreciated brevity because He warned people not to imitate those who utter long, wordy prayers. He advised, “Do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him” (Matt. 6:7–8, NASB).
And lest you worry about children carrying the burdens they pray for around with them, let me encourage you: I’ve observed that children seem to “let go and let God” easier than adults. They tend to drop the need at Jesus’ feet when they pray. Fully expecting God to handle the difficulty, they run off to play only a few minutes after saying “amen.” I found this out as a young mother when, after prayer, I’d continue to fret about a problem. My kids would remind me, “Mom, I thought we already prayed about that. You don’t have to worry about it now.”
Keep Short Accounts
Kids also keep shorter accounts with God more easily than adults do. I spent time with three young boys, ages four, five, and eight, and as we prepared to pray we talked about confession and forgiveness. “Have you done anything lately that you think made God sad?” I asked them. “Why don’t we ask God to show us and then talk to Him about it?”
All three little guys nodded their heads and before long, four-year-old Daniel spoke up. “I remember I was so angry at lunchtime today because I wanted to say grace by myself but everyone else got to say it, too. I was so mad.”
“Do you want to tell God you’re sorry?” I asked.
He prayed, “Dear Jesus, I was angry today that I wanted to say grace but everyone joined in. Please wash my sin away and change my heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Then it was Josh’s turn. “Jesus, I am sorry that I got angry today when my friend stole my eraser, please forgive me. Cleanse me and change my heart.”
Jeremy chimed in, not only asking God to forgive him for a bad attitude toward two girls in his class who’d been unkind to him, but to help him love them more.
God loves it when we quickly repent and turn to Him as children do because if we harbor sin and unforgiveness in our hearts, the Lord won’t hear our prayers (Isa. 59:2). Like children, our hearts can stay tender as we keep short accounts with God and others.
What Can We Do?
“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” the disciples asked Jesus. He didn’t point to the top Pharisees or high-ranking army officers. Instead, He placed a small child in their midst and replied, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:1, nasb). The Master wanted adults to recapture the childlike faith and trust of children.
If children have the capability to be powerful pray-ers like Joshua and Daniel, and to pray with great faith like Dallas and Kerry did, then we need to change our minds about kids! We need to understand God’s mindset about children and explore the amazing spiritual capacity they bring to prayer.
CHERI FULLER is a speaker and author of more than 40 books, as well as the executive director of Redeeming the Family. Her latest book, The One Year Praying the Promises of God (co-authored with Jennifer Kennedy Dean), is published by Tyndale Publishers. This article is excerpted from her book When Children Pray.
From A Kid’s Viewpoint: What’s So Great about Prayer?
Holly, age 9
It is important for parents to invest time in teaching me how to pray because when you’re in trouble you want to know how to pray. And prayer is very important—without prayer you cannot go to heaven.
If we didn’t pray to God, God would probably feel kind of lonely even though He has Jesus and the angels. Just remember God loves your prayers when you pray to Him. And He really loves you, and God loves when you talk to Him, it just lifts His spirit. When you talk to Him, He probably feels like He just saw a double rainbow.
When I pray for people they usually get healed or their problems go away. And my mom says I’m a prayer warrior, probably because I’ve prayed for many, many, many people. But then one Sunday morning at church she said to me, “If you’re really a prayer warrior then why don’t you go up to the mic and pray during prayer?” I mean I have done it like once or twice but I get a little shy. But guess what God did for me? Well, this Sunday me and my friends started praying for people. Then I thought of a group called the prayer girls and everyone agreed. So now we’re the prayer girls and I’m going to ask everyone to pray every Sunday morning during prayer with me.
Nick, age 11
If no one teaches you how to pray then the new generation won’t pray to God. Also, everyone should pray, it is just talking to God, just like talking to your best friend. If you love God and pray to God, He will reward you. You are God’s precious gift and He wants to talk to you.
Whenever I am sick, or a friend or relative is sick, and I pray for healing, the healing comes. Whenever I ask for something He gives it to me. Sometimes it takes a while, but it always comes. If two or more agree about it, it will come. Don’t just pray once or twice either, be consistent, keep praying every day multiple times a day and also read your Bible.
For example, my family and I have been praying for a new house and a couple weeks later someone that used to go to our church texted my mom and said someone told her we were looking for a house and said she had a good size house ready for rent. Long story short—me, my three sisters, and my parents are living in that house right now and living in a great home, thanks to God. It was amazing just having that pop up at the perfect time and everything.
Erin, age 8
God has done many things for me after I prayed. He has protected me from bad dreams. He has healed me when I did not feel good. When I have trouble going to sleep, He helps me rest.
A lot of exciting things have happened when God answered my prayers. A friend got the Holy Spirit when we prayed for her. Another friend had the pain in her fingers go away. God is a good God!
Brianna, age 12
God can work in your life through prayer at any time. I know He’s worked in mine. Once I obtained a small, painful infection and He didn’t heal me when I prayed, but others prayed for me and it didn’t bother me anymore. He is constantly working on freeing me from some very bad anger issues of mine. I also have some eczema, and He keeps smoothing out my skin time and time again. He is always healing my body. With as much as He has done for me, I know I am not grateful enough. Prayer has done much for me and it can do much for you!
(c) 2103 Prayer Connect magazine.
