Children and His Voice

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“Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

Wow what a promise, right? If we teach our children from a young age, God’s Word assures us that they won’t stray from it when they are older. But how do we teach our children?

🧡 Lead by Example

It begins with living it out. What we do, our children will do too. If we, as parents, often argue, our children will start to see that as normal. But if we ask forgiveness from one another and try to preserve peace in our home, that becomes their example. Parenting is about modeling. If we rarely touch our Bible or pray with our children, they won’t learn to do these things either. They won’t see that maintaining our relationship with God truly matters.

But—if we read the Bible with our children present, pray together when our family faces challenges, lay hands on the sick around us, and thank God for life’s blessings—then our children will come to see this as normal. They’ll experience that God is a living God who is always near, and because of that, they won’t turn away from Him in their old age (Proverbs 22:6).

Hearing God’s Voice

It’s the same with learning to hear God’s voice. If our children begin recognizing His voice early on, it will shape their lives profoundly.

“Parenting is modeling.”

Pray Together with Your Children

I'm currently reading “Children, Hearing God’s Voice” by Jennifer Toledo together with my children, and I'm learning so much again myself. Each evening, I take one of them aside as they're getting ready for bed to read and then put what we've read into practice. I have a personal journal where I write down the words God speaks to me. So, I bought a journal for each of my three children as well. In these, we can already start recording words, images, dreams—whatever they receive from God.

Our Juda used to be quite scared when he was alone in his bedroom. The first time we asked God to show him a picture, he immediately said, “I see a mother cat with lots of kittens.” I asked if he had an idea of what God might be saying. With full conviction, Juda replied, “I think the Lord God wants to say He is like a mother cat, with whom I am safe, so I don’t have to be afraid.” He still sees that image clearly to this day. It’s so beautiful to see how God speaks to children through pictures that connect with their imagination.

“I think the Lord God wants to say He is like a mother cat, with whom I am safe.”

Children Have the Same Holy Spirit

“Children don’t have a smaller Holy Spirit”—this is the title of another beautiful book. It says so much, because our children don’t receive a lesser portion of the Holy Spirit than adults. In fact, children are often even more receptive to what God’s Spirit wants to say, because they don’t have as many limiting thoughts crowding their minds.

I truly want to encourage you to take time with your children to learn to hear God’s voice—not just for themselves, but for others too. Children can receive beautiful, encouraging, and striking images and words for other kids or adults. The book “Children, Hearing God’s Voice” can be a great resource, but so can the exercises and tips in this magazine. You can put them into practice together. Our children understand far more than we sometimes realize. And when we teach and guide them—by modeling—it’s incredible how God speaks to and through them.

God speaks so beautifully to and through children, when we teach and guide them by example.