Inviting Children to Intimacy With God

As a child, one of the most fond memories I have was being allowed to try on my mom’s heels and handbags. Mom also had a friend who was more trendy than her and one of the peculiar things about this woman was that she matched her heels and purse every single day. She also used to wear red lipstick and I would look at her like a TV show, but in a real life scenario. As a grown woman myself, I notice that even today, by force of habit I’ll unconsciously match my purse and shoes and mostly wear red lipstick. The truth about children is that they will imitate what you do and not what you say. As a Christian parent, it is important to invite your children in the place of your intimacy with God.

In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Deuteronomy 6:20-21Deuteronomy 6:20-2120 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; NIV

An ambassador by definition is an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country. As believers, we are priests and kings of a Kingdom that is governed by the Almighty God. We are therefore considered ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20),2 Corinthians 5:2020 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.and like the accredited diplomat of a nation, we are sent out to work as citizens of God’s Kingdom, representing truth and light in a world of deceit and darkness.

As an accredited diplomat, we are also accredited by the work of the Holy Spirit living in us, the fruit that is visible and tangible in our lives by the spirit’s transforming power. These fruits consist of prayer with results, obedience without restraint, consistent life of prayer that goes before us and hems us from the harm of our past(Psalm 139:3)Psalm 139:33 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.. There are those who make the profession of faith, but the power to live for God does not appear to be there.

As a Christian parent, your life at home must be consistent with your life outside. When you kneel down and pray, invite your children to do so with you. When you go to church, bring them along with you, especially when they are mature enough to remember, let the memory formed in their evolving brains be one of devotion and service to the body of Christ.

When you give, leave loose change to the kids that they may partake in this spiritual discipline, although without understanding at first but at least you have built ground to stir positive curiosity when they are mature enough to understand why certain things are done as such. Finally, the most important part is the reading of the Word of God, it is a responsibility for the Christian parent to actively participate in evangelizing to their child.

With the availability of modern day resources, sunday school alone is not enough because the enemy is actively preying on the kingdom children, arm them with bible story books, bible story cartoons, entice their young minds with curiosity to know matters of God because they will live bountifully off of them.

When the Israelites got into the promised land, they preserved the feasts of celebration, the precepts given to them by God (Deut 4,5,6)Deut 4,5,6Moses Commands Obedience 4 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal Peor; for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. 4 But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. 5 “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 6 Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? 8 And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, 10 especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ 11 “Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. 12 And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess. Beware of Idolatry 15 “Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. 19 And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and possess that good land. 23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. 32 “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. 36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan 41 Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, 42 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without having hated him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. Introduction to God’s Law 44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. 45 These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt, 46 on this side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, 48 from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah. and they ensured that their children did the same. Today, you could make it a point to note down every promise that the Lord has given you over your children, the prayers you have stored in the heavenly places on their behalf and teach them how to actively partake in the ways of the Lord.

You ought to ensure that your children know how to fight, how to come right before the throne and that is by thanksgiving and praise (Psalm 100),Psalm 100A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People A Psalm of Thanksgiving. 100 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. by the blood and by the Word of God (Hebrews 4:16).Hebrews 4:1616 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone; your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. Joel 2:28Joel 2:28God’s Spirit Poured Out 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

Generally, as a parent, you are responsible for providing a nourishing upbringing that sparks the spiritual, emotional and physical health of your child. The writer of Proverbs encourages parents not to provoke children into anger (Proverbs 17:6),Proverbs 17:66 Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father. and the use of the word ‘provoke’ is to call forth. When you continuously speak words that are demeaning and condescending to your child, you are not just wounding them but you are ‘calling forth’ whatever you speak. No marvel, the children that are the least affirmed by their parents turn out to be problematic adults in most cases.

Child of God, as a parent you are a partaker in raising kings and queens in your home, high priests and mothers of nations. It is your responsibility therefore to be so drenched in the Word along with your family that the Lord may not have to fix before He sends your child on account of the Word, Hallelujah!

If you have never given your life to Jesus Christ, and you feel that this is the perfect time, pray this prayer:

“Lord Jesus, I thank you because you died for my sins and you were raised for my glory. Today, I receive you as my Lord and Savior. I am born again. Amen.”