Children, Can You Hear Me?

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Children, Can You Hear Me?

by Brad Jersak

As Phil walked past his son’s bedroom, he overheard the five-year-old in conversation with an adult male behind the closed door.

Alarmed by the voice, Phil burst into the room to see who had invaded their home.

Richard stood there alone.

Phil looked around the room and asked, “Richard, who did I hear talking to you in here?”

“God,” Richard replied, with an expression that said, “Who else did you think it would be?”

He acted like chats with God were a normal part of his day.

I also believe that it is normal for children to talk to God like this.

Children who can’t hear the Lord anymore (yes, anymore) have usually been shut down inadvertently by an adult. Children hear the Lord far easier than anyone else.

Usually, the only hindrance that I encounter in them is their parents’/grandparents’ own unbelief.

Yet Jesus told us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to little children. (Matthew 19:14)

They simply hear and trust the voice of the Good Shepherd.

If we will assume, as children often do, that God is already speaking to them, we can nurture their ability to tune in to His voice.

In fact, this is our major grandparental responsibility:

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds.... Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19 NIV).

Here are five practical ways that you can encourage “listening prayer” with your grandchildren:

At any given time, ask your grandchild what God is doing or saying. You may be surprised at how quickly they “tune in” and tell you. You may need to remind them that they can hear and see with their hearts and not just their ears and eyes.
Ask your grandchildren to close their eyes and “step into” their favorite Gospel story as you recount it. When they participate imaginatively in stories like Peter’s walk on the water, your grandchildren will encounter Christ. Ask your child, “Look at Jesus. What is He doing? What is He saying?”
Turn bedtime prayers into two-way conversations. Rather than asking your grandkids who they want to pray for, what they want to thank God for or what they need forgiveness for, have them ask Jesus those questions. When they pray what He suggests, they have established two-way prayer.
Invite Jesus into nightmares and night terrors. When my children wake up from a nightmare or see scary things in their room, they have been trained to look for Jesus. If they see “monsters” and become terrified, they can find Jesus and receive His peace. The bottom line is that I get to go back to sleep quicker!
Invite your grandchild to make prayer into a meeting with Jesus. Remember that they will be using their imaginations (which can be pretty wild to adult ears), but their imagination is precisely the venue they provide for Jesus to come. And He will! My son Dominic meets with Jesus in an imaginary petting zoo. Our initial skepticism began to melt as we heard profound truth being revealed to our little boy.

Your grandchildren hear God, and they probably know it. I suggest that you join in and rejoice with Jesus that He has seen fit to reveal the things of the kingdom to little children.

Perhaps there’s hope for us as well! (Matthew 11:25)

Brad and Eden Jersak are pastors, teachers and authors from Abbotsford, BC, Canada. They have three sons (Stephen, Justice and Dominic). Together they serve in leadership at Fresh Wind Christian Fellowship and as ministry associates with the Listening Prayer Community.
Click here to visit Brad Jersak's website and order his book.

To order Brad's book Children Can You Hear Me? click here

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