Thoughts for Life: A Lesson from Children's Faith

Martin Juwa-

"Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." Luke 18:17 KJV

The prayers of small children are interesting. (Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

Small children offer detailed petitions. They trust God to do what they pray for. They ask Him for things we adults perceive as funny and little. But their prayers come from a sincere heart, and they believe only God can solve their issue.

This is a non-starter to us adults. We measure God’s ability by the level of our needs and wants. In this way, we downplay the providence of God in little things.

As we age, we use logic when dealing with the things of God. We believe those small things we asked for as children will happen even without asking God. At times, they do, but sometimes, they don't. Sadly, if they don’t, we don't follow up with a kid’s prayer. Even when they do happen, we often don't acknowledge and thank God for answering them. We take it as an obvious thing.

Most adults think prayer concerns only the big things. This thinking kills our childlike faith. I have learned that praying for the small things builds our faith in the big things. I think this is why Christ said we must have childlike faith.

Childlike faith helps us fulfill our kingdom obligations. It is the small encounters that encourage us for giant battles. We can learn from David, who told of how the Lord had delivered him from small things and then later, big things. As an adult, his faith was strong because of his childlike testimonies.

Trust God even in the smallest detail of your life, just as children trust their parents for anything. God is interested in every detail about you—your health, school, finances, relationships. and everything else.

A Lesson from Children's Faith

Martin Juwa-

Let's pray-

~ Suzanne Eller- "Father, You see and know me. That’s such a sweet truth. You see my past. You see my hurts. You see what I’ve gone through, but You also see my gifts, my purpose, and how those can make a difference in the world. How awesome it is to be known and seen by You! In Jesus’ Name, Amen."

761-765 one-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-

761- Ps. 92:13 "Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God."

762- Ps. 119:26 "I have declared my ways, and those heardest me: teach me thy statutes."

763- Ps. 103:13 "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him."

764- Eph. 2:5 "Even when we were dead in sin; hath quickened us together with Christ,(by grace are ye saved.")

765- Ps. 119:45 "I walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts."

Quotes for today-

~ Debbie McDaniel- "Here’s truth: Christ came to set us free, He choose to die on the cross, He was willing to do that, for you and for me, so that we can be forgiven of the sin and wrong in our lives, and receive the gift of eternal life. That is true freedom. There’s no other way that we can be saved, but through Jesus. He was buried, and placed in a tomb, but He didn’t stay dead. He rose again and is now in heaven with God, He defeated death, and He’s given us His Spirit to help us in this life. The Bible says if we confess Him as Savior and Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Pray to Him today, and know that He is with you always, and won’t ever let you go."

~ J. R. Miller- "Parents! You are fashioning the destinies of immortal souls! What we want to do with our children is not merely to control them and keep them in order—but to implant principles deep in their hearts which shall rule their whole lives; to shape their character from within into Christlike beauty, and to make of them noble men and women, stronge for battle of life.

Growth of character, not merely good behavior, is the object of all home governing and teaching. Therefore, the home influence is far more important than the home laws; and the parents' lives are of more significance than their teachings. Whatever may be done in the way of govering, teaching or training; theories are not half as important as the parents' lives.

They may teach the most beautiful things, but if the child does not see these things modeled in the life of the parent he will not consider them important enough to be adopted in his own life." (underlining added)

(Taken from p. 8 of the Vol. 81 No3 (963) of HERALD OF HIS COMING magazine)

Click here for some prayers you can pray over your child, as they enter the new school year.