As we begin our new Ministry Year, we would like to set up the right atmosphere for our Children’s Ministry. With this in mind, we are starting with prayer.
The following is a small summary, from the new curriculum we are using this year, that reflects the high priority we want to give to this spiritual discipline.
While it may seem to some that working in the nursery has less ministry potential than teaching older children, the nursery actually affords great ministry opportunity. The infant nursery, more than any other children’s department, particularly lends itself to the crucial ministry of prayer for children. Although all childcare staff can pray for the children in their care, there are wonderful “fee” moments in the infant nursery when a worker can pray for a child. When rocking a fussy or sleepy baby, changing a diaper, or winding up a swing, nursery workers can be praying for the babies in the nursery. What ministry could have further reaching effects than bringing these little ones before the throne of the King of the Universe?
All of our teaching, modeling, and interaction with the children will have no effect on their hearts if God does not call them to Himself. It will all fall on deaf ears and hard hearts unless God does a redeeming work in them. If we spend nursery hours pleading for their souls, what might God be please to do in their lives? What a wonderful foundation it would be for the children in our churches if someone prayed for them every week they were in the nursery. The prayers of goodly men and women are a rich heritage for these babies.
From A Sure Foundation, Children Desiring God Ministries
We are calling on everyone in our congregation to pray for our children throughout the month of September. This is a particularly important call if any of your children are part of our ministry, or if you serve as a volunteer in any of our classrooms (Son-shine, Alabanza de Pequeños, Discovery Zone, Guerreros de Cristo).
HOW TO PRAY
Use Scripture as your starting point. There is no better guide to pray than Scripture itself. Here you have an example of how to turn Bible passages into prayers. And these are the prayer verses we would like to focus on:
- Psalm 63:1-4
- John 1:12-13
- John 15:5
- Psalm 119:10-11
- Psalm 119:33-37
- Philippians 4:8
- Colossians 3:1-2
- Proverbs 6:20-23
- Proverbs 4:20-27
Of course, these is not an exclusive list; you can add your own verses as the Spirit guides you.
Pray by topic. If you prefer, you can use these Prayer Topics when interceding in behalf of our little ones.
Be consistent. Pray during the weekdays for our kids, the volunteers, and the parents. If you are a volunteer, specially in Son-shine and Alabanza, use any opportunity, on Sunday while taking care of the children, to pray for them by name.
To be consistent, the establishment of a simple routine may prove beneficial. To create such a routine, you can follow these steps:
- Select a time and place that allows you to be intentional in your prayers
- Choose an item from either the Prayer Verses or the Prayer Topics, to use as your starting point and guide.
- If at all possible, pray for the children by name.
- If you are a parent, please pray also for the volunteers
- If you are a volunteer, pray also for the parents and take any opportunity, on Sunday mornings, to pray over the children you are taking care of.
At the end, beloved, the most important thing is that we all pray for our children. Many people would say they are our future, but I personally believe that they are our present.
Gracia & Paz
AlexV
