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‘ I just want more of God,’ said the eight year old
boy, as he stood at the front, having responded for prayer at
the end of our first meeting. The scene, a large tent with 320
plus 7-9 year olds at Faith camp (a week long Christian family
camp held annually in Peterborough, England). I have had the privilege
of ministering at the camp for the last 21 years and I have seen
God do some amazing things but for me this year’s meetings
were characterised by an incredible hunger for God on the part
of many of the children. Meeting after meeting we ministered to
children who were anxious to get their lives sorted out so that
they could be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. |
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One girl after I had done an object lesson with two bottles of
coke (one full to the top and the other only half full), which
I shook and then took the tops off to see the effect, said that
she was was full up to her neck with the Holy Spirit but she wanted
to be full right to the top of her head. She received prayer that
night and came back the next morning very excitedly saying ‘He’s
done it! I’m full right up now’! |
Many children were happy to miss their activity times in order
to allow God to continue to minister to them and on the last evening
when we invited children to walk through ‘a river’
to receive prayer they were running back to go through again before
all the children had even been through once!!
Our culture in the Western world is one where children are hungry
for the supernatural (hence the huge popularity of Harry Potter,
Pokemon etc.). This spills over into church where a Bible story,
a craft, a memory verse and a few fun children’s songs will
no longer suffice, they are hungry for the presence and power
of God. It’s time to allow God to touch every area of our
children’s ministry and to create a new ‘wineskin’
that He can fill with ‘new wine’. They need opportunities,
both at home and at church, where they can come into the presence
of God, be touched by His Spirit and carry His presence to their
needy world. |
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Although it is imperative that children receive as much from God
as is possible we don’t want to create selfish kids who
are only concerned about themselves. In other words we don’t
want them to spend all their time chasing God so that they become,
as the old saying says, ‘too heavenly minded to be of any
earthly good’. Instead we want children who are chasing
God and as a result share God’s heart for the world, following
his instructions and ‘shaking nations’, - making a
difference where they are. My experience has been that with just
a little teaching and guidance this almost happens naturally,
children become God chasers and as a result start also to be God
carriers as the following examples show.
A 4 year old boy was touched by the Spirit in one of our meetings
in the States and heard God tell Him that He was to ‘lift
up his house’ From that point on, for a number of months
he prayed for up an hour each night for his family and friends.
He started to draw pictures of Jesus or tear pictures out of a
colouring book and give them to people saying ‘Jesus loves
you and I do too. Jesus lives in my heart’ and he wants
to live in yours too’. When he did this to an older man,
who had treated him badly in the past, the presence of God was
released and the man with tears in his eyes told that boy ‘I
love you too’. The boy wasn’t yet shaking a nation
in the strictest sense of that word but a ‘mini nation’
was shaken – an individual’s life. |
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‘ What have you done with my daughter?’ asked one
mother after her 10 year old returned from attending Grapevine
(another British Bible week where Powerpack is responsible for
the ministry with around 600 eight to eleven year olds) with her
Christian grandmother. The girl had written a prayer request and
stuck it on our ‘prayer mountain’ saying ‘Please
God stop my Daddy from drinking’ and came from a needy non-
Christian family. However her mum was so amazed at how different
her daughter was, especially in her attitude to her younger brother
that she agreed to look into finding a local church that they
could attend in their area. The grandmother had to admit that
she had done nothing but it was because the girl had been in the
presence of God and had been filled with the Holy Spirit. Another
‘mini nation’, was shaken - a family.
Another boy left Grapevine having been touched powerfully
by the Spirit saying that God had told him to start a prayer meeting
in his school. His mother was extremely concerned since he had
been badly bullied and as a result was just about to start his
last year of primary education in another school where she hoped
the problem would not reoccur. She chose to ‘play the whole
idea’ down and really hoped that he would forget about it,
since it would more than likely open him up to more bullying.
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The
boy however was determined to obey God no matter what the cost.
He repeatedly reminded his mother of what God had said and eventually
she had to concede and made an appointment for them to go and
talk to the school principal. Another Christian boy also wanted
to get involved so he joined them for the meeting. The principal
after pointing out the possibility that leading a prayer meeting
could result in more bullying, realised just how determined the
boys were. He said that if they would be prepared to share with
the whole school what they were going to do and give an invitation
to everyone, and if the mother would be prepared to supervise
the meetings, then they could use a classroom during the lunch
break on a weekly basis and have their prayer meeting. For the
rest of the school year approximately 20-30 children (not Christians)
showed up for a prayer meeting completely led by these two 10
year olds. This boy was shaking another ‘mini nation’
- his school.
Only God knows what will happen with the children, who just this
month (August 2002) at Faith Camp, heard God tell them to be missionaries
in the Philippines, India, and Mozambique, or who heard God say
that they should be Powerpack leaders, children’s leaders,
evangelists, pastors etc.
God wants children who are chasing Him, who know how to soak in
His presence and receive His power and who, as a result shake
‘mini nations’ - individual’s lives, families,
schools and neighbourhoods, because it is as this happens that
whole nations can be shaken for God. What is our part in this?
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 Pray that God
will give the children, who you know, a gift of hunger for Himself.
Provide
opportunities for them to experience the presence and power
of God.
Share
with them stories of what God is doing throughout the world,
which will raise their faith and inspire them to do something
for God themselves. (eg there are some great stories from the
ministry of Rolland and Heidi Baker in Mozambique www.irismin.org)
Be
a good role model of someone who is chasing God and shaking
nations.
Let’s chase God and shake nations together!!
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| For
details on our "God Chasers Nation Shakers" CD please
click here. |
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