Welcome to The Turnaround’s 52 Days of Prayers!
Introduction
Welcome to Day 20 as we continue to build the wall of prayer and repentance around our nation. Today, we want to focus on the BIG importance of little children.
Insight
Do you remember the last baby dedication at your church? Parents in their Sunday best, babies decked out in new clothes and shoes. Imagine that just as your pastor reaches out his hand to bless the first baby, three leaders get up abruptly to rebuke the parents for interrupting the service. They push the families to the side and tell your pastor to just preach his sermon.
What do you think your pastor would do? Well, that was the situation being described in Matthew. The disciples were offended that parents were putting the needs of their children above the sick and the poor. If you think your pastor would be upset at those leaders, imagine what Jesus felt when the disciples rebuked those parents!
And yet, the same kind of thing is happening in many churches today. Most leaders would not dare to interrupt a public baby dedication, but consider other ways we hinder parents from bringing their children to Jesus. Many services a church provides are for adults, including prayer meetings, Bible classes, marriage retreats, service projects, and so on. For most of these events and services, children have their place—in classrooms.
In an attempt to cater to adults, we easily forget about the children and the lesson Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew: “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Just like the disciples, we must be reminded of children’s importance in the kingdom of God.
How can we bring the kids to Jesus? What if kids came to service and we choose to be okay with the added noise and movement kids bring? What if we did family service projects? We must intentionally expose children to God’s presence, or it won’t happen. I know they can feel it in Kids’ Ministry classrooms, but there’s something crucial about kids experiencing the presence of Jesus with their families.
Turnaround Questions
What hindrances do you see in front of children that you can remove so they can meet with Jesus? How can your church answer the cry of parents for their children to meet Jesus?
Prayer
Jesus, remind us that we are your hands and feet, and we have been tasked with blessing the children in our communities with opportunities to meet you. Open our eyes to the hindrances we and our churches have put between you and the children you love. Give us the courage to remove those hindrances and intentionally bring children to you. We ask that our churches be places where whole families can meet you, choose to follow you, and serve you. Amen
