How would you like to pass on a legacy of faith to your children? Parents at the Children’s Church Camp prayer sessions share how they pray, model faith, and have needful conversations to disciple their children.
We need to Pray
As part of the Children’s Church Camp, family prayer sessions were organised on two days to encourage parents and children to pray together. These Family Prayer sessions began because of a vision Pastor Maureen had 8 years ago of little ones going up to their parents saying, “We need to pray.”
Drawing from Psalm 144:11, “Save me! Rescue me from the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead.” Pastor Maureen’s desire is that we raise a next generation of believers who know their identity in Christ and can counter, with Truth, the confusion and lies of the Enemy that abound in society today, to rise above the cyber, counter and cancel cultures of our time.
Psalm 144:12, “May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace.” Pastor Maureen’s vision is to strengthen praying parents, build family altars, and teach children how to pray for their parents.
Parents to Exemplify
Teacher Yee Wei, dad to Evan and Jed, (ages six and four respectively), opened in prayer, giving thanks to our Heavenly Father for every life, asking the Lord to cause parents to be signposts to lead our children to Him.
Angel Kum, a mother of three, asked the Lord to encounter our children at this camp, that all children would know “how to” come to the Lord, so that we will be an intergenerational church that comes to the Lord.
Angel shared how, as parents, we can inculcate prayer as a lifestyle to our children. She recounted a recent incident when her 10-year-old daughter’s school bus began to smoke from under the driver’s seat, and for 10 minutes how, as the children were stuck on the bus, her daughter’s response was to pray amid the unknown, trust the Lord and to not be afraid.
A Lasting Influence
Dennis Milner and his wife, Adrienne, are both second generation believers. He recalls how his mum was a very strong believer who prayed and read the Bible with him. When asked how he can pass faith on as a legacy to his children, Emma, and Aaron, (ages nine and six respectively), Dennis says they pray together as a family, especially at opportune moments together, such as on holidays. The whole family takes turns to pray daily before bed and when they wake.
The children sometimes also pray for their parents, and this happens whenever mum or dad is feeling under the weather. “It’s important to create the habit of prayer and help them build a quiet time so they will begin to do it on their own.”
Well-Equipped
Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning prayer sessions kicked off with worship by guest teacher, Nathan.
Pastor Maureen led the children to pray for wisdom and grace for their parents so that they would have strong marriages, know how to nurture their children’s gifts, and to be examples of what a family should be in this day!
Seven-year-old Deborah who was standing by her younger brother, Asher, 4, held her parents’ hands and prayed confidently. Her parents, Denny and Finna are second generation believers who understand how they are better equipped to pass their baton of faith on today than their parents were before. “I want our children to have their own personal encounters with the Lord,” shared Denny, “We familiarise them with prayer, and teach them to be thankful for the smallest things. We want them to have a faith of their own.”
An Inside Work
Philo Tay, a dad of three and a second-generation believer says bedtime prayer is important with his young ones, especially The Lord’s Prayer. “Going to church is about recognising and being in the atmosphere of His Presence. It’s not a passed-on religion, but an awareness of the inside work that is going on.”
Living Out and Having Conversations
Cze Ee, who was with Hosea, her youngest of three boys, feels it’s important that our children see us live out and verbalise our faith. “The generation before us often kept their thoughts inside. But today, we know that the next generation needs to see, hear and walk through the processes of how we depend on the Lord.”
“And how can we help these processes happen? As parents, we need to model it through action, explanations, lots of talks in the car, on the bus and at home. For those who had the blessing of believing parents, we can improve upon that!”
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