Teaching Children to Rely on God

{Today’s post is written by Liz Rigby from Plunge Deep, Climb Steep. Thanks so much for coming over and sharing about how we can actively be teaching children to rely on God, Liz!! }

 

I recently attended a woman’s conference. It was not very large, just a meeting of several sister churches in our area, but in the middle of one of the speaker’s sessions God enlightened me to something I needed in my day-to-day living. Her point was “The spirit of praise protects children from rebellion.”

Psalms 78:1-8: Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

What does this mean?

The speaker shared this: that God says in these verses that we are to teach our children:

(1) the praises of the Lord,

(2) his strength,

(3) his wonderful works that He hath done [vs. 4]

That they might:

(1) set their hope in God,

(2) not forget the works of God,

(3) keep His commandments. [vs. 7]

 

You know what God showed me? Something that doesn’t actually fit with the point of these verses:

When you grow up with an unreliable parent, it essentially wires you to not completely trust or rely on anyone. That has been the greatest roadblock to my faith and relationship with God. I keep expecting that God is going to let me down. And while I have come to terms with that for myself, God showed me that I haven’t come to terms with that for my children. I’m afraid to build my child on a faith in God, only to have Him let them down.

I hesitate to encourage them to have true faith in their circumstances and wait on God to answer, because I don’t always believe He will.

But I must… because not only is it right and true, but I want to break the cycle. I don’t want my children to experience how hard it is to truly believe. So taking the point of these verses and teaching my children that they’re more than just words to slap over the picture of our own lives, that is what God showed me. There needs to be a difference between the kind of Christianity that teaches children what to say without having tested faith, and the kind of Christianity that shows them how to prove God in their smaller problems so they can learn to trust Him in the great ones. I choose trust…for me, and for my children.

Check out these practical ways to teach your children to rely on God! #christianparenting #momlife #faith #christianmotherhood Click To Tweet

How can we teach our children to rely on God?

Here are the strategies that I use as I am teaching my children to rely on God:

 

1. Make big goals. I’m going to encourage my kids to have God-size dreams, so that when God delivers, they’ll know it was His doing.
2. Create a more involved God time for their day. This is one of the reasons I’m so happy with homeschooling- I can schedule what should be the most important time of my child’s day. Instead of a lackadaisical approach to Bible time, I want to lengthen the time they spend in contemplating God and spending time with Him.
   1. This would be the time where I focus on the verses given above…. Praise time.
   2. Prayer time. Where I can help them realize that God is an actual person who makes His own decisions.
   3. Bible time. I can’t help feeling that this is the most important from the aspect of growing their faith. Why? Because faith is a fruit of the Spirit, and we are most fruitful when we are spending time in God’s word. Psalms 1:2,3. It is there that God makes us more like His son, and where His Holy Spirit can convict and change us. 2 Corinthians 3:18.
3. Plan big projects. There are so many opportunities out there now-a-days for giving! Whether it’s specifically for kids or one of your own preferred organizations, there’s no shortage to the places kids can get involved and feel like God is using them in a big way. I actually do an outreach post every Friday on my Instagram…just check out the hashtag #freestylerfriday for numerous ways to practice outreach in your community.

I’m also going to challenge my kids to do ‘raise money’ projects occasionally. Again there’s many choices out there, but some possibilities I’m considering are:

 

1. https://www.hopeandhelpinternational.org
2. faithbridgefostercare.org
3. p143.org
4. https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
5. http://dressagirlaroundtheworld.com
6. advancingnativemissions.com
7. https://www.compassion.com
8. https://starfishproject.com
9. https://www.wycliffe.org
10. https://www.worldvision.org/

 

Liz Rigby is a wife and homeschooling mother of three who holds a B.A. in Church Ministries.  Writing is her current passion, but she also dabbles in art, photography, gardening, and music. Liz serves in her local church and looks for creative ways to reach out to her local community. From wiping bums to getting published, the job doesn’t matter as long as Jesus and others are loved.

You can check out her website, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or StumbleUpon.

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