Faith Like A Child

Yesterday we went to our first "Malachi" kids prayer meeting. For those of you who have been to IHOP, it is exactly the same as what happens in the Global Prayer Room except it is done by kids between the ages of 10-14. For those of you who have not been here (yet) - just imagine a full musical worship team, with a small group of singers off to the side and a ministry facilitator at the front leading you in worship and prayer for 2 hours.

It was so cool to see these kids leading the rapid fire prayer, playing the instruments and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them in singing prophetic songs. It was also exciting to see so many other young families with their kids coming together in worship and prayer as families, and a community of families.

At one point the kids were praying for marriages and laying hands on their parents, asking God to pour out His Spirit on them. (And the kids were actually praying for them with their own words for a significant length of time).

I think my favourite parts were when they taught us the Apostolic prayers through action songs! Our kids didn't seem to get it (or so we thought) but it was eye opening to see how kids church could look. Deep theology, practical application and full involvement in doing peer leadership.

My other favourite moment was seeing Emma step out and start to participate in the rapid fire prayer time. She had spent about 45 minutes sitting in the back coloring in her notebook (because there were a lot of people and she is quite shy around crowds). I had asked her if she wanted to join me in the worship but she said 'no'. The next thing I know Rhonda is pointing to the rapid fire line where Emma is waiting her turn to pray! She prayed for all the people that didn't know Jesus and aksed that He would pour out His Spirit on them. It was not the particular prayer focus for that time but it didn't matter - I was beaming with pride in the faith of my kid to step out of her comfort zone, open her mouth and move the heart of our merciful Father by her words. Well needless to say, it didn't take long before the next prayer focus came up and she was back in line praying for "Revival in America".

Looking back, I think it really helped that her friend Hannah showed up half-way into the meeting. Hannah's a real fireball (at the age of 3) and I think will be a great encourager for our kids.

As I had mentioned earlier, I didn't think the kids had picked up on the Apostolic prayers during the prayer meeting, but I was wrong.  I went to pick the kids up from their classes a few hours later and Kate came walking down the hall singing Acts 2 (along with actions) "Pour out your Spirit, on Your sons and daughters" over and over. I asked her if she had learned that in class today and she said 'No, Jesus taught it to me".

We got home, and as is our usual custom, the kids spent some time coloring while Rhonda and I spend a few moments being in our apartment simultaneously. A few minutes later, Kate came up to me with a picture she had just painted. It was a yellow piece of paper with sweeping lines of vibrant color on it. As any good dad would do I first told her that I liked it a lot, and then asked her what it was? She responded with a big Katie smile..."It's a picture of the Holy Spirit!".

So if you've ever wondered what He's like I can tell you this - He looks like a lot of fun!

Anyways, those are some highlights from Tuesday and I'm sure there will be more to tell by the time noon comes around today.

Hope everyone is well and we would love to hear what is happening in your lives too.

Blessings,

Jon