Raising Children Who Pray

"And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” 1Samuel 3:10



We are approaching week four of Pray for Monroe - the focus for the week of April 28th will be children. My heart aches with the prayer to see the next generations fall in love with the God I know. The God of the Bible whose compassion fails not, whose power is unmatched and whose love is everlasting. Jesus Christ is yearning to connect with our community in a new way through the believers here. Prayer is our part preparing our hearts and the hearts of our community. Be encouraged with the words of E.M Bounds - always powerful and fresh each time I read them. - Todd

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Samuel was born in direct answer to prayer. He came into life under prayer surroundings, and his first months in the world were spent in direct contact with a woman who knew how to pray. It was a prayer accompanied by the solemn vow that if he was given to her, he would be "lent to the Lord" 1Sam 1:28.

True to that vow, this praying mother put him directly in touch with the minister of the sanctuary and under the influence of the house of prayer. It was no wonder he developed into a man of prayer. We could not have expected otherwise with such a beginning in life and with such early environments. Such surroundings always make impressions upon children and tend to mold character and determine destiny.

Samuel was in a favorable place to hear God when He spoke to him, and he was in an atmosphere that nurtured his heeding the diving call that came to him. It was the most natural thing in the world when, at the third call from heaven, he recognized God's voice. His childish heart responded promptly, “Speak, your servant is listening.” 1Sam 3:10. There was a quick response from his boyish spirit, of submission, willingness, and prayer.

Would you have your child called early into divine service and separated from the world to God? Would you have him situated so that he could be called in childhood by the Spirit of God? Put him under prayer influences. Place him near and directly under the influence of a man or woman of God and in close touch with the house of prayer. God will honor your actions.

Samuel knew God in boyhood. As a consequence, he knew God in manhood. He recognized God in childhood, obeyed Him and prayed to Him. The result was that he recognized God in manhood, obeyed Him, and prayed to Him. If more children were born of praying parents, brought up in direct contact with the house of prayer, and reared in prayer environments, more children would hear the voice of God's Spirit speaking to them. They would respond more quickly to those diviine calls to a religious life.

Do we want to have praying men in our churches? We must have praying mothers to give them birth, praying homes to influence their lives, and praying surroundings to impress their minds and to lay the foundations for praying lives. Praying Samuels come from praying Hannahs. Praying priests come from the house of prayer. Praying leaders come form praying homes.

Samuel was not only a praying priest, a praying leader, and a praying teacher, but he was also a praying father. The great need of these modern times is for Christian homes to have praying mothers and fathers. This is where the breakdown in religion occurs, where the religious life of a community first begins to decay, and where we must go first to raise praying men and women in God's church. The revival must start in the home. - E.M. Bounds