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Only Half of our Kids Are Doing Daily Quiet Times ☹

I was talking to a Children’s Minister recently about how things were going at her church.

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She told me that she was really discouraged. She was thinking that what they were doing was not really working…until she sat down with the kids.

She said, “I sat down with them one night and asked them about their spiritual lives, and I was blown away! I could not believe the depth of their spiritual maturity.”

She was four months into her new leadership ministry for children.  

“Praise the Lord!” I said.

 

I asked her, “How many of the children in your church are doing daily quiet times?”

“About 50 percent,” she said with somewhat of a discouraged tone.

So, I asked, “How many children in your church were doing daily quiet times before?”

“None” was her reply.

“Praise God!” I exclaimed. “Half of your kids are doing daily quiet times!”

Then I believe it hit her. She realized she was doing it right. Her parents were getting on board.

This is a typical report I hear from a lot of churches we work with as a ministry.

Many times, they average between 50 and 70 percent of their kids doing daily quiet times.  

So, how do we get parents on board without overwhelming them?

What I learned years ago is the old saying, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”

Somehow, I had to get the parents’ attention to get their priorities right.

Wednesday evenings became our Leaders In Training night for our children and preteens.

I let parents know that for their child to be a part of the ministry, they were required to attend a Parent Orientation.

You should have seen some of the looks I got from parents.

They would sit in the room with their arms crossed and stare at me with some rather skeptical faces.

During the first ten minutes of our orientation, I had them fill out a “Parent Priority Form.”  

This helped them to stop and look at their schedules to see what took up most of their time each week.

Then I explained what Jesus said our priorities should be as believers:  

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37, 39)

I sympathized, “I know that you are really busy and feel overwhelmed.”

I went on, “God promises to bless our lives if we put Him first in everything we do. In order to love God with all our heart, Samplesoul, and mind, we must put Him first in our lives.”

“That means your child’s spiritual walk and church attendance should be priority,” I emphasized.

“In order to put Him first in our day, we need to spend time with Him every day. The same is true with your child.”

I explained further, “Part of the requirements of Leaders In Training is having a daily quiet time.

We are asking you to prioritize 5 to 15 minutes a day for your child’s daily quiet time.”

After the orientation, many parents started doing daily quiet times with their child.

What we saw was change and transformation like we had never seen before in the lives of children.

Spending time with Jesus changes everything.

If you desire to see children begin a life-sustaining faith, let us help. Click here.

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