After we finished our prayer time, I was thinking to myself, “I won’t do this ever again.”

We spent all day setting up our building for what we called “A Journey of Prayer.”

Our goal was to have serious fun with the kids that evening.

We set up multiple rooms throughout the church for the kids to rotate through to pray.

Each room had a specific focus:

• Cross room (praying for the lost)
• Throne room (worshipping before the Lord)
• 10/40 Window Room (praying for the unreached people groups)
• People in authority (president, police, pastor, teachers, etc.)
• Missionary room (praying for missionaries supported from our church)
• Revival room (praying for revival for our nation)
• Family room (praying for parents and siblings)

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Sometimes, you ask yourself, “Why did I do this?”

Right after we finished, Mark, one of my 2^nd grade small group leaders, walked up to me.

He said, “I thought you were a little crazy last week when you announced that we were going to have an hour and a half of prayer time with the kids. I thought to myself that there was no way my second-grade boys would make it five minutes. I was wrong. They prayed the whole time.”

Kids are prayer warriors.

All we have to do is set them on a path of prayer, and they will become powerful ministers through prayer.

We set a natural environment for prayer.

It was a lot of work but well worth it.

This began a yearly tradition that we did every fall and spring. It was well worth it for the impact it had on our kids and adults. 

Outside my church, I have been blessed to see this implemented powerfully on mission trips with preteens.

On my first mission trip, we trained and equipped the kids to lead the trip.

They led worship, taught Bible lessons, led games and crafts, and counseled kids for salvation.

However, they were not trained to pray.

On Wednesday evening of the trip, Amy, a fifth grader, was at the altar of the worship center, weeping and crying for a lost boy she had met that day.

The next day, she went out and led him to Christ.

In all my years prior, I had never seen anything like this.

Now, 35 mission trips later, it is common practice for kids to weep and cry for the lost.

It’s common practice for them to experience spiritual warfare on a mission trip.

They pray, and many times, the distractions stop and obstacles disappear immediately.

One preteen girl shared, “We heard a man and woman cursing and fighting near us. We stopped and prayed for them, and they stopped fighting and went back into their apartment.”

One leader shared that a large, loud flock of blackbirds had flown up and landed next to where they were having their outdoor Bible study.

He said,  “I saw Cassady walk over near the tree. As soon as she bowed her head to pray, the birds went totally silent. They stopped their noise!”

I could go on and on with stories just like this.

These kids are scary!

Not really, but it is a faith-builder for me.

All in all, the more you align them with the Great Commission, the more powerful and intense their prayers will be.

One leader said, “I have been on a mission trip where we cleaned churches and mowed lawns with our youth group. But nothing like this. These kids are on fire. I have seen kids pray for hours for the kids they meet on the trip.”

One of the joys of serving in kids' ministry is getting to witness so many gems such as these that I have seen along the way.

There is so much more to children’s ministry than Sunday morning and midweek programs.

There is purposeful discipleship when you equip them to minister through prayer.

It is a joy serving the Lord with you.

We would love to offer our free online training to you and your church.

Why? We want you to experience true joy when you tap into the full potential of children in the body of Christ on mission with the Good News of Christ.

Get started today!