Book: Redefining Children’s Ministry in the 21st Century
Author: Becky Fischer
Chapter 11: Children Hearing God’s Voice

Premise of the Book: We have a crisis in the modern and postmodern church concerning ministry to children. According to George Barna, 70% of the children we have raised in church will leave the church as young adults.

Chapter 11 – Children Hearing God’s Voice
Becky Fischer suggests that there are three essential things in our walk with God: 1. Salvation. 2. Baptism of the Holy Spirit. 3. Hearing God’s Voice. In order to do anything effective for the Kingdom, you need to know how to hear and follow him. We need to teach them regularly, repeatedly, deliberately, and thoroughly.

The remainder of this chapter is devoted to about a dozen stories of children who acted on the voice of God. In some Christian circles this is known as a “word of knowledge” or a “prophetic word”. Children may not know how to interpret the words or pictures they see, but with the help of an experienced adult to interpret, you might be surprised to see how well children can minister to adults.

There were stories of children who heard God’s voice and:
1. it kept them safe from demonic influence from their peers at school;
2. gave pinpoint prophetic words to adults;
3. identified a woman who was demonized (and with the help of adults, delivered that person from that evil spirit);
4. heard healing words from God about past hurts in their life;
5. identified married couples who were having affairs (confirmed) and were encouraged to pray for healing,
6. identified people who had mental illnesses that needed healing;
7. received powerful word pictures of situations involving sin which resulted in prayer for healing.

Our job as parents and children’s minister are to train and release them while providing them a safe environment in which to operate.

Book: Redefining Children’s Ministry in the 21st Century
Author: Becky Fischer
Chapter 7: Musicians & Children’s Ministry

Premise of the Book: We have a crisis in the modern and postmodern church concerning ministry to children. According to George Barna, 70% of the children we have raised in church will leave the church as young adults.

Chapter 7: Musicians & Children’s Ministry
In this chapter Becky emphasizes the power of worship music to bring children to the throne of God, as well as, making an appeal to those gifted with music to consider the call to Children’s Ministry.

Becky has facilitated worship times during Children’s Church that have been very powerful. When children have been taught how to worship and why we do it, it’s not uncommon to see children get lost in the presence of God. When we show them the meaning behind certain physical positions, such as kneeling or bowing, waving flags, dancing, and raising our hands, worship becomes a prophetic expression or spiritual warfare.

Becky has noticed that letting children experience adult worship is good, but it’s it only takes them so far. When the worship songs get redone with fewer lyrics and more repetition, the song becomes easier, familiar, and children can be taken into God’s presence with less resistance. We need not make the songs babyish in our attempts to make it more accessible.

Book: Redefining Children’s Ministry in the 21st Century
Author: Becky Fischer
Chapter 5: Eli! Eli! I’m Calling You to Children’s Ministry!

Premise of the Book: We have a crisis in the modern and postmodern church concerning ministry to children. According to George Barna, 70% of the children we have raised in church will leave the church as young adults.

The main thrust of this chapter is two-fold:
1. To encourage the senior pastor of a church to take interest and get involved in the children’s ministry. Becky has noticed that when the spiritual father of the house is mentally and emotionally engaged with the children of his church, the children are more spiritual healthy, on fire, and secure in who they are in Christ. When the spiritual leader of the house is absent, then the opposite can usually be observed.

2. To recognize the call to children’s ministry. Becky was “tricked” into doing children’s ministry because there was simply no one else who wanted to do it. With a kind of righteous indignation, she took on the task and stumbled upon her destiny. Becky also openly wonders if some senior pastors, missionaries, and five-fold ministers might have missed the call to children’s ministry considering 1/3 of the world population is less than 19 years of age (I’m assuming she has noticed less than 1/3 of five-fold ministers are ministering to children). Lastly, she discusses what many churches would look for in hiring the ideal children’s pastor. Many churches tend to look for clowns, puppeteers, good entertainers, or great administrators who like kids. She challenges churches to hire a person that walks in some type of five-fold ministry. Her reasoning is that children need to be equipped for ministry, not just entertained and managed.

Book: With Christ in the School of Prayer
Chapter 9: Pray the Lord of the Harvest; OR Prayer Provides Laborers

“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is ‘plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

Why does He ask His disciples to pray for this? Could He not pray Himself? Would not one prayer of His achieve more than a thousand of theirs? Is God, the Lord of the harvest, not aware of the need? And would He not, in His own good time, send laborers without the disciples’ prayers? Such questions lead us into the deepest mysteries of prayer and its power in the Kingdom of God. The answer to such questions will convince us that prayer is indeed a power on which the gathering of the harvest and the coming of the Kingdom do in very truth depend.

This paragraph, and especially the last sentence, really hit me hard. Somehow, the coming of God’s Kingdom (His reign & rule) depends on my prayer. The words that I release from my mouth wield a supernatural power. In the name of Jesus, I have authority to release the powers of heaven to do the work of the Kingdom on earth. In many ways, I cannot comprehend this mystery!

But since He entrusted them with the work and made it to a large extent dependent on them, He gives them authority to apply to Him for laborers and makes the supply dependent on their prayer.

In every church I have been to, one of the greatest complaints I have heard from leadership is that “20% of the people do 80% of the work”. And it’s true! This problem has several contributing factors, not least of which is a kind of Consumeristic Christianity that has emerged over the past 50 years. I won’t get on that soapbox now!

The point that I do want to make, though, is that Jesus makes a promise. Did you know that God has never broken a promise? He is completely faithful to the covenant that he made with his people; and, he is faithful to all promises that are bound to that covenant. In this passage, Jesus is telling us that we can rightfully invoke this covenantal promise! And, he WILL DO what he says. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be a faithful God. Is it possible that the problem isn’t on God’s end, but on ours?

Why don’t we obey the Master’s instruction more heartily and cry more earnestly for laborers? There are two reasons.

1) We miss the compassion of Jesus which gave rise to this request for prayer. Believers must learn to love their neighbors as themselves and to live entirely for God’s glory in their relationships with fellow-men.

2) We believe too little in the power of prayer to bring about definite results. We do not live close enough to God to be capable of the confidence that He will answer. We have not surrendered entirely to His service and Kingdom. But our lack of faith will be overcome as we plead for help.

Yes, the problem isn’t on God’s end. Two key elements that we, his disciples, are lacking: 1) The compassion of Jesus; and 2) Thinking too little of the power of our prayer.

Let us pray for a life in union with Christ, so that His compassion streams into us and His Spirit assures us that our prayer is heard.

Amen!

Let us set apart time and give all of ourselves to this part of our intercessory work. It will lead us into the fellowship of that compassionate heart of His that led Him to call for our prayers. It will give us the insight of our royal position as children of the King whose will counts for something with the great God in the advancement of His Kingdom.

Book: With Christ in the School of Prayer
Chapter 7: How much more the Holy Spirit OR The All Comprehensive Gift

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him! Luke 11:13

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord had already given utterance to His wonderful How much more? Here in Luke, where He repeats the question, there is a difference. Instead of speaking, as then, of giving good gifts, He says, ‘How much more shall the heavenly Father give THE HOLY SPIRIT?’ He thus teaches us that the chief and the best of these gifts is the Holy Spirit, or rather, that in this gift all others are comprised. The Holy Spirit is the first of the Father’s gifts, and the one He delights most to bestow. The Holy Spirit is therefore the gift we ought first and chiefly to seek.

When Andrew Murray pointed out the subtle difference between Matthew and Luke account of the same story, it was like a light bulb going off in my head. See for yourself:

Matthew 7.11 NRSV
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Luke 11:13 NRSV
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

At times, I think we get caught up in desiring to have more spiritual gifts manifest in our meetings. We eagerly expect a healing or a prophecy or a miracle. These things are good, actually very good! However, Murray squarely points out that it’s our Father’s desire to give us - first and foremost - The Gift of His Spirit. It is from this Gift that all of the other gifts flow.

As the Spirit of the Father, and the Son, the whole life and love of the Father and the Son are in Him; and coming down into us, He lifts us up into their fellowship. … The Father can bestow no higher or more wonderful gift than this: His own Holy Spirit, the Spirit of sonship.

Let me ask you some probing hypothetical questions: Let’s say for a moment that the Spiritual gifts never existed (administration, preaching, teaching, knowledge, leadership, wisdom, healing, prophecy, mercy, miracles, tongues, service, etc). Let’s say that the only gift we ever received, at the time of becoming of a Christian, was only the Holy Spirit. 1. What would you do with that gift for the rest of your life? 2. Would you find yourself getting bored with that gift? 3. Will that gift be destined to become abandoned and forgotten like almost every other Christmas gift?

I believe that all of us, in some sense, can loose sight of why the Holy Spirit is the first and greatest of all the gifts. Through the Spirit the very presence of God is dwelling inside of us. It is through the Spirit we can now enjoy intimate fellowship with our Creator and Lord.

If we but yield ourselves entirely to the disposal of the Spirit, and let Him have His way with us, He will manifest the life of Christ within us.

When we have fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit, we cannot help but become more like Jesus: the person who exemplified what it meant to have intimate fellowship with the Father. I believe this intimate fellowship is the essence of kingdom living.