The disciples had watched Jesus for a long time. They saw Him teach, heal, and walk the roads of their country. But one moment stirred something deeper in them — they saw Him pray.
We don’t know the words He used. Scripture only tells us the effect it had. Watching Jesus in prayer awoke a strong, aching desire in His followers. They wanted what He had. So they asked Him: “Lord, teach us to pray.”
That same question sits at the heart of everything we do in children’s ministry. Before we can help a child know God, we have to seek Him ourselves.
A Day Gathered Around God’s Word
Recently, believers in Switzerland gathered for a day seminar on this very theme — how to draw truth from God’s Word and pass it on to children. A children’s missionary and father of five led the day. He began with the hard, honest foundation: every person, including every child, is lost without Christ. From there he opened Scripture to show God’s heart to save.
He didn’t stay in theory. Drawing on his experience of children’s clubs and numerous personal conversations, he showed practical steps for reaching children with the biblical message, so that they come to know God, believe, and want to follow Him. Again and again he returned to one point: we depend completely on God’s leading. Without Him, our best methods are empty.
A Hunger to Learn
During the breaks, people talked together and browsed the book table. Nineteen came in all. A few who couldn’t make it wrote afterwards, wishing they had been there. “I would have loved to come, but I ran out of time — next time,” read one message that evening.
Their disappointment says something worth noticing. There is real hunger to learn how to bring children to Christ.
The Question Worth Carrying
And that brings us back to the disciples’ prayer. How much room does the Spirit of God have in me? What of Himself is He longing to show me? Do I grieve over a world that has turned from Him — enough that the grief drives me to my knees? And how much of my time slips away on passing things, even good things, while I miss the best thing of all?
These are the questions worth carrying. God wants to bring change — in us, and in the world around us. And He longs for children and young people to turn to Him.
So we pray with the disciples, from the heart: Lord, teach me to pray.
Will you join us? Pray that God’s Spirit would lead every worker, parent, and grandparent who longs to point children to Christ.
-Testimony from a worker in CEF of Switzerland (Daniela)
(Image:Adobe Express)
