Be the Family That Prays

In the book of Genesis, we read about a woman named Agar wandering the desert with her boy Ishmael. Unfortunately she had very little water; nothing but a bottle of water for him to drink and when that water ran out she could not bear to watch the boy die of thirst. She left him under a tree and just went away, heartbroken and helpless. She then began to cry out to God Almighty on behalf of her dying boy. Then an angel of God called to Agar saying something powerful —- “What art thou doing, Agar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the boy. Arise, take up the boy!” Then God opened her eyes, and she suddenly saw a well of water, and went over, filled the bottle, and took it back to the boy to drink!” (ref Gen. 21:17-19). Did you notice that? God heard the prayer; not of the mother, but of the child, and He gave them water to drink.

Our children can pray with a sincere, authentic simplicity, void of calculation, which deeply touches the heart of the Father. When we encourage the leadership of our children in prayer we not only boast our children’s confidence in prayer, but we set a tone within our families. When spiritual disciplines such as prayer become less of an adults-only event but rather something they are not too young to do, children begin to experience real communication with God as someone they can have a relationship with.

Here at Christ Church, we encourage our children’s leadership in prayer —– we teach them to stand on the great words written to Timothy saying “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”(1 Timothy 4:12) Think about the situations in your life and home that have seemed to just hit the ceiling and not reach the throne of God —- what would it mean for God Almighty to hear these same prayers proceed from the mouths of your children? What would that mean for you to hear and come in agreement with them as well?

Start a new tradition in your family today — teach your children simple prayers to begin with. To get you started, here are a few prayers we first taught our young children at home: If I am scared of something: “Fear, go away in Jesus name.”

When I do something bad: “Holy Spirit, help me to be good.”

When I am hoping for something: “If it makes you happy, can I have this? I’ll still love you no matter what.”

My everyday prayer: “God, thank you for Jesus and everything else, even the bad stuff.”

Our children now lead off our daily family prayer time with confidence and constancy, an especially powerful ministry to our home, our relationships, and to our foundation of faith as a family.

Be the family that prays.

By Chris & Kelly Lewis

As a Licensed Pastor in the Church of God, Pastor Chris ”PC” alongside his wife Kelly has counseled with and ministered to many children, young people, engaged couples, and families throughout their 13 years in ministry. Chris and Kelly proceeded directly into ministry in 2004 after college, and their ministry has included preaching, teaching, counseling, traveling, and training others in ministry after marrying in 2006 and in 2008 beginning the most important ministry of their marriage began with the birth of the first of three young children, Halle, Noelle, and Christopher Jr. (CJ). Together they find a special joy in working with families whether it be officiating their weddings, baptizing their children, dedicating their babies, or Kelly as a professionally trained film actor, helping to develop the creative giftings in youth and children such as dance and dramatic presentation.

As the Lewises possess a passionate stage ministry together as mimes, they prove to be a well-seasoned power couple in family ministry. As they complete their degrees in Ministerial Leadership and Christian Counseling at Lee University this semester, they are honored to now serve as the Associate Directors of Children’s’ Ministry at Christ Church in this new season and they have decided to share their life story with the world via their YouTube family vlog located at:

youtube.com/chrisandkelly5life
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