Have you ever wondered if God has a “weakness”? I know, I know—this may seem like a ridiculous question. But have you ever wondered if there is anything God can not do—limitations? For example, we know that He can’t lie. (Hebrews 6:18)
How about “bullet-proof prayers”? Have you ever wondered if there are prayers that God cannot say “No” to? Are there requests that we can bring before Him and be sure He will answer with a “Yes”? He promises us in 1 John 5:14-15 “… that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us … and we (can) know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
Have you ever wondered if you could really bless the heart of God? I mean, what a concept! God doesn’t need anything from us; He is completely self-sufficient. So what could we possibly do that would bless His heart?
And why the silly questions?
Here’s why … I have become convinced that there are certain prayers that bless God’s heart beyond measure—prayers that He will always say “Yes” to! I’m also pretty sure that God has a special place in His heart for children (an extra “soft spot,” if you will).
There’s something about the purity of a child’s prayer that I believe blesses the heart of God with an unmatched intensity. When a child (or any of us, for that matter) asks God to do something that aligns with His will and actually expects Him to do it simply because He says He will, guess what happens? He does it—every time! That is what He simply calls … faith!
Jesus said that we must have faith as a child. It’s a faith that is unspoiled by the years of cultural baggage and “logical” doubts that seem to hinder so many of our prayers. A faith that simply believes that God can do what He says He will do … because He can do anything!
When Jesus sent out His disciples to carry His message, He reminded us that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So what was His strategy for mobilizing more workers? He told them to pray and ask the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers. Prayer is God’s plan for mobilizing missionaries. If we pray that He will send out more workers, He will.
So imagine what might happen if a generation of children began to pray for the completion of the Bride of Christ among all peoples! I imagine that such a sound ascending to the Father’s ears would raise the roof of heaven and bring such an outpouring of His activity amongst His Church that we could see Him complete the evangelization of the world within one generation!
May the Lord ignite our hearts today with a passion for His glory and engage our lives in His global mission. I long to see our daughter, Everly, along with a generation of children and youth, engaged in prayer for unreached people groups! I remember once when I was praying for this to become a reality, it dawned on me—this is not my idea. This is God’s idea! And it has been His plan all along.
Visit our blog next week for part two and read about six ways to cultivate a heart of prayer and missions in children.
