Displaying items by tag: Children

Psalm 127:3 states, ‘Children are a gift from God’. In the Name of Jesus, we pray for children to be safe and secure, loved, enjoyed, and protected, and that everything God has put within them of fun, of laughter, of imagination and gift will be released and encouraged. We pray that this will be a time of unprecedented learning, growth and experience for them at every age. May their education come in multiple ways, with rich life-learning for all ages and stages at this time. We ask God to bless vulnerable children with safety, protection, and provision of shelter, food and love. We pray for children suffering from autism, dyslexia, ADHD and related issues. May they be surrounded at this time by those who love them, and may patience, acceptance, confidence and peace overwhelm every fear and anxiety.

Currently 3,000 children are uniting to pray for the nations on Whatsapp. Royal Kids Ministries, started in Chennai in 1991 with one orphanage, have expanded into Children House of Prayer (CHOP), with prayer rooms at many orphanages. Their vision is Malachi 4:6: ‘He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers’. ‘The aim is to raise up young intercessors as worshippers and as a prayer army to cry out for revival, and also to call forth spiritual parents to support and cover children with prayers: in essence, to bring revival through orphans.’ This vision has spread; today there are CHOP in eight countries praying every day, and in eight more praying once a week. The aim is to have every orphanage turned into CHOP prayer rooms in every nation of the world.

Julia Gillard, former Australian prime minister, chairs the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and is campaigning for the rights of girls to stay in education. Boris Johnson has called for every girl to be guaranteed twelve years of good quality education. In his party's election manifesto he repeated his support for girls' education globally. There are 130 million girls completely missing out on school. The UK government has been among the biggest backers, giving almost £1bn in 15 years. In Ethiopia there are projects to protect girls from sexual harassment as they go to school or college. Ms Gillard says that getting girls to stay in school is the ‘keystone’ for wider economic improvement. Many girls are married off at a young age or kept at home to work (freeing up an adult to go and earn an income for the family). Despite decades of world leaders’ promises, millions have never started school.

Luke 11 opens with the disciples’ simple request, Lord teach us to pray. Since its first publication in 2014, when Tom Victor invited us to launch this book at the 4/14 Best Practices Conference in NYC, God has used The Prayer Covenant for Children to share the gospel message and disciple the hearts of children while teaching them to pray. As children experience the power of answered prayer, they are excited, their faith is strengthened, and they want to pray more.

Prayer is one of the most important spiritual disciplines we can teach our children because prayer nurtures their relationship with Jesus and produces faith that will last a lifetime. The more time they spend with Jesus, the more they become like Jesus—full of his grace, love, compassion and forgiveness. In becoming more like Jesus, they begin to see the world through his eyes and are burdened for those around them. Daily they are praying, “Use me for your glory and to invite others to follow you.” And Jesus is answering their prayers. It is why we have partnered with Go2020 and are excited to see this untapped harvest force being used by God to reach the world for Christ.

God is using The Prayer Covenant to facilitate a movement of prayer and evangelism among children and youth worldwide.  As children embark on this prayer journey, they are experiencing God in powerful ways. They are learning how to obey him and respond to the promptings of his Holy Spirit.

Learning to listen is something children are discovering as they grow in a lifestyle of prayer. Our listening to God is as important as our prayers. He speaks through his Word, and often through the gentle promptings of his Holy Spirit. Young Samuel in the Bible learned to discern his voice and God was able to use him to lead a nation.

The mission of The Prayer Covenant is our passion: leading children and adults to follow Jesus through the power of the Prayer Covenant. As we are equipping children with this tool, God is miraculously working in and through them in powerful ways. We have reached over 4 million children in 53 countries worldwide— 4 million children following Jesus together! 4 million children learning to hear and obey his voice!

The Prayer Covenant is not just about establishing a lifestyle of prayer, but about raising life-long disciples of Jesus Christ. It is not just a prayer to pray for the sake of praying, it is an active prayer, seeking results in our lives. 

Dear heavenly Father,
Thank you for loving me and making me one of your children.
Help me love and obey you.
Help me love others the way you love me.
I am sorry for my sins. Wash me clean.
I will praise you with my whole heart!
Jesus, I want to follow you as my Lord. Change me any way you want.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit. I want to know your plans for me.
Make me a messenger of your grace, truth and justice.
Use me for your glory and to invite others to follow you.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Manjeet Kaur, from North India, is fruit of the Sunday school where she learned about Jesus Christ through The Power of the Prayer Covenant for Children.  Our leader there shared:

“Manjeet was born and brought up in a Hindu family. Being Hindu they used to worship idols and believing all rituals. Her father used to drink and always fought with her mother and beat her. Once our coach visited her house and invited her to Sunday school. For one year Manjeet attended regularly and learned about Jesus and received him into her life. She invited her teacher to come to her house and talk with her father. He prayed for her father and said, ‘Jesus will give you living water if you will believe in Him.’ After listening, her Father responded positively and showed interest to know more about Jesus. A few days later her father left his drinking habit and believed in Jesus Christ. His life has changed and is experiencing the true peace only Jesus can give. Their entire family has become Christ followers.”

One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty…. Psalm 145:4,5

Together let us seize the eternally purposed opportunity to lead our hearts and the hearts of our children directly to all that is true and good: to Christ Himself. 

Candy Marballi – IPC Leadership Team
www.theprayercovenant.org/children/index.html

Susan Evans, a former psychiatric nurse, has launched a case in the High Court claiming that many children receiving gender reassignment treatment have been misdiagnosed; they are actually autistic, homosexual, or suffering from some form of diagnosable but non-related mental illness, including trauma resulting from sexual abuse. She is calling for an end to experimental and invasive medical treatment, with long-term and currently unknown consequences, arguing that children cannot possibly give informed consent to such life-changing and potentially hazardous treatments, and must be protected from exploitation and abuse. Meanwhile transgender children’s charities have criticised the case, saying that children should not be denied the right to make decisions about their own bodies, simply because they are trans. Mrs Evans argues, ‘Providing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to under 18s is illegal because children cannot give valid consent to the treatment’.

A ban on children heading the football in Scotland could be implemented due to fears over links between football and dementia. The Scottish FA wants to lead the way on the issue after a report found former players are more at risk of dying from the disease. An announcement on banning under-12s heading footballs in training is expected this month. A similar ban is in place in the USA. Scotland would become the first European country to impose such a restriction. Discussions have been ongoing since an October study found the first links between former players and degenerative brain disease. Although former players are three-and-a-half times more likely to die of dementia, there is no firm evidence linking heading the ball to the disease. A neurosurgeon said that England striker Jeff Astle died from a brain condition normally linked to boxers rather than Alzheimer's disease.

Between April 2017 and December 2019, Kent police investigated 109 children for possessing, or threatening with, an offensive weapon or blade at school. Two children, aged seven and nine, were not prosecuted for knife-related offences because they were under ten - the age of criminal responsibility. The most common age group for suspects was 14- to 15-year-olds. Five adults were also investigated for having knives on school premises. These figures follow similar disclosures by the majority of forces in England and Wales; numbers are much higher in places like London. An October investigation found that thousands of children had brought weapons to school, with some suspects as young as four. Pray for churches, support workers, and social services as they seek to help overwhelmed parents juggling busy lives with badly-behaved children and teenagers.

The headteacher of a London primary school ruled that children should sing ‘baby boy Jesus’, not ‘little Lord Jesus’ in the carol Away in a manger (so that pupils of all beliefs could join in). Children also sang edited versions of modern hymns at a carol service and nativity at a nearby church. Margarita, whose children attend the school, said: ‘As a family we go to church, pray together, and celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus the Son of God. If he was just a baby boy named Jesus, there wouldn't be a celebration in the first place. He is our Lord and Saviour and King of all Kings - that's the whole point.’

Adults were murdered, children were kidnapped, and people robbed in Boko Haram attacks on mainly-Christian villages in the far north of Cameroon. The army has difficulty combatting militants in an area dotted with small, isolated villages linked by poor roads where militants strike and then escape via main roads back to Nigeria. On 1 December gunmen attacked mourners at a funeral in Kotserehé, killing four and wounding three. The following night, they murdered three and wounded another when they swarmed into Zangola, stealing food and clothing; they similarly looted Yagoua. In Mbreche, militants kidnapped 21 young people aged between 12 and 21; next they attacked Tahert, stealing a motorbike and wounding a girl. Those abducted will be forced to become Boko Haram ‘soldiers’ and fight for the extremists. In November a Christian boy was hacked to death for resisting militants’ attempt to abduct him as a ‘soldier’.

On 4 December, a bomb squad in Madrid destroyed a grenade which had been thrown over the wall of a migrant centre for children. Police said it was a training grenade containing a small amount of explosives, and no injuries were reported. The centre houses dozens of unaccompanied minors, many of them immigrants. The attack has been widely condemned by Spanish politicians and human rights campaigners, with many linking it to anti-immigrant rhetoric. During a televised election debate in November, the leader of the far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, accused youths at the centre of causing a spike in crime in the surrounding neighbourhood, where he lives. In the election, Vox more than doubled its seats to become the country's third most-powerful party.