Teaching Kids How to Hear God’s Voice

[Focus on the Family]

When my daughter was four, we would pray after our bedtime Bible story. I told her prayer was our time to talk to God and listen to Him. My daughter said, “But, Mommy, I can’t hear God.” As parents, we can help our kids learn how to hear God’s voice by showing them how to meditate on His Word.

Learning How to Hear God’s Voice​

Once my kids learned to read, I used these steps to train them to hear God better:

1. Read a devotional with Scripture or a Bible passage you studied in a previous Sunday school lesson.
2. Write a sentence (kids) or a few sentences (tweens) on the following prompts:

Examine Your Heart​

• Reflect on whether you need to confess anything, even if it’s just a crabby attitude or an unkind thought.
• Write down any prayer requests or current concerns you have.
• Tell how God has demonstrated His love for you, big or small, or any “coincidences” that could be God working in your life.
• Thank God for something He has provided, and write a sentence that praises Him.

Meditate on Scripture​

• Consider what stood out to you in the Bible passage you just read and underline it.
• Write the lesson you learned or the main point of that reading. Where have you heard this message or idea before?
• Describe what you feel are the actions God wants you to take based on His truth and that lesson. (I reminded my children that God wouldn’t ask them to do anything that went against His character, rules or biblical principles.) Then ask God to help you complete this action.

When my children did this exercise once a week, they often began to see God moving in their daily lives through Scripture, circumstances, and convictions. This made God and His Word more relevant to them. Through these prompts, my children were able to learn how to hear God’s voice in their hearts and lives.

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