This article was guest written by Leann Woelk.
As children’s ministry leaders, our primary goal is to help kids build an authentic, personal relationship with Jesus. We want them to know that prayer isn’t just a one way list of requests. It’s a two-way conversation with the living God who speaks to them.
However, we cannot lead children into spiritual depth that we haven’t experienced ourselves. If we want to teach kids how to tune out the noise and listen to God’s heart, we have to start by learning to listen from the overflow of our own heart to heart prayer life.
The Power of Leading from Experience
Think about the most impactful lessons you give children. They rarely come from a dry script; they come from real life experiences.
When you share with kids how the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart, you testify to them that God wants a personal relationship with each of us. Children have an incredible, uncluttered capacity for faith, but they need a model. By cultivating your own intimate conversation with God, you give the kids in your ministry a blueprint for what a real relationship with Jesus looks like.
Experiencing God Through the Senses
Scripture tells us that the eyes of our hearts can be opened ( Ephesians 1:18) and He gives our hearts spiritual ears to hear Him speak to us (Psalm 27:8). God created us as physical and spiritual beings, and He often uses our senses to reveal His presence during prayer.
Picture holding a warm cup of coffee or tea during your morning quiet time:
- You hear the liquid pouring into the mug.
- You see the steam rising.
- You smell the rich, comforting fragrance.
- You feel the warmth pressing into your hands.
- You taste and enjoy every sip.
When you spend time in God’s presence, He pours Himself into you in that exact same way. You begin to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). As you leave that quiet space, you carry the fragrance of His presence into your classrooms, leadership meetings, and homes.
Finding Guidelines in the Word
God actually gives us some beautiful guidelines for how to come to Him in prayer. In Jeremiah 29:12–13, He says: “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” There’s such a powerful roadmap right here in Scripture: He says come, pray, and search with all your heart, and then He makes an incredible promise: “I will listen to you.” What a personal, attentive God we serve! Knowing that He actively leans in to listen gives us the confidence to stop, draw near, and share our hearts with Him.
The 5 Phrases of Heart to Heart Prayer
To help put those biblical guidelines into practice, here are five phrases you can use during your quiet time to guide your heart into His presence. These aren’t a rigid formula, but simple markers to walk you through heart to heart prayer:
1. I Will Be Still: Stop what you are doing, quiet the noise around you, and simply focus on being present with Him.
2. Meet and Greet: Acknowledge Him personally in whatever way feels authentic. If Jesus walked right into the room, would you reach out and give Him a hug? Greet Him with that same openness.
3. Behold and Be Held: First, behold: take a moment to recognize who He is as the Creator of the universe. Then, be held: allow yourself to feel His presence and rest in His loving embrace.
4. Look and Listen: Fix your eyes on Him and incline your ear to hear His heart. Look for Him in Scripture, listen for His whisper, or pay attention to pictures and names He brings to your imagination.
5. Print, Paint, and Pray: Capture what took place. Write notes in your journal or Bible, sketch or paint a visual picture of what God showed you, and pray over those insights to close your time together.
Passing It On
Once you’ve practiced walking through these phrases in your personal quiet time, bring the experience directly to your kids.
Set aside five quiet minutes during your next lesson, turn on soft worship music, and guide them through being still, meeting Jesus, looking, listening, and drawing or writing down what God tells them.
When children see that you genuinely meet with God this way, they will be inspired to expect the exact same heart to heart connection for themselves.
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