By Patricia Batten
Have you ever struggled with teaching your children about God and the Christian faith? I have—many times.
One morning, when my three-year-old child trudged into the kitchen, I knew immediately that something was wrong, because toddlers don’t trudge—they leap or bound. Then I heard it: he had the sniffles.
My son came up to me and poked his nose high into the air. “See,” he said. “I have a cold.” His nose was red and crusty. It was stuffy and drippy. “You want to hear it?” he asked. (Of course I did. What mother wouldn’t want to hear congestion?)
“Yes,” I said as I mustered an early morning enthusiasm. “Let me hear your sniffles.”
He lifted his shoulders to his ears in a seeming attempt to suck in all of the air in the kitchen. But the enemy known as “Stuffiness” blocked it. Stuffiness battled the airflow and beat it back. The cold was in control.
“See, I can’t bweathe,” he murmured.
Then the little guy said something I’ll never forget: “God didn’t hear my prayer last night.”
“He didn’t?” I asked.
“No. I asked Him to take away my sniffles and He didn’t do it. He didn’t hear me. Why didn’t He hear me?”
My red-cheeked, heavy-eyed preschooler was disappointed in God, and he was looking to me for answers. That’s when I couldn’t help but sigh and release a silent rant to God: Why didn’t You heal my son’s cold? Or even improve it? I’ve been trying to teach him about You. He prayed to You! If You had healed his cold, he would have learnt that You’re real and that You care, and given You the glory. But now, what do I tell him?
Despite my years of formal theological training, I realised that I had no idea how to respond to the heartfelt question of my own son. I gave a clumsy answer before dwelling on it for the next 48 hours. I felt defeated. Had I failed in teaching him the faith?
A Challenging Commandment
What about you? Have you ever had to give a clumsy answer to a heartfelt question (or question your own clumsy but heartfelt answer)? Have you wondered if you had the wrong answer?
In those moments, perhaps you’ve been tempted to believe that parents should leave it to the religious experts—the pastors, the preachers, the Sunday school superintendents and teachers.
But God has involved parents in teaching the faith since the time of Moses.
Before the Israelites entered the promised land, Moses reminded them of God’s commandments and laws, saying: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
Moses’ words stressed that parents would be responsible for the religious education of their children. The mandate for mothers and fathers was clear: teach your children about God.
I imagine many mothers and fathers would have felt a weight of responsibility bearing down on them. Impress God’s commandments on their children? How would they do that?
Not only that, the word “impressed” implied skill and depth. The word is used of the Ten Commandments that were engraved on stone tablets. Impressions aren’t made overnight; they’re chiselled by an experienced craftsman, bit by bit, in order to make a deep and lasting impression.
As Christian parents living in the 21st century, we have a similar responsibility to share our faith with our children. But there are some differences.
First, parents today live under grace, not law. We are not engraving a long list of rules and regulations on our children; we are engraving a love for God in response to His grace.
Second, we do not carry this weight of responsibility alone. The Holy Spirit guides us and encourages us every step of the way.
* * *
When my son asked me why God didn’t answer his prayer and heal his cold, I was tongue-tied. That made me disappointed in myself. How could I raise my children in the faith when I couldn’t answer a question about a cold?
Then I realised that my son had prayed to God on his own! This three-year-old went to God in prayer and asked God for help. Where did he learn to do that? From me. An imperfect parent—but a parent on whom God and our need for Him had been impressed.
When God is upon your heart, your children will learn from you.
Reflect
- Take some time to reflect on Deuteronomy 6:20-25. How can you apply these instructions today?
- Do you feel confident or do you feel insecure when it comes to teaching your children about God? Ask God for wisdom as you persevere in impressing your children with God’s ways.
Excerpted and adapted from Discovery Series, How Can I Raise My Children to Know and Love God? by Patricia Batten, published by Our Daily Bread Ministries
Read Also:
Discovery Series: How can I Raise My Children to Know and Love God?
In this booklet, Patricia Batten explores the challenge of raising children in our complicated world. Looking at one of the foundational declarations of faith in God, the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4–9, she pulls out practical guidance for teaching our children who God is, what He has done, and how we can respond to Him.
By impressing God’s commandments on your children, you can give them a firm foundation and start them down a path to life the way God intended it to be.
Our Daily Bread Ministries in Indonesia is supported by the freewill offering of individuals in Indonesia, who through their gifts enable us to continue to bring the life-changing wisdom of the Bible to many here. We are not funded by any church or organisation.
