Can the devil steal the Word of God from your kids?

Several years ago, I had to fill in on my Wednesday night Preschool Class.  Something came up at the last minute and the lead teacher couldn’t be there. So I grabbed the lesson.  When I saw the lesson, I breathed a big sigh of relief. The Helmet of Salvation, this will go fine, so I thought.

When church started, I grabbed my props and began.  But I quickly realized my class of 4-year old’s and 5-year old’s were not with me. 

You might know how it goes, rolling on the floor, hitting the kid next to them, picking their nose….

• What do I do now?  
• What is going on?  
• Why don’t they get this?  
• This was supposed to be an easy lesson?

I took a deep breath and backed up.  I backed up, not in the room, but with the lesson. I had to quickly look for common ground. 

• What did they know?
• What did they understand?
• What did they NOT understand?

By internally asking these questions, I can tell if they are they getting it? I can determine if they understand what I am teaching.

When ministering to adults or children, it is important to ask this one question (in your head), “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”

Matthew 13:19, “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”

I work very hard, when preparing to teach, and I know you do too.  Your whole team does. 

So, it is important that we develop a way to internally know and gauge that what we are teaching is being understood.

Begin by asking yourself these questions:

• Can I go forward and cover new ground?
• Do I need to back-up and review?

Asking Questions Is Your Gauge or Thermometer

When you ask the kids you are teaching questions, you are able to determine and measure their depth of understanding.

If, while you are teaching, your kids begin getting up, being restless, or talking, you have lost them – they are cold. 

• That means you have to change what you are doing. 
• You need to engage them. 
• Get them back.

I realized that when I began talking about the Helmet of Salvation, that is when the blank stares started.  So, I backed up by asking them questions and realized they were stumped because, we don’t use big, giant words like SALVATION in the preschool class.  So, once I realized where the disconnect was, I was able to elaborate and then move on.

Matthew 13:23,  “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Did you know you have a part to play in how much your kids receive?

We are planting the seed of the Word of God.  If we do not make sure they understand what we are teaching, the very Word of God we are teaching can be snatched from them, simply because they don’t understand it.  Or they may not understand how it applies to them, or how to use it in their life.  So learn to develop your internal thermometer or gauge, every time you teach.

How To Develop An Internal Thermometer:

• Start with review.
• Introduce new topic.
• Are they with you? (Can they repeat bottom line or are they fidgety?)
• If they are with you, then you can go to new topic and move on.
• If they are not with you, ask questions to determine the last point they understood and then move forward from there.

Do you have a story about a time when you were able to gauge your class and they were not getting it?  What did you do?