Helping Children Receive The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Let me begin with a story, my story.  I grew up in the church.  I loved God and everything about God.  When I was in seventh grade, I went forward to receive the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.  It was at the end of the service.  I went forward, but I left defeated.  I did not speak in tongues that day.  I felt so rejected and hurt and asked the question that so many other people have asked, “Why didn’t you give me the Holy Spirit, God?”

I left unsure of what actually happened or what didn’t happen.

Several days later, as I was sitting outside under a tree. I was quiet and I heard these strange sounding words on the inside of me.

I quietly spoke them out.  IMMEDIATELY, my head said, “That’s not it. You are just making up those words.”

I closed my mouth and wondered if I would ever speak in tongues.

My story does not end there.  I was at a service about a month later and I went forward.  I don’t remember what was said to me at that time, but I do know that those same words that I heard under the tree were there, in my heart again.  I spoke them out and was encouraged to continue. I have continued to pray in the Spirit to this day.

At the church I grew up in receiving the Holy Spirit was a mystery.  Some received and some did not.  No one knew why.

As I’ve grown in God I am convinced that if someone wants to receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues they can.  There are things of God that are a mystery to me, but leading someone into the infilling of the Holy Spirit is not one of them.

 

Can Kids Receive The Holy Spirit?

Let’s look at what Peter said…

Acts 2:17 (NIRV)

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

[clickToTweet tweet=”God said that He would pour out His spirit on all flesh. That means that He will pour out His Spirit on kids too.” quote=”Our Heavenly Father said that He would pour out His spirit on all flesh.  That means that He will pour out His Spirit on everyone – kids too.” theme=”style1″]

So, how do you help kids receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

I’m glad you asked, here are three simple steps to helping kids receive the Holy Spirit.

 

First Step: Ask In Faith

Luke 11: 9-11 (NLT)

“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks finds and to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

In these scriptures, Jesus, said that if our children asked for a fish, would we give them a snake?  No.  So, if we would give our children what they asked for, how much more would our Heavenly Father give us what we ask for.

This is first and most important, because if someone WANTS to be filled the Holy Spirit and speak in other tongues they can.  If they are just responding because everyone else is or they think they should, they might not receive.

Mark and I have prayed with thousands of kids to receive the Holy Spirit since 1982, and there have only been a handful of children that walked away and did not speak.  If kids came forward to receive the Holy Spirit, I stayed with them until they prayed in tongues.

It is not up to me.  Father God said He would give the Holy Spirit to them that ask.  I believe He does what He says.

 

Step Two: If We Ask, He gives

As a leader, this is where I use my faith.  I trust what the Father has said.  I believe what the Father has said, and I instruct what the Father has said.  When we ask in faith, He gives.

If there is a holdup, it is not on His end.  I think many people are challenged in taking this next step with their kid’s church because there is evidence you must see – in this instance, the speaking in tongues.

We believe we receive even though we cannot see.  When I pray for children they must use their faith.  They must believe they receive, even though they cannot see.

Believing is simply trusting God will do what He said.

I tell anyone I pray with who wants to receive the Holy Spirit, that if they want to receive the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, they will.

When we ask in faith, the Holy Spirit will come and bring strange words for us to say.  Those words come to our spirit man.  The Holy Spirit does not come and grab our tongue and start shaking it.  Speaking in tongues is not a language we learn like Spanish or French.  It is a Heavenly language that only Father God and the Holy Spirit know.  This is the evidence or the sign that we are filled – we speak.

 

Step Three: We Won’t Understand It With Our Head

I Corinthians 14:14 (NLT)

“For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.”

I don’t know why Father God designed it this way, but He gives us a special language that only He understands.  God tells us that our spirit will pray, but we won’t understand what we are saying.  We will not understand speaking in tongues with our head, but we are to speak those very words we don’t understand out of our mouths.  This is where we trust Him.

 

TO SUM IT UP:

1. We ask in faith.

2. We believe we receive our Heavenly language (strange words) in our heart.

3. We speak those strange words out of our mouth.

 

Did you know that we have a whole curriculum about the Holy Spirit? 

We also wrote a eBook that we want to give you for FREE. This is such an easy way to share with kids about The Holy Spirit. CLICK HERE to learn more.