Raising Godly Christian Children — Zac Poonen

Children as Gifts and Arrows

So, we are going to pray for two children now. Many of us have children and we want to just think about our responsibility as parents. Because it is a big treasure God has given us and there is a purpose with which God gives us children.

Turn to Psalm 127, verse 3, children are a gift of the Lord. Why did God give you this gift? That's important to understand. That is a well known verse, children are a gift of the Lord and if I ask any parent here, is your child a gift from the Lord, they will say yes.

Because there are other parents who don't have children, so your children are a gift. But it also says here, the children are like the arrows in the hand of a warrior. That many people don't know, in the olden days, they used to fight with bows and arrows.

When the enemies come, they get the arrows ready, pull the string and fire the arrow. So it says, your children are like these arrows and you will have them in your home for eighteen to twenty years, or twenty-five years maybe.

In all those years, you must keep pulling the string of the bow and make this arrow go really fast. Not here or there or anywhere in the direction of the enemy. And then one day they leave the home, maybe they get married, or they go away to work, you release them.

And they must go fight the devil for the rest of their life. That's the enemy for which we must train our children to fight. Such a man, verse 5, will never be ashamed. If you have one child, two children, five children, you must train them like arrows.

Training Children to Follow Jesus

That means train them to fight the devil from childhood, to fight against all the evil habits in the human race, or train them from childhood to behave like Jesus Christ. See, when my children were going to school, I used to tell them like this.

See, Jesus also one day was ten, eleven years old and going to school. He had to study in a school like everybody else. How do you think Jesus behaved in the school? Did he rebel against the teachers and make fun of the teachers behind their back?

And you also must not join all the other students and argue with the teacher and make fun of the teacher. And I said, if Jesus went to school, which type of friends will he choose? See, in a class if there are 30 -40 children, you can't be friends with everybody.

Teaching Children to Help the Weak

All our children have some special friends. Jesus also had some special friends. Who did he choose to be friendly with? Do you think he looked around and said, who is the rich child, I'll make friends with him?

No, then I can get some sweets or chocolates from him. No, Jesus never made friends like that. He never joined with other friends who had bad habits. He would look for some child who is weak. Maybe some lame child who is walking with his legs crossed.

Or some other child who is stuttering and stammering when they speak. Or some child who is very poor in arithmetic or studies. Jesus would be friends with them to help them. I told my children, when you go to school, be like Jesus.

Becoming Like Jesus and Making Disciples

Try and make friends with such children, so that you can help them. Childhood, if you try to become like Jesus, one day when you grow up, you can become like Jesus and preach like Jesus also. When you are 10 years old, you can't preach.

You can be a school boy like Jesus was. Be good to others and help others. So, all of us can teach our children. They may not come first in the class, but they can learn to behave nicely to our children.

Just like Jesus fought against the devil, your children can also go and fight against the devil. So, remember, children are the gift of the Lord. But you have to make them an arrow to fight against Satan.

Teach them the right ways to follow Jesus from childhood. It's a wonderful thing that God gives us children. Because we want every generation to produce disciples of Jesus Christ. Generation after generation, there must be disciples of Jesus in the church.

Praying for Children to Serve God

We were all little babies once. My parents prayed for me. When I was two months old, one servant of God took me. His name was Brother Bucksing. He took me in his arms. In 1939, he laid his hands on me and he prayed, Father, help him to grow up to be your servant.

My father did not understand that. But later on, when I decided to serve, then my father understood. Pray for your children. All fathers must lay their hands on their children. Father and mother, Lord, please bring up our children to be disciples of Jesus.

I have done that for all my four children. Even now they are grown up, I lay hands on them and pray for them. That's a great thing to bless your children like that. You are the head of the home. You must do that for your children.

The Responsibility of Prioritizing Prayer

It's a big responsibility. It's more important to pray for your children than all the other things you do for them. Don't worry if you can't get new clothes for your children. I remember when we were first married, we were poor.

We could not always buy new clothes for our children. They would wear what their older brothers were wearing. That was okay. I said that's not important. But our children must follow Jesus. So pray for your children.

It's a great responsibility that we have.