photo of children in revival meeting

How to Help Kids Experience God’s Power

I must have been seven or eight years old when I had my first encounter with the Holy Spirit, but I still remember every little detail of what took place.

The whole thing freaked me out. I didn’t understand why I fell over when the man in the three-piece suit prayed for me. It would be another nine years until that seed that was planted began to grow, but grow it did.

In the past, there have been times when parents would push their screaming children in front of me asking me to pray for them, as their kids vehemently tried to escape. I can’t think of a worse thing to do to a child. Let the Holy Spirit — the same God that drew you into a relationship with Jesus — do the same with your children. There is nothing more pure than watching the face of little children weep as they are getting touched by the Holy Spirit.

It is imperative that our children encounter the raw power of the Holy Spirit. In my own life, I have made sure that my kids don’t just copy me, so I encourage them to hunger for God in their own way. My son Joshua always had a hard time in my meetings. He never acted the least bit interested in the Holy Spirit. I made a decision not to force anything on him, and I need to tell you this was hard. People would hand him banners or ask him to dance during worship. Sometimes, people would want him to lay hands on them or just want to pray for him. I would politely decline all requests. It is amazing how people feel that because I am a charismatic minister my children have to be agreeable with all the charismatic movement trends. My wife and I waited years, and I was hard to hold back, but all of a sudden God broke in. I was doing a service in a small church in PA and Josh ran forward as I made an altar call. He stood there like he had done it 1,000 times but this was his first. I watched the Holy Spirit grab ahold of him and touch him in the most personal way He could. He dropped to the floor without anyone laying hands on him and spent the night talking with God. As we drove home that night, with a teary grin on his face, he said, “Dad, tonight I felt God.”

The Holy Spirit is moving on children. It has been ten years since I have seen outpouring like what I am witnessing now.

My wife and I were in Colorado praying with our good friends Brian and Diane Schwartz. We were prophesying over each other when Brian gave an amazing word. The heart of the word was this: “When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt he didn’t just bring husbands and wives, he brought entire families and God will do the same for you.” The move of the Spirit is not just for you; begin to ask for revival to fall on your children.

Here are some tips for you for as you pray for the children in your life:

  1. Relax, God’s timing is perfect.
  2. If you have kids or grandkids, get them in meetings where they have the opportunity to respond.
  3. After a meeting, chat with them about what they saw and what they experienced. This will turn into the most amazing teaching time. If you don’t have kids, look for opportunities to have conversations with families in your church on this topic.
  4. Don’t run forward with them; let them go on their own.
  5. If the Holy Spirit touches them powerfully leave them alone. God knows what he is doing.
Scroll to Top