Inviting God’s Presence Into Your Child’s Life: Believing That Jesus Cares More Than We Do

Does it comfort you to consider that Jesus Himself is actively working alongside you for the sake of your children? Is that a notion you find hard to believe, or have you actually experienced that reality at work in your home? Consider the implications that Jesus is personally invested in the sex talk that you have with your kids.

Centuries ago, Brother Lawrence wrote Practicing the Presence of God. In that seminal work, the good monk invites all of us to utilize our imaginations as we seek after God in prayer. With time and practice, we come to anticipate Him everywhere.

Our homes should become like temples of His presence. What is the spiritual aroma of your household? When guests visit you, are they enveloped within an atmosphere of hospitality? For a moment, think of your children as long-term guests. What kind of nurture and safety have they come to expect under your authority? While days might feel long, the years become short. Who will they become for all the time alongside your influence?

The image of a carburetor is quite apt for our discussion. This mechanical component is where fuel and air are mixed together in the proper ratio so that ignition can occur, the engine spins… and the vehicle goes. This apparatus requires careful cleaning and fine-tuning in order to run well. Usually a single screw is the only adjustment in the fuel-to-air mixture. And that simple turn makes all the difference in the performance of the entire tool.

Similarly, the fire and air in your children’s hearts, their passions and their spirit require ongoing attention and care. Your early and often conversations at home are like those carburetor tune-ups. In the early years, your children are relatively incapable of making these adjustments themselves. Usually the teen years are when they begin to become adept at knowing themselves and responding accordingly. As much as we train our children to practice self-awareness and self-control, it is up to us to help develop their sexual awareness and ethic as well. If we are the agents whom God has designated as primarily responsible for teaching them how to know and regulate their emotional well-being, doesn’t it follow that their sexuality is within our responsibility as well?

Remember, you are not doing this work alone. God is already at work in your home and in your children’s lives. When you begin to seek Him out directly, His presence becomes all the more manifest in the cooperation that you will have allowed. That is a wonderful reality to meditate upon. As we seek His presence, He readily shows up; as we invite His life into our homes, our households are permeated with His kind of life.

Who wouldn’t want their children to grow up with the awareness of God’s gracious presence right there in their bedrooms each and every night they sleep in the safety of His security? Imagine the Spirit of God right next to you in your very home, in every room you find yourself. Consider that the conversations around sex are part of a dialogue you engage with your children as well as God. He joins you and interacts with all of you in that recurring discussion. Does your home begin to feel different as you imagine His presence actively at work within the walls of your house?

Practicing the Presence of God

Make time for stillness, quiet, and solitude: We tend to live noisy lives. God is not often in the business of competition. He prefers to be invited. When we make hollow spaces of stillness, quiet and solitude, we are inviting Him into our domains. Therein we can hear Him better.

Invite your children into God’s presence: Our children learn nearly everything from our influence. This includes their understanding of God and interaction with Him. Teach them what you learn in your own experience about hearing from God as well as sensing His presence in your home.

Consider God as a conversation partner: When you continue the sex talk with your kids, think upon God’s participation in that dialogue. It’s likely that yourself as well as your children would hear from Him during those conversations together.

Pray

Try to spend 15-20 minutes in stillness, silence and solitude with the Lord.

• Invite God into your life, every aspect and dimension of it.
• Ask God to envelop you within His quietude.
• Ask that your children would experience His manifest presence.