Introducing children to the spiritual realm

Our work with children is not a branch of social services, it is not purely about practical help and guidance. Our work is inherently spiritual.

Jesus says we have to be born again – born of the flesh and the spirit.

So how can we introduce our children to the spiritual realm?

Two dangers

Before we dive into some practical ideas I want to discuss two dangers, opposites of each other, but like two ditches either side of a path, they both can derail children on their walk with the Lord.

The first risk is that we do not talk about the spiritual realm at all. We look for a explanation for everything separate from the spiritual realm. This is the secular worldview that saturates our culture and we must not come under it. When we see things in the spirit it does not stop us seeing things in this world, instead it enables us to see things of this world more clearly for what they actually are. The spiritual realm is very real – indeed if we could see clearly in the spirit the impact of this realm on our everyday lives our discernment would be sharpened and our prayers would be more fervent.

On the opposite side of the path is the danger of seeing everything through the eyes of the spiritual realm so much that we lose sight of the earthly realm we are called to live in. Jesus said we are to be in this world, not to live out of this world. In this danger we can end up blaming a demon for our poor choices, rather than taking responsibility for our actions.

When children understand that there is a spiritual realm, that it is real and that it does impact our lives it can deepen their understanding of God’s kingdom and by extension their ability to serve him.

Theology in the Spirit realm

There is much that could be said on this topic, and this short blog will not cover everything, but I wanted to give an indication for any who are in danger of falling into the ditch which ignores the spiritual realm have no doubt of both the reality and the importance of teaching our children to understand this reality.

God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth, John 4:24.

To avoid the spiritual realm is to avoid God. Every act of worship is an act that impacts the spiritual realm and reaches through the realms of our natural existence, into the heavenly realms. The intercession of the saints rises up to fill the bowls in heaven, Revelation 5:8. As spiritual beings our whole life is hidden with Christ who is seated in the heavenly realms, Colossians 3:1-4.

Whilst our life is with God, who is spirit, we must also be aware that not all of the spirit realm is for us or for God. Indeed, there is a very real battle going on to supress the work of God. Opposition to the kingdom may come through people but it does not come from them. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil, Ephesians 6:12. It is a battle that we can impact on earth through our intercession, Daniel 10:13. Note that the angel says to Daniel in 10:12 that the answer was released from the moment Daniel started to pray. An angel was sent to bring him the answer but was delayed in the heavens.

Finally, it is a battle that Christ has won on the cross. He has beaten death, his work is finished and the outcome of the war is undisputable. We must now enforce the victory of the cross. It’s a war we are engaged in whether we like it or not – if we stand for Christ the anti-Christ world will be against us, John 15:18-23. It’s a war that children can influence, Psalm 8:2. It’s a war that children, as believers, can exercise Christ’s authority in, Mark 16:17-18. Indeed, all intercession takes place in the spiritual realm, Romans 8:34, Ephesians 6:18, Hebrews 4:16.

The spiritual realm today

The spiritual realm is just as real today as it has always been. Our starting point for teaching children must not come from our experience (or our lack of it) but from the Word of God. While experiences can illustrate the word, they cannot dictate it’s meaning or form theology. To allow this would be to open the door to deception down the line. Instead our children must learn in submission to God’s word and any experience of the spiritual realm must submit to His truth.

Once our children begin to grasp the spiritual principles and live the spiritual life God has for us, they will start to see the impact they can have in this world and the importance of staying submitted to God Himself. 

Helpful illustrations

We have a lot of helpful illustrations in the Bible that let us explain the spiritual realm.

Like the wind

John 3:8 likes those born of the spirit to the wind. Can you see wind? No! You can feel the wind for sure as it pushes you in a direction but you can’t see it. Of course children will point out that they can see the wind when they look outside, but we’re not seeing wind – we are simply seeing what the wind is doing. The wind may be pushing the branches of the trees or it may be picking up dust particles and carrying them. We see the particles but not the wind. To put it another way we can’t see the wind, but we can see if it is windy. In the same way we can’t see God but we can sometimes feel his Spirit directing us and we can see what God is doing. In this way the invisible God is clearly seen by His actions.

UV light

If you write with a yellow highlighter pen on yellow backing paper you will see nothing. It is invisible, until you look with the right light. UV light makes the pen glow. I love demonstrating the spiritual realm as the unseen world that influences all we do. There are plenty of ways this can be used, here’s a couple of examples:

1.        Draw in angels ahead of time for the retelling of the Christmas story.

2.        Draw steps in the highlighter pen and then talk about obstacles that block our path (such as a troop of bullies or a brick wall). Draw these obstacles in a black pen so that they sit under the invisible steps. Then read Psalm 18:29. These things can’t stop us – indeed they can end up being stepping stones to all God has for us. Turn on the UV light to illustrate.

3.        The day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit living in us as believers. Draw yellow blobs on the paper in advance then draw the people in black around the blobs. When you talk about the Holy Spirit filling us, turn the light on.

4.        Draw a person in black then add in ways the Holy Spirit works – a cloud with an arrow for revelation, a heart with an arrow of bad things going out and an arrow of good things going in for sanctification. Turn the lights on and encourage children to look with their spiritual eyes to see what God is doing.

A slice of pencil

For the concrete thinkers it can be helpful for them to understand that God is outside of our world and our time as we know it. If you take a pencil you can slide your finger along from end to the other. This is like the passing of time. At any one moment we know where we are and where we have come from. But God is outside of time – he can see the whole picture all at once. He’s also not confined to being in the pencil (which represents the earthly realm), He can work and move in the space around it (the heavenly realms).

Let us pray

When you are leading children in intercession it can be helpful to act out what happens when we pray. Matthew 18:18 can be a helpful verse to illustrate this. If someone is bound by a rope and we pray, demonstrate how they are set free. If the enemy is trying to hold on to someone, what can we do to stop him? Bind him in the name of Jesus. Show how the demons tremble at the name of Jesus and have to obey. 

Learning to discern

If we are to help children to grow in spiritual maturity, then we must help them to discern good from evil. A deep understanding of God’s word is a foundation for this. I have also noticed that children who love the Lord are frequently very discerning, they just don’t always realise it. Part of our role is to help children understand this.

When God’s tangible presence comes in a meeting we point it out to the children so they can notice it. When it’s been hard to pray but then we get the breakthrough, again we highlight this. By speaking out what we are experiencing and encouraging the children to do the same they learn to discern what is happening in the spiritual realm.

One girl came to a weeklong programme and the parents warned us that she would not settle in the group. From the moment she came in she joined in and we had no issues with her. The parents were shocked; they had not seen her settle without distress in a new setting. One of the team spoke with the parents and explained that she recognised the spirit of God in the room and so felt at ease, she was a very discerning individual.

Two years later I met the parents. They shared how that word had changed the way their parented and given them the understanding they needed to be able to nurture her sensitive spirit and also to heed the warnings when she was not settled. As she learnt to manage this gift and turn the feelings of being unsettled into words her whole life became clearer.

When we learn to discern what is happening in the spiritual realm, it effects how we act as we walk in the confidence and obedience of God’s plan. That’s why Elisha asked God opened to the eyes of his servant to the heavenly army that was there to withstand the enemy they were facing, 2 Kings 6:17-20.

We can train our children to discern right from wrong by showing how we weigh things up, by encouraging them to ask Father God what He thinks about a situation and by pausing a movie to discuss what’s really going on in the story. We can model to them how we stop watching things if we are not comfortable with them – to keep watching is to dull our discernment. By demonstrating these moments of pause to check in with Father God in the spirit before we act, we are training a generation to be obedient to his voice.

In time our children will learn to obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Our eldest son would often tell us he didn’t like a movie around 3 minutes before a scene came on that would have assaulted his young spirit. It only took us a couple of movies before we learned to trust his discernment.

This training can start from a young age as we give children space to hear God’s voice. Since this blog is already turning into the start of a book, we’ll look at this in more detail in a future blog so we can discuss it more thoroughly.

For now, may our eyes be opened to the spiritual realm and may our children learn to see too, so that they can live full lives with the Lord.