LET’S ASK JESUS

LET’S ASK JESUS

  • Encountering the Father, Let's Ask Jesus

LET’S ASK JESUS

Call to your mind when your firstborn baby was born, and you held them in your arms for the first time. Visit that memory for a bit.

Then ask, “Jesus, will You show me a picture of how BIG Your Father is in relation to the baby?” Now picture YOU as that little newborn baby.

Next, gather as a family in the living room, in the car, at the dinner table, or at bedtime, and ask Jesus together. This is empowering for children because they witness how God communicates with you, which increases their faith, and together you get to encounter Him. Spiritual hearing is a muscle that is strengthened by worshiping and praying. The more you do it, the stronger you become at it.

DRENCHED IN LOVE

How many of you could use some increased peace in your homes? The enemy cannot create anything. He takes what God has already created and twists and perverts it into something that brings hardship and harm. Anything that comes from him is a counterfeit to the real and original design. But there is one thing he can not counterfeit: peace. Anytime we experience, embrace, acknowledge, or receive His presence, we feel peace because peace is His presence. 

Teach the children – This is a super fun exercise with children that will help make the concept click for them. Take a sponge and tell them it represents their heart. There are lots of holes and they are somewhat hard, right? Now fill up a bowl of warm water and have them feel it. What does it feel like? Warm and comfortable? Could you take a bath and soak in it? Now put their ‘heart’ in the water bowl and watch what happens. Engage in the teaching by pretending the sponge is ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ over the nice, comfortable, warm water. Hold the sponge up and let them see the water pouring out. Talk to them about the concept of the sponge dripping with what it was just soaking in. Lay the sponge on the counter overnight and check it in the morning. Ask the kids to feel it now and describe how it feels. This is the term ‘soaking.’ It simply means to be still and know He is God. God’s presence is like a warm blanket wrapped around us; He always wants to embrace us. You might even want to role-play using a big comfy blanket. Make it fun and enjoyable for the children to learn about Him.

A young boy in my first mentoring class did this with his mom, and a week later, he was struggling with a bad attitude. When his mom addressed his attitude, his response was that his heart was drying out and he needed to spend time with Jesus, so he did just that.

I encourage you to spend some intentional time doing this as a family. Gather around the family room, turn off the lights and be still.

JESUS CALLING

What is something you struggle with the most with God? His presence? Going to Him in the day-to-day? Feeling His love? Talking to Him? Believing He cares about your world? This is a super FUN exercise. Put a reminder on your phone to go off every day. When it goes off, simply stop whatever you are doing at that moment and ask Him a specific question as it pertains to your struggle.

“Will You please show me where You are right now?” “What do You want me to know?” “How do You love me at this moment?” “Will You please help me with _____?” “What do You care most about me right now?”

We strengthen our spiritual muscles by using them. Go after the area that feels weak and allow Him to strengthen you in His truth. This is a GREAT thing to do with the kiddos too. Wherever you are when the alarm goes off, STOP and ask Jesus.

LET’S ASK JESUS

“Jesus, will You show me a picture of something You did for me yesterday?”

Gather as a family in the living room, in the car, at the dinner table, or at bedtime, and ask Jesus together. This is empowering for children because it gives you a chance to model how you communicate with God, increase their faith, and encounter Him as a family. Spiritual hearing is a muscle that is strengthened over time, such as worshiping and praying. The more you do it, the stronger you become at it.

JESUS IS MY DEFENDER

I am so undone by the goodness of Jesus. I was processing some deep things as my daughter was walking through one of her biggest breakthroughs. It was breathtaking to watch her walk this out on her own. While spending time with Jesus, I kept hearing the story about the woman caught in adultery. There are many thoughts about what Jesus was writing in the sand, so I asked Him to show me. He answered my question by showing me the position of His eyes. While the men of the day, who deemed themselves mighty important and superior to the rest, dragged a naked woman before the courts (the shame and humiliation must have been brutal), Jesus looked away. Could it be He knew His presence alone was convicting, and He didn’t want to stare at her nakedness? Then I heard Him say, “I didn’t defend her sin, but I did defend the JUDGMENTS against her.” I wept! Jesus isn’t about shaming you publicly for your weaknesses, sins, or messy places. He is there to defend the part of your heart that is in need of a Savior. Read John 8!

WRAPPED IN HIS LOVE

I encourage you to stop whatever you are doing and invite the children to grab their pillows and blankets. Have everyone lay in the living room with you and put on some worship music. No talking, no praying, just soaking in His love and goodness. You don’t need to do this for hours – even one song can shift the atmosphere in your home.

WHAT’S HIS NAME?

Gather the family and talk about their name. What happens when someone calls their name? Explore the meaning of their name or perhaps tell the story of why you named them. A name is significant in so many ways and represents who you are.

God has many names; it is important to know them as it teaches us His character and how to relate to Him in our time of need. Go through this list of the names of God, exploring each one as it relates to their world. Ex. Ask them if they have ever gotten hurt. Recall that time they fell off their bike and scraped their knee badly. Introduce them to Jehovah Rapha and talk about WHO God is at that moment. What about being afraid? Have they ever had a moment where they felt unsafe? Introduce them to El Shaddai – the God who is mighty and powerful. Teach the children they can call on the name of God anytime they want, and He will help. Putting this deep within their hearts is an important part of equipping our children for whatever they face.

  • El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)
  • El Elyon (The Most High God)
  • Adonai (Lord, Master)
  • Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)
  • Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
  • Jehovah Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)
  • Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)
  • Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)
  • Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)
  • Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)
  • El Olam (The Everlasting God)
  • Elohim (God), Qanna (Jealous)
  • Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)
  • Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)
  • Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)

HOLY SPIRIT IS YOUR FRIEND #2

I had two significant encounters that changed my relationship with Holy Spirit. Here is the second one.

I was so hungry for more of Him and heard about a conference called Awaken to Destiny with a man named Randy Clark. I went. The worship was deep, yet I felt a disconnect. I got back to my hotel room late and sobbed. I told the Lord, “Whatever this space is between us, I can’t take it anymore. I cannot possibly go through another worship hour, another great speaker, and know that there is MORE but not be able to experience it.” I literally felt like there was a part of me that would die if He didn’t close the gap. The following morning, I woke at 4, and in ways that only Holy Spirit can orchestrate. He brought me to this YouTube video. Watch it for yourself: Healing the Orphaned Spirit – Leif Hetland – YouTube.

I went back to the conference and felt like a totally different person. Later that day, Randy called for “impartation.” I had no idea what that word even meant. I knew that some people were going forward, but others were not. I found myself walking up front, honestly not knowing who was supposed to be there. But I didn’t care. I was so hungry it didn’t matter if I made a fool out of myself. I had this awareness that since I was three people deep from the stage, Randy would not be able to touch or pray for me, which I was okay with. I felt safer being three rows away from him (because I knew he was powerful and wasn’t sure what would happen, which scared me a bit). I found my arms stretched out and kept saying “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” repeatedly, but with such force; it felt embarrassing and freeing at the same time. Suddenly, this massive, giant-like hand clapped itself over my left shoulder, and I fell to the ground. I felt this physical wave of deep warmth I have never ever felt before. I honestly did not know at that point if this was God or not. I just knew that I felt so loved, and I liked it. I was aware that others were on the ground, too, but had no grid for what was happening.

When you sit on the sideline watching, it is NOTHING like being the one who is experiencing it for the first time. I opened my eyes just a crack to see this man step over me, the same one who put his hand on my shoulder. I knew it was that man named Bill Johnson who was speaking later that day, but I knew nothing about him except for the fact that his touch sent me into the most powerful experience with God’s love that this girl has ever known. I stood up from that encounter and have never been the same. His love touched something so deep in a way that I did not know was humanly possible this side of heaven. Why am I sharing all of this with you? Because I want you to see that I spent a decade pursuing God, Jesus, and the Word with everything I had but was resisting Holy Spirit just as strong. My mind would not allow me to be entertained with the truth about Him. I had to EXPERIENCE Him to know Him because my mind had created boundaries preventing me from learning more about who He was. Saul was the same way. He was Jesus’ #1 enemy until he EXPERIENCED Him. These two encounters (experiences with Holy Spirit) forever changed my life and ushered me into my calling and purpose on earth.

LET’S ASK JESUS

Ask, “Jesus, in what area do You want to increase my faith?”

Then ask Holy Spirit to fill you with the gift of faith in that area. Gather as a family in the living room, in the car, at the dinner table, or bedtime, and ask Jesus together. This is so empowering for children because they get to witness how God communicates with you, which increases their faith, and together you get to encounter Him. Spiritual hearing is a muscle that is strengthened by worshiping and praying. The more you do it, the stronger you become at it.

WHO IS JESUS?

I called a family meeting and told the kids to act like Jesus was in the room and had the love language of words of affirmation. We popcorn-styled, going around and around, calling out the amazing things about Jesus. His character, goodness, faithfulness, the way He loves, is so smart, etc. It stirred up our faith in who He is and anchored us in His ability. So, give it a try today. Tell Jesus who He is.