The Holy Spirit’s Work in the Youngest of Children

The Holy Spirit is at work in our children. Even the youngest of our toddlers and infants will not be left out!

A couple of weeks ago, I was helping my 2-year-old have her quiet time with Jesus. Since she is only 2, she still needs me to walk her through it, but she knows that it’s her time with God and she rises to the occasion.

For now, I am following the W.R.A.P. yourself in God daily system that the Lord gave to me a while back. We were on letter “A – attentive to God” and so I invited her to close her eyes and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to her. She clenched her tiny little fists and in her sweet toddler voice said, “Holy Spirit, speak to me!” She kept her eyes squeezed shut for about thirty seconds and then she popped them open and immediately started drawing in her sister’s journal.

Yes, you caught that; her sister’s journal. Even I had such low expectations of this time and viewed it merely as “a training ground.” While it certainly is a training ground, the Lord showed me it is so much more than that! I was convicted and excited by what happened next. It opened my eyes to see just a small glimpse of the MORE God has for our children.

What My 2-Year-Old Heard

Being just 2 years old, my little girl doesn’t know how to write any letters yet. However, she managed to make a clear “T” on her paper, and she also drew a door with a little door knob (which is certainly a step up from the scribbles I’m used to seeing on her papers!). When I asked her what the Holy Spirit spoke to her she declared in a loud voice, “TEMPTATION!” First of all, I had no idea that this word was even a part of her 2-year-old vocabulary. And secondly, I knew she was certainly unaware of the fact that “T” is the first letter in temptation.

I continued to dig a bit and asked what the picture she drew was. She confirmed my guess and said, “a door!” And as we continued to converse, she proceeded to say that the Holy Spirit told her not to go in the door of temptation. As a momma, I was blown away and so blessed to see the Holy Spirit at work in my little girl! We prayed about this and I thanked the Lord in my heart for taking care of my daughter!  

I walked away with the revelation that the Holy Spirit clearly takes time to help raise my 2-year-old in the ways of the Lord and so should I! I knew this already, or I wouldn’t have been doing it; but now there is so much more of a solidified knowing, and I believe the Lord gave me a glimpse so that other parents can catch this vision also.

Spiritual Nourishment Starts in Infancy

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I know there is so much more that the Lord has done in my children that I’ve never even heard about, but I am so thankful for the glimpse I was shown to propel me forward and continue to keep me on track in fighting for the importance of sowing seeds of faith into our children from infancy.

“And how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15 NIV, emphasis added)

If teaching my children the Holy Scriptures from infancy will make them wise for salvation, I certainly do not want to disregard this! Parents, we must not neglect the God-given duty of feeding our children spiritually. And we must not take the approach that we still have time to train them when they are older and supposedly “readier.” Just like physical nourishment starts from infancy, we must begin feeding our children spiritually from infancy and into adulthood.

Just think, if we didn’t feed our children any physical food as an infant they would die after a few short days. Compare this to our lack of spiritual nourishment in our children and it’s very humbling! I believe a lot of our problems with children and their push-back to our faith or lack of growth and depth in their own faith, is that we are trying to revive spiritually dead children once we believe they’re ready to start taking their walk with God serious. And by that time, we’ve created so much more work for ourselves than if we had started at infancy as God instructs.

Even more amazingly, the Bible indicates that the Holy Spirit can work not only in infancy, but also in the womb! The angel Gabriel prophesied this about John the Baptist: “He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15). And David also recognized the importance of God’s work in the womb: “Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place” (Psalm 51:6, NIV). So, let’s raise our expectations of how the Holy Spirit will work in our little ones.

Parents, we cannot afford to walk in complacency any longer. It is absolutely crucial that we are investing in our children’s spiritual growth at a young age, as it will have a lasting impact. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s go! 

Extra Resources: At Threshold Church, we see the vital importance of spiritually nourishing even our babies and toddlers on a Sunday morning. Check out this foundational message from the curriculum we’re using called “Who’s Teaching the Babies?”