How does one hope to fully grasp the vast awesomeness of God? It will take a lifetime, and I am certain we will all still feel overwhelmed when we meet him face to face. What can we do to help our children begin to grasp the idea that God is real, he loves us, and he wants to talk to us friend to friend?

We can talk with our children about their friends and about how they share fun times with them. Sometimes children create their own imaginary playmates, give them a name, and talk to them a lot creating great tales of their adventures. Perhaps your child has done this, or knows a child who has an imaginary playmate.

Encourage your child to value friendships, urge them to be kind to everyone, and always challenge them to choose friends who share high values. And whenever you talk about friendships,with your children don’t overlook the opportunity to tell them about the best friend any child or adult can ever hope to have – that friend is Jesus. Share with them about the time Jesus said “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” (Matthew 19:14 NLT)

If your child has an imaginary friend, or knows someone who does, this might make a springboard for teaching them to talk to Jesus – but we must be careful to make it clear that Jesus is more than imaginary. He is real. Help your child to know that he or she can talk to Jesus any time about anything – things that make us happy and things that make us sad, or even angry. Jesus can do more for your child than any friend, and can be his friend forever. Teach your child that God created each and every one of us. He knows us inside out and loves us still. Let her know that Jesus wants to hear from her – that God is as excited to talk to her as she is to talk to any of her favorite friends, and even more so.

These Bible verses may help your child believe they can talk to God. James 4:8a says “Come close to God, and God will come close to you;” (NLT) and 1 John 3:1a says, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”

I haven’t said much about teaching children what to say to God in this post, and this isn’t an oversight. I mostly want to impart the importance of children seeing Jesus as a friend they can talk to about anything.

Photo copyright: regina555 / 123RF Stock Photo