In the busyness of children's ministry, it's easy to forget what matters most and makes the biggest impact—prayer. 

I'll never forget this quote I heard years ago.

Isn't that so true? We must make prayer a priority in our ministries. Here are some practical ways we can do this.  

Pray with your volunteers before the service. Gather together and spend time praying for the kids and the service. Pray for God's anointing to be upon every leader and in every classroom. Pray for hearts to be opened and for lives to be changed. 

Give the kids opportunity to pray during the service. Be intentional about carving out time each week during class for the kids to pray. Give them quiet time to talk with God and to listen to His voice.  

Pray for the kids in class and during the week. Give kids the opportunity to write down prayer requests and pray for them. You can also have your teachers and leaders take the prayer requests home and pray for the kids during the week.

In nursery and preschool, place prayer promises on the classroom walls and have your leaders pray those prayers over the kids each week. 

Partner with parents in prayer. Let parents know you are praying for their kids and ask how you can partner with them in this. Create a prayer calendar and partner with parents in praying each day for their kids. Give nursery and preschool parents a copy of the prayer promises mentioned above and partner with them in praying the verses over their children.   

Pray for the lost in your community. God's heart is for every boy, girl, mom and dad in your community to know Him and experience His forgiveness. Keep them on your heart and pray for them. Pray for divine appointments. Pray for God to draw them to Himself. Pray for God to use you and your team to reach them. 

Prayer and Fasting. Want to see extraordinary things? This comes through prayer and fasting. Lead your ministry in times of prayer and fasting, and watch God move. 

Pray for your volunteers and their needs. Children's ministry is about ministering and shepherding volunteers as well. Know what's going on in the lives of your volunteers. Know what their prayer needs are. Pray for them when they are with you and during the week. Be their prayer warrior. 

Prayer is the key that will unlock the door of God's blessings upon your ministry.  

Dale Hudson has been in children's ministry for over 27 years. He is the director of children's ministry at Christ Fellowship Church in South Florida. Christ Fellowship has nine campuses and ministers to over 25,000 people on weekends. Dale leads a children's ministry staff team of over 70 and a volunteer team of over 2,600. He has authored 100 Best Ideas to Turbocharge Your Children's Ministry, 100 Best Ideas to Turbocharge Your Preschool Ministry, Children's Ministry in the 21st Century, Sunday School That Works, the ChurchLeaders.com Top 100 book, and If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry.

For the original article, visit relevantchildrensministry.com.

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