Raising a Child to Know God

July 21, 2026May 29, 2026 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Illustration depicting Lily from infant to young adult with age ranges and activities — Image generated via AI.

Raising a child to know God is one of the holiest assignments a parent will ever receive. It’s not accidental, automatic, or something that “just happens.” Scripture paints it as intentional, daily, relational work—planting seeds that the Holy Spirit will water for a lifetime.

The Call Begins at Home — Not at Church

God places the primary responsibility for spiritual formation on parents.
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 says these commands must be “on your hearts” and that you should “teach them diligently to your children.”

This means your walk with God is the first sermon your child ever hears. They learn what faith looks like by watching you pray, forgive, repent, worship, and trust God in real time.

Build a Rhythm of God’s Word in Their Lives

Children thrive on repetition and routine. Scripture encourages this kind of steady, daily exposure. Psalm 119:11 reminds us to “hide God’s Word in our hearts.”

Ways to build that rhythm:

Daily Scripture moments — a verse at breakfast or bedtime
Worship together — even simple songs plant deep truths
Bible storytelling — make Scripture come alive with imagination and joy

You’re not lecturing; you’re shaping their spiritual instincts.

Model a Life That Makes God Attractive

Paul told believers, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Your child will imitate what you celebrate.

If they see you:

turn to prayer when stressed
speak with kindness
repent when wrong
serve others joyfully

…they will learn that following Jesus is not a burden but a blessing.

Correct With Grace, Not Just Rules

Rules without relationship lead to rebellion. But discipline rooted in love reflects God’s heart.
Ephesians 6:4 warns parents not to “provoke your children to anger” but to raise them in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord.” This means correction should always point them back to God’s character—His holiness, His mercy, His truth.

Pray Over Them Continually

You can teach them truth, but only God can transform their hearts. Prayer is how you place your child in God’s hands daily. Pray for:

their salvation
their future friendships
their purity
their calling
their protection
their hunger for God

But what if they grow up and reject God

Proverbs 22:6 — “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This scripture notes the way a child “should” go, but it doesn’t promise that they will. There can be a lot of reasons for that, but the bottom line is – free will.

Most likely, they get influenced by some individual(s) before they realize the pleasure of having a personal relationship with God. Whether the influencer is a wayward parent, a friend, a love interest, or someone else the child becomes interested in and how “they” live their life without God. The child may be deceitfully only seeing the good parts of the influencer’s life.

If that has happened to your child, it can break your heart. You could worry, fret with fear, or you can give it to God. In some cases, the child will know in their heart that the lifestyle they have chosen isn’t right, but they will find ways to ignore it, and one way may even be to stop talking to you. That may be because they know you represent God. Whether you say something to them, hoping they will return to God, or not. Never stop praying for them.

A Closing Prayer

Lord, thank You for entrusting this precious child to my care. Give me wisdom to teach them Your ways, courage to model Your character, and grace to lead them with love. Plant Your Word deep in their hearts and draw them to Yourself all the days of their lives. Amen.

A202516

September 9, 2025August 4, 2025 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Mat. 25:34-40 (NIV)

April and I like being benevolent. A word meaning: kind and with positive intentions. So when the need went out yesterday in church to help buy children back-to-school clothes, supplies, and perhaps something they wanted, we knew we had to respond.

April turned to me and asked, “Do you want to help?” “Of course,” I replied. Then she asked, “Do we have enough extra money right now?” I said, “God will provide.”

As we started shopping for the individual April had selected, it seemed daunting to buy clothes for a young man whom we had never met. So, I started praying. Asking God, who knows this child, to lead us and guide us with questions like, “What are 14-year-olds wearing these days?” I mean, you want them to look nice but be cool as well. When I took hold of the pair of shoes, I started crying. Here is a young man, just starting high school and wondering, “Will I fit in?” “What am I going to wear?” My heart broke. A kid should never have to worry about what they will wear or what they will eat, or where they will sleep tonight.

I don’t write about these things to say, “Look at us. Look how generous we are.” We are only able to do these things because of God! The reason is to say:

Trust God that He will meet your needs.
Open your eyes to the needs of others.
Live within your means, so you can help.
And remember that when you do it for the least of these, you do it for Jesus.

The young man that we got to help is more than a number. More than “A202516.” We pray that he knows God and will learn by seeing Him in action how loving and caring He really is. And that He is a good, good God. We pray that when he grows up and someday hears the cry go out that a child has a need, he will remember how someone answered that cry for him, and then do the same.

They’re God’s

April 29, 2025April 29, 2025 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

I spoke to a woman today who shared with me that the doctors found a polyp in her daughter’s colon that is 5cm in diameter. Anything 1cm or greater has a good chance of being cancerous. As she talked about what she has been through thinking about her daughter in the past few days, I teared up. It’s scary to think your child has a serious issue.

When my son was young, he had a lymph node in his throat die. As it was decaying, it was swelling, hence cutting off his airway. The doctors in the small town decided to have him moved to the children’s hospital in Chicago for the surgery to correct the problem.

I went home to get a change of clothes to spend the night with him in the hospital. While driving, I broke down and cried out to God. That is when I heard the Holy Spirit whisper into my spirit, “What are you worried about? He’s mine, and he is in my hands.” It was at that moment that I realized our children are Gods and that we are simply entrusted to raise them the best we can.

That night, my son told me he was too scared to have the surgery. I told him I understood and would leave the decision to him. Okay, I might have lied. I told him he would not feel anything during the surgery, and a few days later, he would be as good as new. But I went on to tell him, if you don’t have the surgery, you’re going to die in a few days. He looked around the room and said, “Dad, I’ll have the surgery.”

Why are we so afraid of death? I mean, I’m not because, as Paul said, “To die is gain.”

²¹For me to live is Christ [His life in me], and to die is gain [the gain of the glory of eternity].
Phi. 1:21 (AMPC)

If you know God and have accepted Jesus, then there is nothing to be afraid of concerning death.

I told the woman I would join her and others in praying for her daughter. We would hope for the best outcome, but either way, she should trust her daughter to God.

Don’t Forsake the Children

November 23, 2021November 22, 2021 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Her family just emigrated from India. Mother, father, little brother, and Anara. Anara is only three years old, and when she arrived in America, just a few short months ago she couldn’t speak any English. Anara’s parents thought it would be best to enroll her in preschool, so they did.

Anara is smart, and soon she started learning the language, but she also started learning the Bible stories the preschool taught. It wasn’t long before she begin sharing her excitement, of those stories, with her family. They witnessed Anara’s happiness, and joy as she grew in her love for the one true God.

Intrigued, her father inquired of the school, and asked if they could get an advance copy of those stories. From the mouth of a three year old, the gospel of Jesus Christ is going forth.

Jesus: Let the little children come to Me; do not get in their way. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to children like these. Mat. 19:14 (The Voice)

Children accept Truth easier than adults. The older one is, the more their mind gets in the way of faith. Simple faith, like that of a child is just believing. Not questioning, and not reasoning, because a lot of the things of God don’t make sense to mankind. And that is because God’s ways are much higher than ours.

Be like a child, be like Anara, and simply believe. Then, as time goes by, and you begin to experience the love of God for yourself and see his hand in your life, only then will you understand.