Talking to Your Child About The Supernatural Gifts of God

by Ashley Davison, Mum, Pastor and Author

There’s no such thing as the ‘junior’ Holy Spirit

I am a firm believer that there is no junior Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that lived in Jesus, lives in me and lives in them.  Because of this, I feel it is so important to allow our children to witness and experience the manifestations of God and help guide them through what is happening. 

I believe our children’s generation is one that is destined to walk in the supernatural gifts of God. I have heard so many prophetic words about their generation seeing revival, seeing God’s glory and a move of the Holy Spirit so great that it changes our world. Because of this, my heart is to raise my kids in an atmosphere where they daily experience God’s tangible presence, receive His blessing and have shared experiences and encounters with each other and Holy Spirit. My desire for my kids is that it is normal to prophesy over each other, pray for healing, speak in tongues, see the angelic and hear God’s voice. If this is your desire too, how do we create an atmosphere to enable this to happen?

The Holy Spirit in our Home

We have the supernatural as natural and everyday language in our home.  We build up our own family testimonies and shared experience of the supernatural and celebrate when it happens. One example is that we went through a couple of weeks of losing things.  My youngest lost his shoes and most precious comforter when walking on the way to the childminders.  So I said to Isla (almost 3), ‘we need to pray and ask Jesus to release His angels on mission to bring back the shoes and Caleb’s Winnie.  Jesus cares about the things we love’. So we did just that, we prayed and asked. On the way back I searched everywhere and couldn’t find it. Then when I went to pick them up. I felt God say, look up to your right and there was his Winnie. I told Isla as soon as I saw her that Jesus answered our prayers. 

Soon after that we lost her magnifying glass. We looked all over our home but couldn’t find it.  She said so casually and with such confidence ‘Jesus will send it back with the angels’.  And sure enough we found it in her hair dresser's bag (which I would never have put it in) about five minutes later.  Isla jumped for joy and said ‘He brought it back, of course He would, we asked!’. Her faith level is now so high for Jesus bringing back lost things. She’s now the one who wants to pray first ! And each time we’ve seen things returned. This is a great training ground for her to build up her faith and trust in God.  And to grow in understanding of the heavenly realm and gifts of God. 

The Holy Spirit in our Church

At our church we have a lot of people who experience God, who manifest under His presence and fall down in the Holy Spirit.  Kids are so interested in what is going on.  They are naturally curious. I remember a lady at church encountering the power of God and falling to the floor, shaking all over.  My eldest asked, ‘Mummy, what’s happening?’ So I sat down with her next to the lady and began to explain using simple language. You don’t need to over-complicate it, kids aren’t bothered by what chapter and verse it’s in or what school of theology it prescribes to.  So don’t be worried if you sound simple, or don’t know the theology around it.  It’s just good to start somewhere and to give them words and language to describe what is happening. Being honest about what you believe is happening is important and if you don’t know, I would advise to just ask the person to explain what was going on for them (if appropriate).  Encourage their curiosity, their questions and their interest.  This is how we make it safe for them to understand, learn and grow in it.   

Joy in the Holy Spirit

The supernatural things of God are their (and our) playground. God has made them fun and for all to be enjoyed.  So my advice is have fun with it, keep it simple, talk about it, share your experiences and create some of your own together.  

My book ‘My Best Friend, Holy Spirit’ is a resource to help parents do just that.  It’s aimed at kids aged around 3-8. My hope and desire is that through simple teachings and powerful activities this book will help parents naturally guide their child into a deepening relationship with the Holy Spirit and a growing understanding of their spiritual gifts. This book can be revisited time and time again to cultivate a thriving, life long relationship between your child and God. 

So let’s see these kids grow in the fruits of the Spirit and in their desire to know God, to walk in His ways and see His kingdom come. 

Ashley’s book “My Best Friend, Holy Spirit” can be purchased from here: Eden or Amazon UK. 

Ashley Davison

Ashley is a Wife, Mum, Pastor at Catch the Fire London and Author. She has a Bachelor's (BSc) degree in Psychology, professional experience working with children with complex learning and physical needs and their families, and has worked in ministry all over the world seeing people encounter God. She has dedicated her life to loving Jesus and getting to know Jesus, Abba Father and Holy Spirit more. This book was born out of a passion to see families experience God together and help children to grow in a strong, personal relationship with Him.