Teaching Our Children to Hear God’s Voice

“Mom, when are you going to teach me how to hear God’s voice?”

I don’t think I’ve been asked such a daunting question before than this one that G asked me yesterday. First, because I’ve been trying to teach her just this for a long time now, though apparently not explicitly enough. But secondly, because is there anything more important than this in our parenting journey?

Do you ever feel completely unqualified for the task in front of you? Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I absolutely do, especially in matters of teaching my kids about the Faith. And it can get overwhelming and freeze me in my tracks if I let it. I have a process though that helps me stop that from happening.

Run to Mary

When that starts to happen, the first thing I do is run to Mary. And I confess to her all of my inadequacies and inabilities, and I ask for help- she is my daughter’s mother too, and she has wisdom and grace that I lack. She never fails to respond.

Stop and Respond in the Moment

If at all possible, when G asks a big faith-based question, I try to stop everything then and there and address it with her. This helps it to not slip through the cracks or get forgotten, and it sends the message that faith is more important than anything else.

Yesterday that looked like stopping the chores I was in the middle of, and sitting down with her on the couch, to listen to her questions and to practice hearing God’s voice together.

Take Stock of What’s Working and What Needs to Change

Then I take stock of what we’re doing as a family to see what we need to lean into more and what we need to tweak. This one I do during my prayer time later or as I’m getting ready for bed at the end of the day. Sometimes I’ll realize that she’s ready to go back to a particular prayer practice or that we need to add more Bible stories to our day.

Or sometimes, like last night, I’ll recognize God has put saints on my heart to learn from- like Sts. Zelie and Louis Martin, who managed to raise a Doctor of the Church. I’ve now got a couple books on my to-read list about these two rock star parents.

Teaching My Children to Learn to Hear God’s Voice: Our Game Plan

When G asked me to help her learn to hear God’s voice, she was telling me she was ready for more. This is a theme she’s been bringing to me a lot lately regarding faith, and I’m doing my best to honor it. Here are some of the ways that she and I are already working together to help her learn and some of the things we are going to start doing together:

• Keeping a prayer journal: One of the ways that helps me to see God’s hand in my life most clearly is to be able to go back through my prayer journal. When she turned 5, we bought G her own prayer journal from Rakstar Designs (we love it and she’s on her 2nd one now). She sits with me during morning prayer time and writes down 3 things: the names of people she wants to pray for, the things she wants help with for the day, and what she is grateful for. It’s simple and not overwhelming, and she is learning to keep a record of her prayers. The next morning we look back at the day before and she can see how God responded.
• Joining me for evening prayer: This one is new, and G’s own request. Usually when Mark is home, he does the bedtime wrangling, and I take a few minutes with my Magnificat and pray the shortened version of evening prayer in it. G asked if she could join me me, so I’ve started reading aloud to her from evening prayer. I take time to explain the passages and the words that she doesn’t know, and we talk about what sticks out to both of us. She may not understand all of the words, but hearing the Psalms over and over will bear fruit for her down the road.
• Lots and Lots of Bible Stories: The first and foremost way that we hear God’s voice is through Scripture. We’re already using Tan’s The Story of the Bible for our religion curriculum this year (the kids are currently listening to the audible while they do some art), so we have regular time with Scripture, but I’m planning on upping our daily dose by making sure I’m also reading to them from our different picture Bibles. I’ve found that having different versions of the same stories can be incredibly helpful in helping kids understand stories more fully (it can also be a great literacy activity). Our favorite children’s Bibles are The Catholic Picture Bible and Tomie de Paola’s Bible Stories.
• Lectio Divina: Lectio is an ancient practice of praying with Scripture, and is very suitable for children. Over the years I developed a way to use this important prayer tool with my kids, and you’ll find the instructions for it along with some passages to begin with about Mary’s life, in my Marian Consecration for Families with Young Children. It’s one of the most fruitful ways I’ve found to help G learn what God’s voice sounds like in her heart.