Child Faith Formation: More Than a Salvation Prayer

Helping Kids Come to Know Jesus

We can put so much pressure on the moment our kids come to know Jesus. The moment they “pray the prayer.” The moment they “make a decision.” The moment we can say, “My child accepted Jesus!”

But faith formation is so much bigger than one moment.

It happens over hundreds and thousands of little moments throughout a child’s life: bedtime Bible stories and car-ride conversations, Sunday school lessons and whispered prayers, hard questions and simple answers. It happens as kids hear the stories of Jesus again and again, discover His character, learn His words, experience His love, and slowly begin to understand that this Jesus they’ve heard so much about is Someone they can actually know and trust.

Because ultimately, our goal isn’t simply to get our kids to a moment of salvation.

It’s to give them a whole childhood of getting to know their Savior.

A Kid’s Storybook Bible, a Salvation Prayer, and a Bloody Lip

When my daughter was five, bedtime often meant curling up together with her children’s Bible. We’d read the stories she loved, talk about what happened, and sometimes wander into those wonderfully unexpected conversations that happen when a five-year-old starts asking questions about God.

One night, after we had been reading together, she looked at me and told me she was ready to ask Jesus to live inside her heart.

My own heart jumped.

As a mom who is passionate about faith formation—and who had spent years thinking about how children come to know and trust Jesus—I was thrilled. This was the moment! One of those big parenting moments you hope and pray for.

I told her to wait right there while I ran to get her dad. I wanted him to be part of it too. I hurried out of the room, found him, excitedly told him what was happening, and brought him back with me.

But when we walked into her room, she was crying.

Somehow, in the very short time I had been gone, she managed to hit herself in the face with the storybook Bible. Her lip was bleeding. There were tears. And whatever sweet, spiritual moment had been unfolding a few minutes earlier was most definitely over.

Needless to say, she did not “accept Jesus” that night.

At the time, I remember feeling a little disappointed. We had been so close to this moment I had imagined and prayed for—and then it disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

But looking back, that bloody lip taught me this important truth about child discipleship.

Helping Kids Know Jesus, One Story at a Time

That memory and this truth about faith formation has been close to my heart as we’ve worked on the new Laugh and Grow Bible for Kids: Jesus Stories.

The brand new book includes 52 stories from the Gospels, taking kids through the life of Jesus—from His birth to His teachings and parables, His miracles, His death and resurrection, and the incredible invitation to follow Him.

And in October, we’re also releasing 10 brand-new Laugh and Grow Bible for Kids: Jesus Stories animated episodes on Minno.

My hope for these stories isn’t simply that children learn more Bible facts.

It’s that they get to know Jesus.

That they begin to recognize His voice and His character.

That they discover how much He loves people.

That they understand why He came.

That they see that He can be trusted.

Our Goal Is More Than a Salvation Moment

For generations, many of us in the church have put a lot of emphasis on the moment a child “gets saved.”

Did they pray the prayer?

Did they ask Jesus into their heart?

Did they make a decision to follow Jesus?

Those moments can be incredibly meaningful. I still remember my own childhood decision to follow Jesus, and I absolutely want our children to understand the gospel and have opportunities to personally respond to it.

But sometimes, in our eagerness to get kids to a decision, we can accidentally make the decision the finish line.

In reality, it is only the beginning. The beginning of a lifetime of making that decision over and over again, every day until they leave this earth.

Our deepest hope for our children isn’t simply that they can point to a moment when they prayed a prayer. We want them to know Jesus. We want them to love Him, trust Him, follow Him, talk to Him, turn to Him when life gets hard, and keep walking with Him long after they leave our homes.

And that kind of faith is more than a moment . . . it is formed over time.

“There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.” – Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society

Before Kids Can Trust Jesus, They Need to Know Who He Is

In every relationship, we trust someone because we know them. We’ve spent time with them. We’ve seen their character. We know how they respond when things are difficult. We know whether they keep their promises.

Our kids are learning those same things about Jesus.

Who is He?

What does He care about?

What makes Him happy?

How does He treat people who are hurting?

What does He do when someone makes a mistake?

Can I come to Him when I’m scared?

Does He really love me?

This is why Bible stories about Jesus for kids are so much more than cute bedtime stories or Sunday school lessons. Every story is helping our children answer those questions.

When they hear about Jesus welcoming children, they learn, Jesus wants me near Him.

When they hear about Jesus calming the storm, they learn, I can trust Jesus when I’m afraid.

When they see Jesus notice Zacchaeus when everyone else rejected him, they learn, Jesus sees people others overlook.

When they hear about Jesus feeding a hungry crowd, healing people who were hurting, forgiving sinners, washing His disciples’ feet, dying on the cross, and rising again, they are putting together a picture of who Jesus is.

Story by story, they’re getting to know Him.

Kids Need the Whole Story of Jesus

Sometimes we can unintentionally reduce the gospel we share with children to a formula:

You sin. Jesus died for your sins. Ask Him into your heart.

Those things are important and true—but there is so much more for our children to discover.

Jesus isn’t simply the answer to the problem of sin. He is a Person our children are invited to know and follow.

That’s why they need to hear about the baby born in Bethlehem and the man who welcomed the people no one else did.

They need to meet the Jesus who called ordinary fishermen to follow Him.

The Jesus who touched people others wouldn’t touch.

The Jesus who welcomed children when the grown-ups thought He was too busy.

The Jesus who cried when His friend Lazarus died.

The Jesus who washed dirty feet.

The Jesus who gave His life for us.

The Jesus who walked out of the tomb.

All of these stories help children understand not only what Jesus did for them, but who Jesus is.

Faith Formation Happens in Ordinary Moments

This is one reason I’m such a believer in reading the Bible together as a family.

And no, it does not have to look like a picture-perfect family devotional.

Sometimes everyone listens beautifully.

Sometimes somebody is upside down on the couch.

Sometimes your preschooler asks a surprisingly profound theological question.

Sometimes they ask whether dinosaurs could have been disciples.

And apparently, sometimes someone gets hit in the face with the Bible.

It still counts.

Because Christian parenting and family discipleship aren’t primarily about creating perfect spiritual moments. They’re about creating rhythms and opportunities.

We read the stories.

We talk about Jesus.

We answer questions.

We pray together.

We point out His goodness in everyday life.

And then we do it again.

Over time, those little moments add up to something much bigger.

They help our children build a framework for understanding who God is and how they fit into His story.

Give Kids Time to Grow

As parents who love Jesus, it’s natural to feel a sense of urgency about our children’s faith. We want to know that they believe. We want the reassurance of hearing them say the right words.

But children are growing slowly in every way—including spiritually.

Their understanding of Jesus at four will be different from their understanding at eight, twelve, sixteen, or twenty-five.

That’s okay.

Our job isn’t to rush them toward a spiritual milestone so we can check a box.

Our job is to faithfully introduce them to Jesus again and again.

We can help our kids see that Jesus isn’t simply someone they learned about at church. He is the center of our family story, and He invites them to continue that story with their lives.

And somewhere along the way—maybe during a bedtime Bible story, a conversation in the car, a Sunday school lesson, a Minno episode, or a moment we could never manufacture—they realize:

I know this Jesus.

I trust Him.

I want to follow Him.

That may happen in one beautiful, memorable moment. It might happen when they are young or when they are older.

Or, like it did in our house, that moment may get interrupted by a bloody lip.

Either way, we keep telling the stories. We keep inviting the conversation. We keep answering the questions to the best of our ability.

Because helping our kids follow Jesus isn’t about getting them to one moment.

It’s about planting and watering the seeds that only God can grow as they get to know Jesus for years to come.

Want to introduce your children to Jesus’ stories in a whole new way? Check out the Laugh and Grow Bible for Kids: Jesus Stories book and the companion Jesus Stories animated episodes on Minno.