Focus 40

Devotionals for Children

Calling the Church to
Focus on 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting
Compiled by Dr. Melissa Pratt

The Church of God is being called to unite in a time of prayer and fasting during the forty days
leading up to Easter. These devotionals are designed for children to use on the weekdays of the five
full calendar weeks of Focus 40, beginning on Monday, March 21, and ending on Good Friday,
April 22. This schedule parallels the five major themes of Focus 40 that appear in the forty-day adult
devotionals.

 The Transformation Team Connect/Refresh: Rev. Randy Montgomery, Chair; Rev. Joseph D. Allison, Co-
Chair; Rev. Barb Ferraro; Dr. Steve Birch; David Farlow; Dr. James Johnman; Dr. Andy
Stephenson; Dr. Melissa Pratt; Dr. Sam Bruce; Rev. Gary Moore; Rebecca Shrout

Copyright © 2010 by Church of God Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. This document may be
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that the copyright notice on this page appears without modification. The contents of the booklet
may not be modified or abridged in any way, and this electronic version of the booklet MAY NOT
BE RESOLD in any print or electronic format.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New
International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission
of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King
James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright
© 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights
reserved.
 Devotion One

The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous. — Proverbs 15:29

Every church should have a candy lady. Janet Gillie always had a big bag of candy waiting for us to
choose from after church was over. When I was a teenager, the doctors told her she was dying of
cancer and that she only had six months to live. I remember praying for the Candy Lady, that God
would heal her of her cancer. Our whole church was praying for her as well. Six months after she
was told she would die from cancer, Janet went to the doctor and something was missing. The
cancer was all gone. The doctors couldn’t find it anywhere! God heard our prayers and brought
healing to the Candy Lady. Twenty-four years later, the Candy Lady is still giving out special treats to
the children in my home church.

By Rev. Dan Phillips

Devotion Two

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God.’” — Matthew 4:4

Fasting is a practice that goes way back to the Old Testament. People would deprive themselves of
food and commit their time to prayer. How can being hungry bring me closer to God in prayer? It
sounds odd, but it works. Every time your stomach tells you, “I need food!,” you simply pray for the
concerns in your heart. By fasting, we are showing God that his presence and our spiritual need are
more important than food. When Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days and nights, he was
showing God how much he needed God to guide and direct him in his ministry. When we fast, we
are following the example of Jesus and are telling God, “I need you and your blessings in my life
more than I need food.”

By Rev. Dan Phillips

Devotion Three

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. — Isaiah 55:8

The words that best describe God are all filled with mystery:

Awesome—Awe: Deep respect willed with fear and wonder.

Wonderful—Wonder: Surprise or amazement.
Amazing—Amaze: A condition of confusion.
Incredible—Hard to understand or believe.

We use these words to describe God because he really is awesome, wonderful, amazing and
incredible. The incredible God loves you so very much. When we pray we need to remember that
having his will in our lives is more important than having our will. There may be prayers that he
answers differently than we hope, but it is all part of this amazing, incredible, wonderful plan of God
for us.

By Rev. Dan Phillips

Devotion Four

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. — James 5:16

We serve an amazing and powerful God. How powerful is God? Great question. The most powerful
force man has ever created was the nuclear bomb. The first nuclear bomb exploded with 1 megaton
of energy. Every second our sun produces 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) megatons of energy.

There are 1,000,000,000,000 stars in our Galaxy, and 1,000,000,000,000 galaxies in the universe. That
means every second there are 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 megatons of energy being
produced every second. The God who provides the power to the universe wants to work through
you and your prayers. God is really very, very powerful!

By Rev. Dan Phillips

Devotion Five

Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. — Luke 18:1

When I was a little boy, I rode the bus to church, along with my brothers and sister. I loved going to
church because the people there were very nice, and I especially loved Grandma Kay. I was a bit of a
hyper kid, but Grandma Kay didn’t mind. She had a way of making me feel special.

We stopped going to church after my family moved to the other side of town when I was eight.
When I was fifteen years old, a friend invited me to go to church with him. It was the same church I
had attended as a little boy. I will never forget my first day back at church. I was standing in the
lobby, and a little old lady caught my eye. She smiled and ran over to me, gave me a huge hug, and
said, “Danny, I knew you would come back! I never stopped praying for you!”

I love the Lord today because of people just like Grandma Kay, who never stopped praying for me.
As Christians, we must never stop praying for the salvation of our loved ones. It is possible that
many will be in heaven because you never stopped praying for them.

Rev. Dan Phillips

 Devotion Six

David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father
Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.” —1 Chronicles 29:10

Just as quickly as you can change the station on the radio, you can tune in to God. Anytime.
Anywhere.

Start by saying hello to God during the day. How about in between activities at school, in between
innings at baseball games, or while you are doing chores? Can you think of other times of the day
you can say hello to God?

By Rev. Lia Yost

Devotion Seven

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them
may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” —John 17:20–21

Like Jesus, we can talk to God about the things going on in our world. We can pray for our family
and friends. We can even talk to him about people we don’t know and ask God to help them believe
in Jesus.

By Rev. Lia Yost

Devotion Eight

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. —Luke 6:12

We don’t have to be in church to pray. And we certainly don’t have to use big, fancy words. We can
talk to God in the same way we have conversations with our best friend or our mom or dad.

Try talking to God on the phone. Pick up the phone and start your conversation with, “Hi God, it’s
me. You’ll never guess what happened today!”

By Rev. Lia Yost

 Devotion Nine

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing a song of praise…The prayer of a
righteous man is powerful and effective. —James 5:13, 16

Prayer is communication with God. He is available for conversations throughout the day. Well, he’s
not only available; he also desires it. God wants us to discover that prayer is more than praying
thanks for our food.

Tell God in your own words whatever you are thinking or feeling. Are you happy? Are you sad? Are
you afraid? Are you tired? Are you excited about something? He wants to know.

By Rev. Lia Yost

Devotion Ten

Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. —1 Samuel 1:13

There are different ways we can pray to God. One way we can pray is silently. A good time to say a
silent prayer to God is at school. When you are sitting at your desk getting ready to take a test, you
can say a silent prayer to God. It can be as simple as, “Dear Lord, help me do my very best on this
test.”

By Rev. Lia Yost

Devotion Eleven

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. —Psalm 69:30

We can sing praise songs as prayers to God.

Choose a song that you enjoy that talks about how much you love God. Sing that song as a prayer.
He loves to hear you tell him you love him.

By Rev. Lia Yost

 Devotion Twelve

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know
that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his
gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good
and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. —Psalm 100

We can read Bible verses as prayers to God. The Bible is full of people’s life stories. They endured
hardships, tragedy, and illnesses. They worked, played, laughed, and cried. They celebrated.

You may find that they said something that matches exactly how you are feeling. You can read their
words as your own prayer to God.

By Rev. Lia Yost

Devotion Thirteen

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. —Luke 5:16

When you think of someone praying, what picture comes into your mind? Is someone sitting with
their eyes closed and their hands folded?

There are many postures appropriate for prayer. We can fold our hands, kneel, sit, raise our hands,
hold a friend’s hand, stand, and bow our heads.

Giving our attention to God is what is important.

By Rev. Lia Yost

Devotion Fourteen

His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his
hands on him and healed him. —Acts 28:8

When we pray, we can have faith that God will answer our prayers. And when we consistently pray
for someone’s safety, health, and relationships, we can discover the power of prayer.

A fun way to consistently pray for someone is to use Popsicle sticks to pray! Write the name of a
person to pray for on a Popsicle stick and keep all of the sticks in a cup on the kitchen table. When
you sit down to eat, you and your family can take turns pulling a stick and saying a prayer for that
person.

By Rev. Lia Yost

Devotion Fifteen

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. —1 Chronicles 16:34

When we pray, we can thank God for all of the amazing things he made and for all of the wonderful
things he gives to us. Can you think of some things God made? Can you think of some things God
has given to you?

Why don’t you write or draw a prayer of thanks to God.

By Rev. Lia Yost

Devotion Sixteen

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has
done. —Philippians 4:6 NLT

Sometimes people that we love get sick or upset. It may cause us to worry and feel sad. Things may
even start to make us feel hurt or afraid. Our Bible teaches us that we should not worry but to pray
to God and thank him. Praying to God makes us have peacefulness in our minds. Remember, if
someone you love is sick or upset, just pray for them—don’t worry! Worrying gives us sad faces.
God helps us have happy faces. Show me your happy face. Now this is the face we should have after
praying to our God.

By Cassandra Gamble Tyson

Devotion Seventeen

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring loin, looking for someone to
devour… —1 Peter 5:8 NLT

As God’s special children we should be careful. Bad things are like lions who look for weak,
troubled people, who can be hurt easily. If we are hurting and bothered by something, it is important
to pray. In the Bible a young man named Daniel prayed to God three times a day so he would be
strong. A new law was made commanding people not to pray. Daniel still prayed to God because he
is the only real God. The mean, jealous leaders told the king that Daniel didn’t obey the law. He was
thrown into the lion’s den, but the lions did not attack and eat him. God made him stronger and
protected him. He will protect you too. Always pray so you’ll be strong and protected from the
enemy.

By Cassandra Gamble Tyson

Devotion Eighteen

“All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s,
and he will give all of you into our hands.” —1 Samuel 17:47

We can trust our Lord’s power to help us. Let’s think about the Bible story of David and Goliath.
The Lord gave David the courage to fight the giant, Goliath. David knew God was on his side. He
won by believing that the Lord was leading him to do the right things. We don’t have to fight
because the Lord will take care of our situations. Praying to the Lord and believing in him will give
us victory. Pray: “Lord, give me strength, power, and courage like you gave David. Help me to
remember that you are with me, when I have big problems and always. Lord, the battle belongs to
you!”

By Cassandra Gamble Tyson

Devotion Nineteen

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praise to the Most High. —Psalm 92:1 NLT

Everyone should always praise our Lord. He made us; he blesses us with food, a place to live, and
parents who love us. The Lord loves for us to thank and praise him for these things by praying.
Remember, our Lord smiles when we thank him and praise him by praying. Let’s praise him. Sing,
hallelujah, hallelujah. Lift both hands and wave them from side to side. Clap, clap, and clap your
hands. Then, put your hands together, close your eyes, and pray to him. Say, “Lord, we thank you
for all the wonderful things you give us.”

By Cassandra Gamble Tyson

Devotion Twenty

Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in
His sight. —1 John 3:22 NKJV

How many of you like rewards and prizes? We get rewards and prizes when following the rules at
home, school, and church. It is important to do what God’s commandments and the Bible say. This
will help us get our prayers answered. God hears our prayers. Answers to our prayer are like rewards
for obeying the commandments. If we ask for something that God thinks is right for us, then the
answer comes as a reward. Remember to pray: “Lord, you said ask and I will receive from you. I
have done what is pleasing to you. May your will be done. Amen” (Give the children some stickers,
ten commandment cards, or other prizes they may like as reminders.)

By Cassandra Gamble Tyson

Devotion Twenty-One

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the
work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them
off. —Acts 12:2–3

Have you ever heard the word fasting? Fasting is giving up something important to you up for a
specified time limit. The Scriptures have numerous references to individuals fasting for God.
Individuals in Scripture would fast to receive direction from God or for strength and comfort when
they were upset.

Fasting is typically giving up foods and either drinking just liquids or eating a diet of limited foods.
But what can a kid fast for God? Well, you could fast certain foods, like French fries or
cheeseburgers, but you could also fast video games, television, or the Internet. Fasting is giving up
something you love for God and spending that time praying and learning more about him.

I encourage you this week to think of something you could fast for God. Maybe for one day you
could give up television or maybe go a whole week without French fries.

By Wendy Watts-Hicks

Devotion Twenty-Two

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who
asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for
bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask
him?” — Matthew 7:7–11

As kids, we ask for lots of things, and often, we get them. We ask for something to drink, something
to eat, maybe a new toy, or a piece of gum or candy. We, as children, are dependent on our parents.
Most of us can’t use the stove to cook our own dinner, and we can’t jump in the car to drive
ourselves to soccer practice. We must rely on our parents or other adults.

Did you know that we can also rely on God to fulfill our needs? This scripture from Matthew is
Jesus telling those listening to ask their heavenly Father to fulfill their needs. Jesus continues by
pointing out that God loves them so much more than any earthly parent or grandparent or other
adult. He loves us so much!

So, today take comfort in knowing that God loves you and that with prayer we can talk to him and
tell him how much we love him. We can also ask for help, and guess what? He will help us in all
situations!

By Wendy Watts-Hicks

Devotion Twenty-Three

The LORD said to him: “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple,
which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. As for you, if you
walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my
decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever.” —1 Kings 9:3–5

This is an awesome verse! Solomon was a great leader during Old Testament times. He built a
temple for God. When he was finished, he dedicated the temple to God. This verse is God’s
response to Solomon. God is promising that he will watch over that temple, Solomon, and his
family throughout the generations. He isn’t promising he would sometimes watch over, or maybe
just every once in a while. God states, “My eyes and my heart will always be there.” How cool is
that?

Did you know that God wants to always be with you as well? Just as with Solomon, God desires that
you talk with him through prayer. Did you know that you can talk with God all the time? Not just at
church or at family devotion time. You can speak to God on the school bus, in your bedroom, or
even on the athletic field. God is always listening and desires to hear from you. I want to encourage
you today to talk with God! Say a prayer. Say more than one. He is always listening!

By Wendy Watts-Hicks

Devotion Twenty-Four

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can
do nothing…If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for
you.” —John 15:5, 7 NKJV

This verse talks about a branch. Have you ever climbed a tree? Each branch will connect to a limb.
Then the limbs all connect to the trunk, and then the trunk connects to the roots. The whole tree is
connected together as one single unit. This scripture is saying that we are connected together when
we are connected with God. How is cool is that?

Jesus states that when we are connected with him, we are his! We can talk with him just like an
earthly parent. In the same way, we can ask him to help us with our needs and wants. We’ve got to
remember, the answer may not be what we believe is best, but it will always be what God thinks is
best!

By Wendy Watts-Hicks

Devotion Twenty-Five

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if
we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. —1 John 5:14–15

When we pray, God is listening. When prayers are offered to God, he hears us! The verse starts with
a big word, “confidence.” This word means that we can be sure something IS happening. I have
confidence that McDonald’s will have yummy fries when I order my kid’s meal! We can have
confidence that God is listening when we pray! When we are sad and we want to praise God, he is
listening. When we are sad and we want to pray for a friend or ourselves, he is listening. When we
are angry, he is listening. The verse contains a disclaimer in the phrase, “according to his will.” What
does this mean? Well, sometimes, as kids (and adults) we can come up with some crazy requests, like
when we ask for the ability to fly, to be transported in a time machine, for a teacher not to show up,
or to get automatic A’s on tests, etc. They sound like good requests in theory, but are not beneficial
or safe for us. God knows this, and he knows us! God listens to our requests, but he looks for our
best interest at all times. Today, as you pray to God, be confident in knowing that God is listening
and will do what is absolutely best for you!

By Wendy Watts-Hicks