Kids’ Questions About God

Responding to your child’s questions about God and Heaven

This evening in the midst of returning my two year old to his room for the umpteenth time as he continued the transition from crib to bed, my six year old uncharacteristically made his way downstairs looking for me. He is my heaviest sleeper and goes to bed just about every night quickly and without objection. But tonight he needed to talk to me. It seemed urgent but he was trying to compose himself. Once I got to his room and crawled under the covers with him to chat, he told me just how deep his worries ran.

Immediately the tears began pouring (his, and mine – though as discreetly as possible). He wanted to know why he could not hear God when he prayed to him. He told me that the last five nights he had been praying and asking a God questions and he could not hear Him.

It completely crushed me to see him heartbroken over being unable to hear God. This is also one of those moments I’ve always dreaded because I have had fears I would not know the right thing to say. But in that moment I listened and felt I could answer every question he asked. Maybe not with the answer he hoped for or admittedly that I would even like to have, but the Holy Spirit gave me the answers just as Jesus promised in Luke 12:12. And when my son wanted to know how I knew, I shared this with him as well.

I think it is important to back up a little and explain that my son is being raised in a Christian home, being homeschooled, goes to church regularly, spends time with other like-minded families, and is involved in a couple of Christian homeschool enrichment programs. So Bible study is a daily priority and he has very strong family relationships, above other friendships.

He is very introspective and is often lost in thought as he thinks through all sorts of different things about his hobbies and interests, and as I learned, his eternity too. He has an incredible vocabulary and ability to communicate. He is an auditory learner and has a memory that shocks even those of us who know him well.

My son continued to explain to me that he did not understand why God would not talk to him or send him a vision like he did for other people. (A tiny part of me lept for joy that he was putting that together from everything he’d been learning.) He said he kept asking Him to, but there was nothing. I explained to him that God doesn’t aways communicate to everyone in the same way but often will “speak” to us in different ways and that the word of God is also Him “speaking” to us. Hebrews 4:12. I assured him that God knows every thought before we utter a word. Psalm 139:4.

We spoke about the Holy Spirit and I continued to encourage and console him in response to which I’m not sure if he was fully satisfied or simply tabled it and moved on. 

He feverishly explained that this was not his only concern and that he did not want to go to Heaven. He has expressed this concern to me before but was not nearly as distraught. Tonight he was breathing rapidly, crying the whole time (which was about 45 minutes as far as I could tell), and could hardly wait for a response to his questions before pouring out another fear. 

As I held him and let him cry into my cheek, I asked him why he did not want to go to Heaven. He explained that he did not want to be old and he did not want to leave our home. We talked about all the things he did not like about being old and the things he loves about our home. In all honestly, I have a lot of the same fears. But I told him that I trust God’s word and His promise that there is no sadness and there are no tears in Heaven. Revelation 21:4.

I told him that I understood how he felt about our home as well and that I love it too. But what I want more than anything is to one day be in Heaven with him, and his brothers and Shug. He agreed that that was more important but really wanted to have our home too. I went on to explain that once we get to Heaven everything will be beyond what we can imagine here. 1 Corinthians 2:9. It will be perfect like it was before sin. He will not be sad for our house because whatever God has prepared for us there is so much better. I was not ready to tell him specifically we would not have our home or our worldly possessions. I told him we do not know if we will have our home in Heaven but we do know that whether we do or we don’t, we will not be sad about it. We will only be happy in Heaven.

He said he was still upset that we could not just know the answers and he could not see pictures of what heaven is like. He asked how I knew these things. I explained that that is what faith is and that we need to be strong and believe God’s Word and his promises in the Bible even though we may not hear him audibly or see a picture. John 20:29. We do not know His ways but His ways are better than our ways. Isaiah 55:8-9. He told me he was weak and I assured him he is not and continued to embrace him.

My heart broke throughout the conversation as he poured out his heart to me. I know all too well his fears. And I hoped I was loving him and guiding him as God would have me. He explained that he knew he should pray to God and trust him but it was so hard not to know these things. He said he wants to be with us all in Heaven and was also scared that there would be so many people we do not know and even ones we do not like in Heaven and that we will not be able to find each other. I told him that God promises that we will be united again in Heaven and that we must trust in Gods promises. 1 Thess. 4:17, Matt. 17:3.

He wanted to know how we could be sure we got to Heaven and I reminded him that all we need to do is believe in him and know that he sent his son Jesus to die for our sins so that we might have eternal life with God Heaven. Romans 10:9.

He wanted to know what happened if we went to where the evil one was. Could we ever come back and go to Heaven if we were with Satan? And once we are in Heaven, could we ever come back to visit the earth? I kept reassuring him of the simplicity of salvation and his trust in Jesus, and that as much as God has given us this wonderful earth as a blessing, what lies ahead in Heaven is so far beyond what we can imagine we will not want to leave once we are there. I reminded him of our devotional yesterday on Peace and that if we trust in God we do not need to worry. John 16:33. We can just seek Him in prayer and through His Word and know He is listening. I told my son that the Holy Spirit was within me helping me to answer his questions and as part of the trinity, this was God using me as his mother to answer his prayers about these things.

Slowly he began to calm down and the conversation turned into less about fear and more about what he hopes Heaven is like. I dreamed with him as we caressed each other’s cheeks until he started to drift off to sleep. My two year old was up and out of the room again, so I went after him promising my sweet boy I’d be back to check on him and when I returned he was fast asleep. 

I don’t know what tomorrow may bring. I’m sure this isn’t the end of the conversation and is only the beginning of questions from him. And that’s okay. I feel more equipped to talk to others about Jesus just from pouring into my boy and I hope that he will one day be equipped to speak into others and grow into a young man after God’s own heart. The depth of my love for him and my desire for him to have “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding” is so great I can hardly compose myself as I share this story. Phillippians 4:6. I’m no theologian and I’ve doubted and sinned more in my life than I want to admit. But leading my children to Jesus is my ultimate purpose and the most important reason I am homeschooling them.

I’ve added in the scriptures here but as I said the Holy Spirit brought this all to my lips as I spoke with him, without hesitation. But the Word of God is a blessing to all who read it so may it bless you and help you in these discussions with your little ones as well.  

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