World Weekend of Prayer: Children Praying with a Citywide Influence
The World Weekend of Prayer gives children and adults an opportunity to pray with and for children. 2024’s theme was ‘Jesus is the Light of the World’, and many wonderful prayer events took place. The reach was vast, involving 370,000 people from 33 countries, 20% of whom were not active members of a Viva partner network. The vast majority, 330,000 of the total reported numbers, were children. The feedback was very encouraging:
“Praise the Lord! He is faithful to his people. This year, we planned one big event in the capital. On the day of the event, we had more than 700 people, of whom 65% were children.” (Nepal)
“During the event, we shared about the purposes of WWP, then children came to lead worship, sing, praise and pray. They had time to request their own prayers. We prayed for peace, food, health and shelter for the needy.” (Cambodia)
The photographs below are from events run in 2024 in Cambodia, Kenya and Tanzania, with thanks to the networks in those countries, Peace Team Cambodia, Together for Children, and Mwanza Children Action Network (MCAN), for sharing. The full report from 2024 can be found here.
God delights in child-like prayers
The World Weekend of Prayer is special because it actively encourages child-led prayer events. The Bible speaks of the need to approach God in a childlike way in Matthew 18:1-5, and Jesus actively invites children close to Him: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:14–15). This does not mean approaching God with immaturity or ignorance, but with simplicity and humility. A young child simply expects their parent or caregiver to meet their needs – it is not something most will question, but rather, young children usually take people at their word. (Tragically, some children lose this because of vulnerabilities in their lives, or when something or someone distorts or breaks this in-built faith.) When children pray, there is often a visible demonstration of faith, without fancy words or theology; just a simple discourse. My young son once prayed, “Thank you, God, for the bread we ate and the boiled eggs Mummy didn’t make for breakfast.” There was no sarcasm or resentment; he was simply stating the facts as he remembered them, thanking God for what was present, and what was not, a sincere acknowledgement that God was interested in and part of his daily life. As such, we want to encourage children to pray because we can learn from them in how they pray, and the relational way they approach God the Father.
Building confidence and creativity in children
The World Weekend of Prayer also serves as a means for engaging children in prayer to build their capacity and encourage leadership. Some children in Cuba were involved in creating a video promoting this year’s World Weekend of Prayer, and their engagement with the process shows both a learning and an understanding of the significance of their involvement:
“I had a lot of fun filming and playing soccer. I would like children on the streets to know God, for us to help them, and for them to come to church so we can pray for them so they can have a life in all its fullness in Jesus.” (Emmanuel, 10 years old)
“I was a little nervous at the beginning of the video. We reminisced about what we've learned in church classes about Jesus, and I also had fun playing with the ball. I want lots of children to come to church so I can pray for them.” (Isabella, 8 years old)
Children were involved in designing some of the resources as well. Their participation was seen in helping develop a Prayer Guide in Learning Spaces run by Viva’s partner network CarNet Nepal, and creating beautiful drawings, as coordinated by a school attached to Viva India. In all of these activities, children were given the opportunity to explore what they think it means to have life in all its fullness, which is this year’s theme. By inviting children to play a role in preparing resources, they were given the chance to play a unique and significant part in building God’s kingdom (this theme is explored in another article about meaningful child participation in mission, which can be found here). We look forward to seeing this culminating in the prayer events run over 7-8 June, with children leading the way through song, drama, dance, crafts and prayer.
Drawings shared with sincere thanks to each child who did so well capturing this year’s theme.
Learning from David – the King who started praying young
The story of David and Goliath is familiar to many people, though we mainly focus on the part where Goliath and David meet, and the young boy vanquishes the giant man. There is a significant verse in 1 Samuel as David volunteers to be the one to face Goliath: “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37). David, in his early teens, had a day job as a shepherd, often alone on hillsides, defending the flock from wild animals. As he has warded off different beasts, David has clearly been in communication with the Lord God. He recognises his success as coming from Him, which suggests he prayed to God as he performed his shepherding duties. David is incensed that Goliath is mocking God, and says, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45). As he discards the armour and picks up the five smooth stones, it would not be hard to imagine David praying to God for wisdom, courage and strength to know how to defeat this enemy, remembering how God has helped Him in the past. David shows calmness and ‘childlike faith’ in being willing to face a giant, knowing God was on his side.
We know that the Prophet Samuel mentions that “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart” in chapter 13 when King Saul disobeys God, and is told he will be replaced, with David being chosen some 14 years before actually becoming the King. Though he had many failures later in life, David’s desire to please God and his faith in God, demonstrated as a young adult, continued throughout his life, as seen in many of the Psalms he wrote: even as he described hardship and abandonment, he always returned to a place of knowing God was present. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” The World Weekend of Prayer gives children a chance to grow in the spiritual discipline of prayer, with the hope that the seeds planted will stand them in good stead in future. Building a prayer foundation from an early age could be especially important for children at risk, who often face loneliness, fear of, or real attack, and rejection. Prayer can be a tool to build resilience and an understanding of identity as God’s child, loved by Him, despite the difficult circumstances of life they may face.
The wider impact: prayer as advocacy
Not only is our World Weekend of Prayer a platform to create a space and build agency for children to grow and put their faith into action, but for some partner networks, it also serves a wider purpose. Viva supports its partner networks in four areas: we believe that if churches and organisations are inspired to connect in networks, equipped to improve their capacity, mobilised to take collective action and supported in advocacy with a citywide influence, then children will be able to live life in all its fullness. The World Weekend of Prayer falls under the last driver, ‘Citywide Influence.’ As networks of churches and organisations come together, they can have a more significant presence, showing the unity and strength of the Christian community, and ensuring a louder voice for issues of social justice. There are different ways this can be seen through the World Weekend of Prayer, with some of them below.
Firstly, when people gather in a designated place, they often focus their prayers on that location, asking God to bring positive change in that city.
Secondly, the World Weekend of Prayer can bring together different Christian denominations and agencies, which could potentially collaborate more in the future, including on social action projects.
Thirdly, churches can feel the encouragement of others working alongside them in the city as they gather to pray together, helping to counter fatigue and a sense of isolation.
Fourthly, as people pray about the issues facing children, the needs and gaps related to children’s rights are made known, which acts as a form of activism and may encourage conversations and engagement by people from all walks of life.
Fifthly, political leaders are sometimes invited to join with a network or church in some cities, making the prayer event a space to advocate for children’s rights that can lead to systemic change.
We will see this exemplified this year by Mwanza Action For Children (MCAN), our partner network in Tanzania. The network is planning a large event that will begin with a peaceful march escorted by the police, during which children will carry banners displaying prayer points and messages that promote peace, protection and safety for children. At the event, children will present a drama related to child safeguarding, which will be recorded and distributed on social media platforms. There will be opportunities for speeches and prayers from children, religious leaders, including the Archbishop, and the Guest of Honour, who is expected to be the Regional Commissioner of Mwanza. Iman, the network coordinator, says, “As this is an election year for our nation, Tanzania, we will use this opportunity to give children a chance to pray for their country, especially during these election times. This has led us to invite government leaders and representatives from security organs to attend the coming event. We believe that the World Weekend of Prayer can be an opportunity to advocate for children’s rights at the government level through several interconnected ways.” We are praying for Iman and his team, grateful for his creativity and initiative, and confident that this combination of child advocacy and child-led prayer will bear much fruit.
We are thankful that the World Weekend of Prayer has been running for nearly 30 years and look forward to celebrating this milestone more fully in 2026, which is also Viva’s 30th anniversary. We will continue to celebrate this weekend as a means to learn from children as they pray, help children develop and demonstrate their faith early, and advocate for the needs and rights of children to be met. If you haven’t yet registered to receive this year’s resource pack, please do so here. We also encourage you to check back on the page for new materials that are being added. We would also love to hear from you via the feedback form we will share, so that people can be encouraged seeing how God’s kingdom can be built as children and adults pray for and with children.