AWANA NOW TEACHING CHILDREN TO HEAR
THE VOICE OF GOD
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
LTRP Note: Today, the church is “reaping the fruit”
of nearly 40 years of Spiritual Formation influence (since Richard
Foster’s Celebration of Discipline was released in 1978). Lighthouse
Trails has warned its readers on a number of occasions about the
direction AWANA children’s club is going with regard to contemplative
spirituality (i.e., Spiritual Formation) (see links below). In the
letter to the editor (below our note), you can see that AWANA is
now teaching children to “listen to God” (the goal in contemplative
prayer).We thought AWANA clubs purpose was to teach children the Word of God through memorization. Since when did they take it upon themselves to teach children to listen to God’s voice in two-way conversations during prayer? Is this not a gateway into Christian mysticism?
Regardless of what one believes about hearing God’s voice outside of Scripture, how is it AWANA’s place to teach children to engage in possibly dangerous “conversations”? Will they also be teaching children about discerning of spirits (that is, testing the spirits – 1 John 4:1-6) and that there are demonic spirits that are “speaking” to people? We hope so. AWANA is supposed to be teaching children the Word of God, helping children to store up God’s Word in their hearts. They now want to teach them how to take part in subjective mystical experiences. Remember, this is coming from an organization that has been promoting Spiritual Formation for several years. How can we trust them to teach children this? Will it not surely be slanted by proponents of contemplative spirituality?
Those who disagree with our posting this about AWANA are certainly entitled to that. But we have been researching AWANA for several years, and we believe this “listening to God” theme is just another stepping stone into dangerous mystical spirituality. Are we saying we do not believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life? No. But we do not believe that there is some kind of taught art (i.e., technique, method, system) in listening to God’s voice as so many in the church are promoting today, just as we do not believe that Christians are supposed to go into a silent state of mind so they can really hear God. If these “practices” were so important to God and so essential to us, why aren’t they taught in the Bible? When the disciples wrote the New Testament, there is nothing to indicate that they sat in stillness entering some sort of sacred space and then began a kind of channeled writing. No. Rather, God inspired them through His Holy Spirit and led them to write the things they did.
Obviously, the parent who contacted us and wrote the letter to the editor is very concerned. And we are too. If you have children or grandchildren who participate in AWANA, we strongly urge you to examine all AWANA literature and teaching tools carefully as well as discuss your concerns with your children’s AWANA leaders, and make sure they understand the dangers of contemplative spirituality.
The big emphasis in today’s church is, “Hear God’s Voice!” It’s all about feel-good and mystical experiences. It is a great tragedy that the focus isn’t on “Know God’s Word” and allow the Lord through His Holy Spirit to work in our lives.
Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
Dear Lighthouse Trails:Thanks for warning us about AWANA. I have been keeping an eye on their materials thanks to you. AWANA’s new T&T book Mission: Evidence of Grace is coming out in July 2017. Here are some quotes from “Section 4.2: Prayer” in the Student Handbook.
“Ask your friend to have a conversation, but keep talking and don’t let the other person speak … Ask how it felt when you wouldn’t stop talking.”You can download the sample at
“Ask a parent or guardian: “Have you ever been friends with someone who did all the talking when you were together? How did you feel when this happend [sic]?”
“God wants us to have a relationship with Him. One way this relationship grows is when we talk to God and listen to God. This is called prayer.” (Emphasis added.)
“To have a relationship with another person, you have to communicate—to talk with each other. The same is true of your relationship with God.”
“It is important to remember that a conversation involves two people talking. We need to make sure that we are taking time to listen to God speak to us too.” (Emphasis added.)
“When you pray do you listen, as well as talk to God?”
http://awanatt.org/assets/files/EOG_Handbook-Sample_ESV.pdf
–Tammy
Related Information:
If you want to understand contemplative prayer and Spiritual Formation, read the following booklets: 5 Things You Should Know About Contemplative Prayer and Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation? (Important Reasons Why It Shouldn’t)
2007 – Special Alert: Awana Embraces Contemplative
2012 – Revisting Awana’s Move Toward Contemplative – And Another Look at “Perspectives on Children’s Spiritual Formation
2016 – A History of AWANA’s Contemplative Track Record and the Implications of Their New CEO