Need help with answering 8 year old's questions about God

[Virga]

A bit of background info about him first:
My nephew is about 8 years old, and he hasn’t started classes for first Communion yet. His parents don’t really attend Mass, and they don’t talk to their kids about faith much. He usually asks me questions, but many times I have difficulty answering them.

I believe he is experiencing some symptoms of depression [his 10 year old brother has started counseling for issues as well]. Their school has also suggested that the younger brother may need help. It seems he’s having a lot of difficulty making friends and acts out by being the “bad” kid or purposely being annoying. He seems really lonely, feels unloved by his parents, and he’s concerned about his parents having a tumultuous relationship.

I find it harder to speak to children about faith than adults, especially when they ask seemingly simplistic questions. Anyway, he’s been asking me questions since I tell him to trust in God and to pray, but of course now he’s asking about how God doesn’t answer his prayers etc…

My nephew told me he prayed to God to send him a letter. He basically wants to talk to God, so how come he doesn’t send him a letter or talk to him when he prays?

And of course the whole “how come God doesn’t stop bad people from doing bad things”… But then we start getting into free will and choices, and I’m not sure how to explain.

I’d also appreciate any sources that would be helpful for talking to children about faith. God bless.

 

[JorduSpeaks]

All the paper and pens are on Earth, so if you want to write a letter, you need hands that are on Earth.

God doesn’t have hands on Earth, so we must be His hands.

 

[nodito]

“God speaks to us in a lot of different ways. Rarely does he speak to us in a voice loud enough for lots of people to hear, though this happened occasionally in the Old Testament. Usually, nowadays, God whispers to our hearts, or speaks to us through the pages of His inspired word, the Bible, or through people who love us, like our parents.”

A response to “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” could be as simple as, “God answers all prayers with ‘Yes, not yet, or I have something even better in mind.’”

 

[Joe_5859]

I’d probably say that God wrote us all a letter and it’s called the Bible.

 

[friardchips]

You could say that God always answers our hearts, but many times, our hearts are in need of things that our words can’t express.

And many times the things that we ask for can only be lived out in time so that we learn from our prayers about the things that we have asked for.

 

[CatholicGuy31]

GOD chooses the best time to answer our prayers as it is when we benefit the most. HE also waits for the right moment to punish the “bad people” as that is when they deserve it the most.

If it is possible why not take him to church sometime when the church is quiet. Spending a little time in front of the statue of Our Lady in silence he might actually learn for himself about how to pray. You can tell him that our Blessed Mother loves all little children and very specially those who feel unloved by their own parents.

 

[Virga]

Thank you for all the responses so far.

I’ll try some of the suggestions, as I hadn’t thought of those before.