Family Worship: The Real Mess and The Real Vision

Whether it’s at breakfast time or dinnertime, whether you’re musical or not, whether dad leads or mom leads, whether you read a devotional book or a Proverb, whether you sing a Honey for the Heart scripture song or a hymn or the doxology or Hillsong, whether it’s quiet and contemplative or rowdy and chaotic…. Doesn’t so much matter.

What matters is to be intentional to gather together in the presence of the Lord and sit under His Word.

We do many things daily, and our kids see it.  We brush our teeth daily.  Put on clothes daily.  Cook meals daily.  Read a book daily.  Check email daily.  Wipe down a counter daily.

Can you catch a vision for daily leading your kids to the Lord?

What we do in our family is threefold and simple, but has plenty of fluidity. There are many resources available to help with all three of these steps, and we like to change things up pretty regularly to keep it feeling fresh.  The beauty is that every person or family can use the resources that fit their style and personality.  

Here is the three step flow:

1. Read (a portion of the Bible)

2. Sing (not usually on an instrument, but occasionally; We sing our hymn of the month)

3. Pray (a parent leads. Sometimes we all pray, sometimes just one of us)

As this rhythm settles in and becomes habit, we’ll all grow and mature and I imagine that our time will expand and extend with discussion or lengthier prayer.  For now, it’s just becoming part of the liturgy of our day.

We show our children that just because something is hard, we don’t quit.  If it’s worth it, we continue on.

If the ten-year-old has a football game on the farthest field at noon on a 95 degree day, we prove our commitment to the child by trekking across the parking lot with a sideways toddler on our hip, lugging chairs and waters, listening to sweaty, complainy kids beg for concessions, and spending the next hour feeling very uncomfortable for the sake of the child playing the game.  

Why wouldn’t we show them that worshipping the Lord together is worth the perseverance and the long, steep climb, even if the toddlers are too loud and the kids don’t seem to be engaged or care, and the song has to stop and start three times and the baby pulls milk off the counter while we’re trying to just keep everything together in the other room?  Don’t we always have to fight for the good stuff?    

Psalm 71:18: "So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come".

Keep keeping the vision.
Lead them to the Lord every day, over and over again.