Family Worship: Habits That Help Shape Our Home
Continuing on with our discussion of family worship, I want to focus on the habits that will help shape our homes.
First I acknowledge that every family is different and your rhythm will not look the same. But I also want to say that a good habit or practice is good because its good, even if you can't use it in your schedule. SO we will just name a few and if you can use them great! If not find what works for you and your family.
We are a BUSY family of 6 with 3 teens, I know that my time is spent differently than a family of 4 with littles not involved in school or extra curriculars. The reality is during some seasons of life your time will be limited. Take advantage of the time you do have.
4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol[b] on your forehead.[c] 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Three Habits to Form
Scripture Reading
Our goal is to make little worshipers who will know, obey, and love God. When we read scripture together we are able to hear the great love story that is contained with in. We also get to know the God of the Bible who sent His Son Jesus to be our Savior! If our kids can grasp that they cannot help but worship.
Discussions
Our live are to be about God. He is included in our every decision of life. It makes sense then that He will be talked about in our homes on a daily basis. When a question comes up we must first ask what does God say? When we constantly turn our attention to God we will see a change in our home and the desires we all have to put Him first.
Prayer
Jesus gave us a great example in that we need to pray and have constant communication with God. As we make this a habit our kids will also know how to pray. When we set the example and they see a passionate prayer life they will desire the same.
Singing
Whether you can "sing" or not most people would agree that there is something special about music. When we lift our voices there is a special connection with God. Our hearts are open and stirred and we are ready to hear from him.
How do we make sure we put these practices into place? It come down to a decision to be intentional.
Decide on a time
Just like adding a practice or a performance on the family calendar, pick a time and put it on the calendar. It is more likely to take place if it is on your calendar. Obviously there are a lot of things to consider when doing this. How old are your kids? What nights do you have at home? How long will they be able to handle?
I promise when you plan it and do it, It will be a blessing. Kids are never too young to learn how to worship. You can even start before you have kids! Two equals a family!
Decide on a plan
What are you going to do for family worship? Sing? Read? Pray? Dance?
Jot down a plan so that you can feel prepared. It does not have to be anything special but if you have a plan this will help you accomplish your goal. I recommend starting out small, just a short passage and prayer.
Decide don't slide
It's also super important to make sure that you make the decision and stick with it. When you decide you don't slide. When you make a plan you will be more likely to follow through than if you don't. So this one is really a matter of perseverance there's gonna be times when you're tired and it's hard to get everybody motivated to do family worship but the benefits outweigh the pain. And before you know it this will be a time that your family looks forward to when you can all worship together and since God's presence