Family Worship Stuff

Here is a brief outline of the family worship thing. The three basic components are singing, reading, and praying.


1. Sing. We are hymn people so we use hymns that I printed off the internet. If you don't like hymns, I'm sure you can find any number of alternatives on the net. I made several 'hymnals' by stapling together a few favorites. If your kids can read, great. If not, you'll be amazed at how quickly they learn them just by hearing. Even Wyatt, who doesn't read yet, likes to be holding the music. To mix it up a little, sometimes we'll take several verses and do one fast, the next slow, the next soft, and the next really loud. They love it.

2. Read. If your kids are really little, the "Big Picture Story Bible" is great. It does a good job of telling the significance of each story to the whole picture of the Bible. This part of worship is as easy as reading a story to your kids. In fact, it is reading a story to your kids. We have several other bible story books laying around the house and our older kids read them on their own all the time.

Also, acting out the stories makes them even more memorable. We do this as much as possible and it is lots of fun.

3. Pray. Keep it brief but pray for real things; their concerns and yours. Ask what they'd like to pray about and if they'd like to pray. I think it is important to pray about grown-up things too. You are teaching your kids to trust God when they hear you expressing your dependence on Him for the monthly bills, healing for a sickness going around, or comfort for the disappointment you just experienced. Each component of family worship teaches your children something and prayer is no exception.

Extras. This is where I got our catechism. This is great because it teaches theology in a very simple question/answer format. Don't worry about all the Scripture references. Those are for your benefit - it is not essential for the kids to know those. The main thing is to teach them the answers. Go over the first one a few times and they'll have it. Ask them the first question a couple of times a day whenever you think about it - in the car, while they are playing, or at the dinner table. Do that for a week then go to the next question.

Each time you ask them, make sure you ask both questions in order. The questions build on one another as you will see.

Feel free to tweak the questions or answers as you see fit. Some of the wording is a bit archaic. For instance, on # 5 -- 'why ought you to glorify God?' -- I prefer 'why should you glorify God?' I also changed the answer on this one to 'Because I belong to Him.' You just want to make sure that you ask the question the same way every time and that they give the answer the same way every time.

Memorizing Scripture as a family is also a great way to grow together. Again, it is best to do whole chapters (rather than one verse here and one verse there) so that the kids see that the Bible is not a collection of random thoughts but an extended message from Genesis to Revelation. By this, you will be teaching them to respect the context. Some suggested chapters with which to start: Hebrews 1, Psalm 1, Psalm 34, Psalm 139. The Psalms are great for kids. Just do one verse a week or one every two weeks. Say the verse a phrase at a time and have the family repeat after you. You can go through it several times and then try to say it all together. Then go on to the second verse the next week, still taking time to review past verses.

Let me know if you have a questions or if I've not been clear about anything. Remember - keep it simple, no preparation.

If you don't mind spending $6 dollars you can purchase a short book on the subject by Donald Whitney, the man who taught me everything I know about Spiritual Disciplines. All of the other resources on his site I can highly recommend.

Men, this is your responsibility. God has made you the pastor of your home (Eph 5:22-27; 6:4). You are the head of the family. If you are like me and have spent years wondering what it means to lead your family spiritually, here is the place to start.

Ladies, if your husband will not fulfill his responsibility, lead your children in worship while still submitting to your husband's authority. You are not dishonoring him by doing this. Your children must be trained up in the way that they should go. If your husband will not do this, you can do it. Continue to pray that the Lord will grab your husband and raise him up to be a Godly husband.

May the Lord bless you and your family for choosing to worship Him together as a family in your home.