Of all of the spiritual disciplines we are covering, you may think worship is the easiest. You just take them to church every Sunday, right? Spiritual disciplines are practices Christians have partaken in for over two thousand years in an effort to become who God wanted them to be. Many of the disciplines Jesus himself practiced while he was on Earth. Since it’s so important to spiritual health and growth, we may need to take a closer look at worship.
The dictionary definition of worship is to show reverence and adoration to God. While corporate worship as a community of believers is crucial, your kids need to also learn how to constantly worship God. There are all kinds of clues in scripture about what God considers worship. In Isaiah, the prophet says, “…I will exalt you, I will praise your name, for you have done marvelous things…” (25:1) and “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously.” (12:5) Paul writes in Romans that we are to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (12:1) In Psalms we read “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” (150:6)
You can help your children have a worshipful life by modeling one yourself. Sing praise songs around the house or in your car. (There are some great kids’ praise songs that have scriptures as lyrics so they are also memorizing scripture as they sing.) Be thankful to God out loud and praise Him in front of your children… “Isn’t God amazing that he created such a beautiful sunset for us to enjoy?!” “It is awesome to see how God worked in that situation even better than we could have imagined or hoped!” If you are sincere and consistent, your kids will begin to follow your lead in most cases.
But what about corporate worship at church? Although some churches still provide separate environments for children during worship services, don’t let your kids participate. Studies are finding children fare better spiritually when they are brought in with the adults as modeled in scripture. Yes it is more work for you, but they will grow so much more by learning how to worship from a young age, rather than being entertained. They will develop relationships that can become mentoring with Christians older than them who sit near you. They will feel like part of a family – which is what church was always designed to be.
Once they’re in worship with you, it’s crucial they participate – no matter how young they are. Our daughter was encouraged to sing along from infancy and would often hum along before she could say the words. When we stood, she either stood or was picked up and held while we stood. She was encouraged to fold her hands and pray when the grown ups did – even if she just said her own prayer because she couldn’t quite understand what the person was praying. She gave her own money to God from her allowance each week. (Most churches have a box in the foyer where your children can put their money.)
But what about the sermons? When she was tiny, we had a fidget book I had made that was based on the Bible. Each page was a different story and had something she could do on it to keep her hands busy. She only saw that book during the sermon on Sunday, so she never had a chance to get tired of it. I also had a few other Bible based books she could look through.
As soon as she was old enough to begin drawing. We got her a special notebook for sermons. We would draw pictures based on things in the sermon and she would color them. As she got a little older, she was encouraged to listen to the sermon and draw things she heard from it. Most weeks she might only catch one or two points – usually the Bible story or theme in the sermon, but it taught her that the point was to listen and learn. Afterwards, we would often talk briefly at lunch about her notes and what she learned.
So what if your child gets antsy? Starting at about one year old, we began training her about appropriate behavior in worship. We sat in the back for several months and I would take her out and correct her if she became disruptive and then bring her back into worship. I won’t lie. Some weeks, I had to get up more than once. It’s important to state clearly what was disruptive in your correction and repeat that we don’t do things to disrupt the worship of others. It is also important to return as quickly as possible, because some children will learn acting out gets them out of worship and into an environment with toys. The point of training is not just about behavior. It is teaching them worship is not about them being entertained, but about praising God and helping others worship Him as well. It’s the beginning of a foundation of considering the needs of others and putting God first, instead of themselves.
Work with your kids on worship. It keeps them in constant contact with God and keeps their perspective and priorities focused on God instead of their own “selfish desires”.