The faithful three. There were plenty of times that I got in trouble after church, but there were three main offenses that would land me in my room before Sunday lunch was ready every… single…time. One was running in church. Two, talking in church. The third was not praying when it was time to pray. At my young age, I could grasp the reasoning behind these: old people could fall if I ran, I could distract others if I talk, and I could be distracted, myself, if I didn’t talk to God. At my adult age, I am grateful for my mom and dad for not letting fear stop them from taking disciplinary action.
Peyton told Ben recently that he didn’t “understand church.” He said that it’s boring and it feels like it’s set up as a time for him to get into trouble each week. He is a nine year-old boy with ADHD – yeah, church can be tough. When Ben told me what he said, I immediately went into fear mode – “What if he hates church forever?“ “What if he doesn’t go when he’s in college?“ “What if he never forms a relationship with Jesus?” I started being more mindful of how many times I got onto him during a worship service. He wasn’t whistling, “Dixie.” I spent most of service calling him down for talking, fidgeting, swinging his legs back-and-forth, and peeling the fuzz off the church pew. After church was over, he said, “I’m sorry I didn’t sit still in church today.” It was then that it hit me – all of my relationships with people came from someone introducing me to them. If my biggest mission trip for this season is my children, I have a job to do. So I countered, “No, I’m sorry. How can I expect you to participate if I’ve never shown you how or why I do?”
Both of my kids’ love languages are quality time, so taking the time to come up with ideas to better worship was right up their alley. If you have a kid, or maybe you yourself struggle to focus during worship service, I pray that these suggestions will be a blessing to you and will bring glory to God. My kids are visual learners, like their mama. So these suggestions are geared towards that. Every worship service is different, but this is the way ours is set up.
Announcements: Have a prayer list ready to be made. Write down each name and pray for them on the way home from church. (Galatians 6:2) Write down dates of events coming up for you. Be active in your church. (Hebrews 10:24–25)
Songs of Praise: Mean what you are singing. Visualize what you are singing about. If it says, “How Great Is Our God?“ then believe it. If you sing, “I surrender all,” mean it. Think about what you're surrendering, specifically, and why. Visualize those things. If you close your eyes and bow your head when you talk to God, you should do the same as you sing prayers to him. An example of this would be, “How great thou art.“ (Psalms 96:1-2)
Pre Lesson Scripture Reading: Write the verse down. When you get home, as a post study, write the verse again, but in your own words. (2 Timothy 2:15) Close your eyes, and bow your head. “Wait – I thought that was only when we pray?” Well, if we fill up on reverence and get rid of distractions, while we talk to God, why wouldn’t we do the same when he talks to us? (Isaiah 55:3)
Prayer: My kids find that visual prayers keep their mind and heart in check in worship service. If we are praying for Mrs. Mize as she begins her cancer treatments, we need to visualize Mrs. Mayes, see her walking into the doctor's office, and feel her fear. If we are praying for the soldiers overseas, we need to see them in uniform, and visualize the family, friends, and comfortable bed they left to go fight for our freedom. (Philippians 4:8–7).
Lord’s Supper: Ellie is a baptized, Christian, and so she partakes of the Lord’s supper each week. We do the five senses rule as the first part of the Lord’s supper: We see the flesh that he wore as a baby all the way up to a 30-year-old man. We see how his flesh was torn during the beatings and how bruised his body was at the cross. We hear the mocking voices and what the people shouted at him as he continued to die for them anyways. We smell the sweat as our Savior’s body decayed on that cross. We imagine how it would feel to rub our fingers over all his scars. We taste the bitterness of the drink that they gave him to mock him when he was dehydrated. The second part has to do with me. I recount all the reasons he went through that for me. I’m humbled as I glance at the past and the person that He renewed. I visualize those transgressions. I have gratitude for my salvation. (Luke 22: 19–20; 1 Corinthians 11:27–30).
Sermon: For most, as a kid, this is the hardest part of worship. You know, it’s the longest part of the service. In a microwave generation, this part of worship is not normally entered optimistically. Here’s some things that worked for us: (Romans 10:14)
Write down terms like: GOD, JESUS, CHURCH, LOVE, BIBLE, HEAVEN, FAITH, etc. Tally each time the preacher says the words.
Write down the verses that are read (This can easily be combined with #1.) Turn to them in your Bible and highlight them.
Pulpit pictures: Peyton coined this term. He draws a collage of all the things that are discussed. Sometimes he’ll put word descriptions on them. After church, he loves explaining them to us.
As Christ’s disciples, we were called to be apprentices of Jesus. Therefore, most of us are blessed enough to have been in training from an early age. We are all born wanting respect because we are selfish creatures. Learning how to give respect is a learned habit. It takes practice to learn a habit, but when the habit is positively saving your life, why wouldn’t you want to give the Holy of Holies that kind of respect each week?
Since we’ve practiced in this way, our car rides home from church have been fantastic. Bonus! The rides aren’t filled with gossip or negativity that might have fallen on our ears, but more of, “This is what I got out of church today.”
“True worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. They are the kind of worshippers the Father is looking for. God is spirit. His worshippers must worship Him in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24
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