Getting the whole family in one room, settled down, and focused on worshiping the Lord together can be challenging, especially when you have (or only have) little ones.
Family worship with little ones has many challenges, but it also has many benefits.
An alternative title for this post could be,
“Some Practical Benefits, Reasons, and Purposes
for Being Committed to Family Worship Even With Very Young Children”
What follows is a non-exhaustive list for parents of young children to consider regarding worshiping the Lord at home together with your family. Practicing consistent Family Worship with very young children (even toddlers and infants) will:
- Establish a consistent pattern that carries on in your family and will always be with your children.
- Give you the ability to train them to sit quietly and listen during family and corporate church worship services.
- Familiarize your children with the things, words, and ways of worshiping the Lord.
- Teach you how to be better, more patient, and creative teachers and leaders of worship for your children.
- Teach and express that the gospel and God and the Bible are not just for adults.
- Solidify the importance of family worship in the home, since you are willing and committed to it even with the youngest of children.
- Help you become more comfortable and open and free about worshiping the Lord together with your children and spouse.
- Teach and express the value and love for your family, both to them and to others.
- Honor God by integrating God and home (worshiping Him together with your family at home).
- Answer for you when to start family worship. (When is “older”? When is “later”?).
- Encourage and equip you and your family for true worship with the church, and therefore will strengthen congregational worship.
- Provide for focused and purposefully Christ-centered time at home.
- Help you accomplish and measure your obedience to bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:1-4), to teach your children diligently the commands of God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), and to tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord (Psalm 78:1-8).
- Teach and remind you that only God knows what an infant, toddler, or preschooler can understand, learn, retain, and benefit from. (We certainly wouldn’t want our infants or toddlers hearing vulgar or blasphemous language. Why not, if we are so “sure” that they can’t understand any of it?).
- Remind you daily of your responsibility of your children’s teaching, training, and direction for now and eternity, as well as the weighty, important, and urgent need that your children have to hear, understand, and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ so as to worship Him alone!