Family Devotions at the Hand House

They say it takes 27 days to make a routine a habit. We are striving to have family worship for 27 straight days. Not that it will become a habit, but that it will be a staple in our family. It is very difficult with holidays, vacations, visiting Grandma and Grandpa and Sundays. But our goal is 27 straight days.

Here is how Family Worship goes at the Hand house. (not that this is the only way) We begin with singing. We usually let our 3 1/2 year old Grace chose a song to sing. Many times she will pick Amazing Grace. (she likes the fact that her name is in it) Then Shanna and I will chose one or two more songs. We always pick a hymn, such as Victory in Jesus or At the Cross. After we sing, Shanna reads a Bible story out of Grace's Children's Bible. It has questions at the end, and a picture. We will ask Grace the questions and point out people and objects on the page. Then I read from Daddy's Bible (ESV) I read the same passage that mommy just read out of the children's Bible. I think it is vital for Grace to know that the stories she hears and the pictures she sees in her Bible are real and from the Bible.

After I read, then we move on to our memory verses. Grace knows the following by heart:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your stength. And Love your neighbor as yourself."

"Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

"Be slow to anger"

"Be kind and compassionate to everyone."

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, He makes me lie down in green pastures."

And my favorite:
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness and self-control."

She recites 2-3 verses and we work on a new one, or like we are now, adding to Psalms 23.

Next we have prayer time. We go around the room and ask what we are going to pray for. Then we pray as a family. Lots of times Grace prays for things that we cannot understand, but we know God does.

I have recently read Voddie Baucham's book Family Driven Faith. The chapter in there about Family Worship is worth the price of the book. One thing we learned is, as much as possible teach Grace to sit during family worship like she would sit in big church. This is good training for their attention spans as well as practice for big church. Also, we learned that it is ok to discipline during family worship. It sets an example that family worship is not a time to cut up, it is a time of worship.

I know this is hard with little ones, but it is good training for your children and will teach them the importance of families worshipping togather.