Praise: Psalm 147:1 says, “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.” How easy it is for personal and corporate prayer time to lopsidedly turn into petition only. We say, “Thank you for this day” and then move straight into our prayer requests. Instead our prayers ought to first begin with God. For example, pick an attribute of God—his love, faithfulness, his goodness, and so on—and praise God for it. We need to cultivate praise by keeping before our eyes an every growing picture of the greatness of God and his works. Praise the Lord for his mighty works: for your salvation, for creation, and for his constant provision. I pray that we pass on to our children prayers of praise and thanksgiving to our great God.
Pray: How quickly prayer time and prayer requests can become routine and generic. But how overwhelming is the vast ocean of prayer requests that flood our lives daily. Think of all the things that you could pray for: missionaries, salvation/evangelism, pastors and church ministries, government and military, friends and family. It’s not perfect or complete, but we’ve divided prayer into those five categories. For example, on Monday pray for missionaries (and the Ms make it easier to remember all day!). This is also a great teaching opportunity. Don’t simply pray for missionaries in general. Pick some specific missionaries, learn about them, and perhaps even contact them!
Should you use our “family worship” sheet? That’s up to you. But we sincerely pray that you seek to incorporate the reading the Word, discussing the Word, learning the Word, praising God, and praying for more than just the day and your family.
At this point, many of you may be asking one very fair question: “But do you use it?” I’ll answer that question over the next few days by asking all of the pastors at Willow Creek Baptist Church about how they lead their families in worship.
