Every night before my boys go to sleep we have prayer – “little prayer” as they like to call it. I pray first and they say theirs. I noticed that they repeated some of the phrases I used and copied the references to the Father. They are learning to pray through my prayers – a very sobering thought indeed.
And today I realized again that they are learning something else from us – how to worship our King.
I stood in Sunday service singing and watching others praise the Lord with arms raised. They were lifting holy hands to the Lord in worship.
And, as I looked around I did a double take because beside a man with hand held high, was a child lifting his hand in worship. Right then I knew something deep in my heart – that was what I wanted for my children. I want them to have the freedom to worship their King.
Can I tell you something? I still don’t have that freedom – fear still holds me back. Lifting our hands wasn’t part of our worship growing up. You didn’t get excited when you sang because we didn’t want to be ‘like the Pentecostals’. But really, what is so horribly sinful about getting excited when we sing about the Glory of the Father? He is our Creator and He saved our sorry souls – that in and of itself makes me want shout Hallelujah with the best of them.
Just as we teach our children when we pray, we teach them how to worship when we sing.
This scares me because I know that in order for them to learn how to worship freely, I must be free of the fear that restrains me.
We are teaching our children everyday how to pray, worship, praise, sing. Know that I am praying for you as you undertake this weighty task. God’s grace is sufficient though, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
This is the second installment in the series “Thoughts from a Recovering Fundamentalist” Please feel free to comment or relate your experiences.
