Raising Passionate Worshipers

I have big dreams for all these children. I want them, no matter what their vocations, to spend their lives in passionate pursuit of the Lord. 


I can spend all day everyday "telling" them they should believe certain things and act certain ways, and my words will make an impression. But all the words I can speak from now until they put these old bones in the ground cannot change the fact that my children learn as much or more from their exposure to my spirit as I can ever teach them through my words. 


Understanding this, how are we influencing our children in the area of worship?


Regardless of the style of worship where we attend church, what is our spirit teaching our children about how important worship is to us? 


Is the pew in a church building the only place they witness us in worship? 


Are the words to hymns or praise music we are being led to sing simply being parroted by hearts not fully engaged? 


Are the prayers we offer filled only with a list of requests? 


Is our spirit moved by an encounter with His Spirit in time dedicated to "corporate" worship with the Body of Christ? 


Do we really think about Who He Is? What He has done for us? 


Do our children see in our worship the posture of our hearts before Him? 


Does it even matter?


I am convinced it does. I believe it matters a great deal to our children. 


When our children witness us humbled and broken before Almighty God declaring to Him how very precious He is to us, how very desperately we need Him, how very thankful we are for everything He has done for us, how Holy and Worthy and Awesome He is, they learn to assume the same posture in their hearts. 


What a beautiful picture the Holy Spirit will paint in their young, impressionable spirits of their parents passionately worshiping Almighty God. 


Is our worship contagious? Yes, it is. For better or worse. 


Are we modeling for our children the kind of worshipers we long for them to become? 


If not, we must ask Him to help. He longs for us to seek Him. He longs for us to worship Him because it blesses Him and it blesses us. We were created for passionate Worship. How long has it been since we were moved to weeping as we declare our praise? 


What do our children see in us when we worship Him? It is what we want them to see? 


Do our children see us passionately worshiping He Who is Worthy of all praise?  


David, the one called "a man after God's own heart," knew about passionate worship. The Psalms are filled with page after page of his heart being poured out to Almighty God.

"As the deer pants for

streams of water,

so my soul pants for you,

O God.

Your love, O Lord, reaches

to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the 

skies.

Your righteousness is like

the mighty mountains,

your justice like the great deep.

I will extol the Lord at all

times;

his praise will always be 

on my lips.

My soul will boast in the

Lord;

let the afflicted hear and

rejoice.

Glorify the Lord with me;

let us exalt his name

together.

The Lord lives! Praise be to

my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!

I love you, O Lord, my 

strength.

The Lord is my rock, my

fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in

whom I take refuge.

I will sing to the Lord,

for he has been good to 

me.

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name

in all the earth!

I will praise you, O Lord,

with all my heart;

I will tell of all your

wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in 

you;

I will sing praise to your

name, O Most High."

When David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem:

"As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings . . .

 . . . When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, 'How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!'

David said to Michal, 'It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel--I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes."

If our children see us enthusiastically cheering for a sports team, or singing along loudly with an old song we loved from our teen years, or cheering the virtuoso at a concert, shouldn't they see passion in our worship?

That doesn't mean you have to go dancing down the aisle Sunday morning. (Of course, if the Spirit moves you, go right ahead.) But we can each seek to be more engaged in worship and to intentionally take our worship outside the four walls of a church building. We can also choose to intentionally engage our children as we worship. Talk to them about what worship means and why we are called to participate as His children. Be willing to become "undignified" in passionate worship as David did and let your children watch. If this is completely foreign to your family, start by taking baby steps. Explain your motivation to them. Explain that you have asked Him to teach you to worship. Invite them to join you in the journey.

What a precious gift to give your children for them to learn to worship their Creator and Savior by watching you.