Discipling Priestly Leaders
Sarah and I weren’t trying to be strategic. We weren’t acting with foresight. We were simply tired.
Tired of hearing our own prayers at mealtime. Tired of choosing the same songs each bedtime. Then it dawned on us:
Our children were old enough to do these things with us – even for us.
With this realization we began to rotate through who prayed at meals and who led our bedtime worship.
Back then, only two of our three – ages three and five – were able to consistently take turns leading.
These days, with six children, we have eight prayer and worship leaders in our home! And what began with tired parenting, has grown to be a strategic mainstay of our discipleship.
Here is what we’ve seen over the years:
When leadership is theirs our children are offered dignity: it is their time to express the uniqueness of their relationship with God by their choice of prayer topics, the words they choose to use, or by leading us in the songs of their hearts. They are learning their faith journey doesn’t need to be an exact image of their parents’. Sometimes there is a tone of grief or sadness in the prayer and song selection. Sometimes we get silly, because God our Father – like us – is playful and has a sense of humor!
Sometimes it is difficult to lead because of sadness or the shame of recent failure. These are teachable moments for the leader – learning how to lead out of imperfection. And the rest of us get to practice patience, respect, and grace. On rare occasion, we cover for each other.
We become students of one another. By what each person chooses to pray, the way they phrase it, or the songs they choose to worship God with, we notice trends in each other's passions, gifting, empathy, and interests. We are learning who God made each other to be – growing together as a tribe, within our practice of worship.
Each of our children are learning they have authority to lead as priests and stewards: mediating between God and others by their prayers and by their worship – even mediating between God and their own parents! They will have been consistently leading their family to the throne of God – as children – years before they lead their families as adults.
Most of this sounds glorious. In practice it is fairly ordinary. Children's prayers are short. Song repertoire can be limited. Sometimes it is difficult to keep things orderly. But it is good. And, over time, moments of beauty emerge.
But please take note of this, too: when we grew tired of how we were praying and worshipping with our children, we didn’t stop. We looked for another way. There is always another way. And in looking for it – rather than giving up or slogging on – God created something new and beautiful among us. Something we didn't plan for.