Family Time…Sing praises to the King
Can you sing? Some people are asked to sing at events because they are amazing, I am not one of those people. But I greatly appreciate the people who minister to us through song! Also, I am encouraged in Psalm 98 because I am not asked to sing beautifully, but to make a joyful noise... joyous song and praise…whew! God seems cares more about what the words are saying than how great it sounds. He understands and listens to our hearts and recognizes our attempt. That is good news to me! But let me ask…are you joyful? God’s desire is for you to be joyful and sing praises and He mentions it quite often in scripture. If you stop and think about it, you really do have a lot to be joyful or thankful for, but sometimes because of difficulty in life, the positives can be hard to see. I have discovered a secret though. If you focus on the good, you actually become more joyful and thankful toward God and the contrary is true, if you focus on the bad, you become more disgruntled with God.
When my kids were little, we sang a lot and they loved it. It did not really matter how it sounded, we just sang at the top of our lungs all kinds of fun or silly songs often praising God. However, now that my kids are 18 and 20 and since I am not a singer, I don’t really encourage my family to sing like we used to. My son does play the piano and we all just enjoy the melody that he plays. We also praise God when we sing along at church or with the songs on Christian radio. But today we would not create a song praising God. So, we have to come up with another way to praise God besides singing. Since I have mentioned previously, my family struggles with being positive, we are still focusing on saying one or two positive comments about our day at our dinners. It really has helped each of our attitudes to make a point to notice the good in our lives and recognize that it does come from God.
This week in your family time, I would encourage you to prepare by praying for your family and asking God to reveal to you if anyone in your family needs help recognizing the joy in their lives. Pray and ask God to bring to mind all the positive and joyous things and write them down. Does anyone like to sing in your family or write lyrics? If so, encourage them to take your list and create a melody for your list of praises. Or as a group, you could praise God together in prayer for all that He has done in your lives. Teaching your kids to look for the positive or good is a learned exercise and does not come naturally to us. Kids easily notice the negatives and as Mom, you have to encourage them to see the good and as Mom, you have to remind them to thank God for the good in their life. Plus you never know, you might discover the hidden talent of singing or song writing for you or one of your kids!
Do you have questions or need prayer for your family? Email me at SkyMoms@skyranch.org.
I will be praying for you!
Stacy
Stacy A. Davis
Teach Intentionally
This week we are in the 9th Month Topic and 4th Family Time (or page 80) of the Sky Ranch Devotional “Open Your Eyes”…
Family Time 4:
Month 9 Topic: God is my King and my purpose…Sing praises to the King
Talk with God: Read…Psalm 100:1-5
~ Psalm 100:1-5 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. (2) Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.
- How are we to serve the Lord according to v. 100:2?
(3) Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He Who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
(4) Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.
(5) For the Lord is good; His loving-kindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations.
- In Ps 100:5, is the Lord good? How do you know?
- What else is the Lord, per Ps 100:5?
Walk with God: Discuss… The Psalms are also songs. In fact, you could “sing” the Scripture above if you wanted to! Remember, David was quite an accomplished harpist. Sing together as a family a hymn or spiritual song, such as “Great is Thy Faithfulness” or “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Singing praises to God is an act of worship. He covets the praises of His people.
Prayer suggestion… Pray for a heart full of thanksgiving and praise.
Family Time 4:
Leader Answers:
- With gladness
- Yes, His Word says so (Psalm 100:5) and He created us for a relationship with Him. He loves us and is good.
- His loving-kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all generations
- Discussion ideas: This can be a wonderful time as a family to sing a hymn together and praise the Lord. Don’t worry about sounding beautiful! The Lord knows your heart!
© 2011 Lisa Clark and Stacy A. Davis, Inc. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment