How many times does Sunday morning roll around and you find your heart in a state of chaos instead of calm to worship the Lord? How many Sunday’s do you arrive at church and realize you haven’t taken the time all week to pray for your pastor or your church family? I want to share with you some simple steps we can take to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our families for Sunday morning worship to the Lord.
Prayer
Spend time in prayer for your pastor and church family.
Pray with your children over various needs in your local body of Christ.
Keep a prayer list or board in your home and list the requests of your church family.
Pray for the lost to be converted.
Pray that you and your family will be good hearers of the Word that is preached.
Pray for receptive, teachable, repentant hearts to receive correction or rebuking from the Word.
Pray that you will come into God’s house with humble hearts of servants ready to meet the needs of those around you.
Preparing Our Hearts
Spend time reading the verses that will be taught on Sunday morning throughout the week. Talk about them with your children.
Keep the TV, phones, and computers off on Sunday morning if possible and fill your home with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16).
Wake early on Sunday morning and spend time in the Word and prayer. Review the passage for the day and spend some time in the Psalms.
Pray together as a family before you leave for church. Pray that you would seek to meet the needs of the saints and for servants hearts.
Try to arrive at church 15 minutes early so you have time to visit and encourage others, get little ones to the bathroom and settle into your seats as a family to quiet your hearts by praying or reading scripture.
During the Service
Listen diligently to the sermon. Listening takes hard work and training. Do not let your mind wander. Pray for the Lord to help you to focus on what the Pastor is preaching and not be distracted by random thoughts (did we put the garage door down?) or the movement of others around you.
Moms with little ones you may not get much time in the service as you’re dealing with crying or fussy babies. Please remember this is the season God has called you too right now and He is using those babies as part of your sanctification. If you are sitting outside of the sanctuary but able to hear the sermon through a video or remote speaker try not to chat with the other moms. Work hard to listen!
Worship the Lord with your whole heart and give thanks to Him (Psalm 107:1-2).
After the Service
Take the time to encourage your Pastor and share how the preaching of the Word impacted you. Revive Our Hearts has an excellent series on Encouraging Your Pastor and a resource called 31 Days of Praying for Your Pastor.
Talk about the sermon with others after the service. Here is a handy list of questions to keep in your Bible to direct your conversations spiritually – Cultivating True Christian Fellowship.
Discuss the service with your children on the ride home from church and over the dinner table Sunday night.
Spend Sunday evening or Monday morning reviewing your notes and study the passage a little deeper. Pray about how you can be applying the teaching from the service.
Closing Thoughts
This list is not exhaustive and not meant to put a burden on you but to spur you on towards a love for the teaching and hearing of God’s Word. I am guilty of arriving Sunday morning unprepared with a restless heart not focused on the Lord. I too am praying that I will make the preparing for the hearing of God’s Word an essential part of my week.
May we live our lives so our children know that the Word of God is of utmost importance to us.
What are some ways you prepare for Sunday mornings?
Some Helpful Resources:
What is a Healthy Church Member?
Wow!!! You have no idea how blessed i am that i found your blog. It is a blessing & encouragement for me. Thank you for all you do for this blog! May God bless you beyond measures!
Sunday mornings can be insane!!! My husband once pointed out that it’s in the enemy’s best interest to keep our hearts and our minds cluttered during this most holy day.
Thank you so much for these practical suggestions! Praying through the week and keeping a prayer list is such a good idea! I also love reviewing and following up on the topic of the service. I once heard that we can only commit things to memory if we review them within 24 hours of first hearing them. Reviewing the sermon with your family is such a great way to ensure that those principles are drawn on their hearts!