How to Have God Time with Young Kids

I know what you’re thinking: how to have God time with young kids? It’s impossible! Unless I wake up before the crack of dawn, but then I’ll just be falling asleep! Or I could wait till right before bed, but then my attention is scattered, and I just stress about not getting enough sleep.

I totally agree with you. That’s why this post isn’t necessarily about making “quiet time” with the Lord, or even 1 on 1 time with Him. This post is more about how to include worship throughout your day that can include your children, too. Take a look below to see what I mean.

I have no time for God or worship.

When you’re a mom of littles, it certainly feels this way. And believe me, I’ve read all the blog posts about how to spend more time with God, and I’ve even written one! But executing those ideas was way more effort and way harder than I imagined.

It seemed as though every time I would wake up early to read the Bible or a devotional, within 15 minutes one of my children would wake up and come cuddle. Other times they would be playing independently, so I’d hop on piano to practice some songs. Here they both would come, demanding to be in my lap and playing alongside me. I’d try to pray but would get interrupted with a cry or a need.

So I get it. It’s so hard. But let me tell you from experience: you have more time than you believe you do.

How can I fix this?

I was talking to my mom the other week about a testimony of a young woman who has two young kids, one is 4 and the other is 1. She said her heart was sad because she didn’t feel like she included the Lord in her day like she used to before kids. She explained that instead of reading her Bible, praying, and thinking on the Lord, now she’s running after baby, meal planning, and thinking of all the things she needs to cross off her to-do list for the day.

I told my mom I feel the same way. Here I have a 4- and 2-year-old (boys) and am 31 weeks pregnant with my 3rd boy. I have no energy, my mind never stays focused very long, and I feel like a chicken running around without a head. Not to mention how much I compare myself to other moms who seem to have it all together.

So my sweet mother said, “Honey, I want you to think of some ways to include children in your God time.”

I looked at her and thought, “Well I play worship music sometimes and the kids dance sometimes to it. And I try to talk about Jesus and thank Him for things in front of them.” That’s literally all I got.

So we started talking about this issue, and how there’s probably more mothers out there like us, feeling that need to draw closer but it seems like an unsurmountable mountain. For me, I can’t wake up early before my boys. I’m very pregnant, I hardly ever sleep more than a couple of hours at a time, and throughout the day, I’m just trying to survive at this point. Other moms may be so focused on routines and rhythms in their households that there’s no room for anything else on the schedule.

Ideas for having God time with young kids.

Below are simple ways on how to have God time with young kids. Remember that these are suggestions. If you like them, then I hope you apply them in your everyday life in a way that works for you and your kids. I believe that worship changes as we age and go through different seasons of life. And I also believe that God sees us right where we are, whether we are in the “trenches of motherhood” with littles or we are empty nesters. So I hope you get inspired by these ideas!

Worship in music.

This one is perhaps my favorite for how easy it is to implement each day. Simply put on some worship music and dance and praise the Lord with your kids! You can make a special time each day for this or let it be spontaneous. I like to listen to worship music as I clean the house, and many times when a fast song comes on, my children will find me and start dancing. It takes a mere few minutes of my time to stop what I’m doing and dance with them. I sing if I know the song, I say “thank you Lord!” as we dance, and we worship together.

Pray together to have God time with young kids.

I love to pray before meals and right before bedtime. But do you know that you can pray throughout the day, too? If you stub a toe, say a prayer out loud. If you find out some bad news, stop what you’re doing and say a prayer. When someone is weighing heavy on your heart, grab your kids and explain that you’re going to say a quick prayer for them. If you are simply overwhelmed, pray out loud with your children. When it’s just a great day because the sun is shining, grab the kids and thank the Lord!

Read and learn a Bible verse

It’s nearly impossible for me to have a moment alone to concentrate on the Bible, much less try to memorize anything. So why not include our kids? Pick a simple, uplifting verse that they can try to learn with you. Throughout the day, quote the verse or reference back to the verse as the occasion arises. Children pick up more than you know, and you’d be surprised how quickly they can learn the verses! This way, all of you are getting God’s word every day and you’re teaching your children the importance of reading the Bible.

Learn a new church song.

A joyous way to worship Jesus with your children is to learn a new song! Pick something simple with lots of repetition that your young children can learn easily. One song my children picked up fairly quickly was “O Magnify the Lord”. It’s repetitive, the tune is simple, and it’s a really fun and fast song to sing! My four- and two-year-olds love to belt out the chorus, “Hosanna! Blessed be the Rock! Blessed be the Rock of my salvation!”

Play church songs with instruments.

Trying to practice songs on piano is always a no-go with my kids because they always run in and take over the piano. So what to do? Let them join in! If you have toy instruments, have them close by for impromptu band sessions! If you don’t have any instruments, you can pretend to play some by turning on some music or humming and making noises to songs! Make it fun!

Go into nature.

One amazing way to have God time with young kids is to go out into nature and explore. To quote the show Owlegories, “God’s nature is all around us, if we look through heaven’s eyes”. Kids are naturally curious about everything, so being in nature is a great way to get them talking and asking questions about God. If nothing else, you can always talk about how Jesus created everything we see, from the trees to the grass to the moon.

Verbally thank God for things in your day.

I believe this is the easiest way to worship God throughout the day. There’s always SOMETHING to thank God for! Just share it out loud so your children hear you. Remember, the model what they see and hear. If they see mom thanking God for the little things, you may hear your children thank God for things in their lives. How rewarding that is!

Watch kids shows about Jesus.

I personally love the app Minno. It’s Christian based and has some great shows for kids of all ages! My favorite is Owlegories. It honestly makes me laugh out loud. My four-year-old loves the monster truck show, and we’ve all watched the David show. There’s many more that I want to share with my kids, and I love that the shows teach about Jesus. It’s family friendly, and you don’t have to worry about unpredictable commercials that are more adult themed than you may want for your children to see.

Conclusion

Making time for God with young children can seem so daunting and impossible, but I promise with a little effort you’ll find that including your kids can make all the difference! It doesn’t have to be a set time every day unless you want it to be, and it can be spontaneous throughout your busy day. Just remember to make it fun and meaningful for you and your young children. It isn’t a comparison game with other moms, either (read my post on stopping comparison!). Just remember that you are “training up a child in the way that he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” (Prov. 22:6).

I’d love to hear how you worship with your children throughout the day! Share below any tips or tricks for having God time with young children and help inspire other mothers (and me!) with your suggestions!