Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear
One of the core values we wanted to teach our children was how to hear the voice of God. We wanted them to know and recognize His voice and were intentional about training their ears to hear. In this post, we’re going to go back to the toddler years and share the 4 strategies God gave us based on the timeless Bible song, “Oh, Be Careful Little Ears”:
“be careful little ears what you hear….be careful little eyes what you see….”
- First…Prepare the environment. From the time Randal and Alathia were young, we intentionally chose worship music and media rich in God’s word. Worship music filled our house. Literally. We played it all the time – both in the car and at home. We attended a church rich in worship. We worshipped in front of them and with them. In fact, most nights, one of us sat in the hall between their rooms and worshipped. For me (Marci), some of my most intimate times of worship when Randal and Alathia were young were in the hallway in our mobile home in Tyler. I encountered God as I sang worship songs at the top of my lungs. Those are some of our most precious memories. We bought a dramatized version of the Bible on DVD and played scriptures during nap times. And as our children got older, we added movies to our media list. When they were young, we were quite selective and chose Veggie Tales and Bible Stories over Disney and mainstream media. We made an intentional choice to limit what they saw and heard when they were very young. For the first several years we did not own a TV, then we we finally got a television, we did not have cable. We saw the darkness in the world and we felt that until they were old enough to recognize the difference between the supernatural and magic, we would only show them the things of God. It was that simple. We intentionally surrounded them with media and music that pointed to God and hoped that in time they would learn to hear Him on their own. Just like we protected them physically, God put it in our hearts to protect their spirits by guarding their ‘ear’ gates and ‘eye’ gates into their spirits. While this seems extreme and exhausting, we wanted to be careful with what their ears heard and their eyes saw.
“be careful little ears what you hear….be careful little eyes what you see….”
Second…Teach them to listen. A dear friend and I were talking over lunch one day about how to teach our kids to pray and listen. When she shared what worked for her, she called it the timer method, I knew it was something I would use. The timer method is simple. I explained to Randal and Alathia that after our prayer time, we were going to practice listening. I showed them the timer, which they knew from blanket time, room time, and many other things around the house and explained that once I was finished praying, I would start the timer. When the timer sounded, we would all share what God spoke to us or showed us. I encouraged them to just sit quietly after we prayed and just listen. I explained that they might hear a word or see a picture and they might not. Then we started. Typically I followed the same model in prayer based on Psalm 103. I started by thanking and praising Him, sharing our needs, then thanking Him again and asking Him to speak. Once I finished praying, I hit start on the timer and closed my eyes. I sat quietly and modeled what I expected. We started with one minute – that was it. Every day, at least once a day, family prayer followed by one minute of listening. When the timer went off, I would share what God spoke to me or showed me and ask Randal and Alathia the same. Initially, they didn’t hear anything, but in time, they began to hear one word or see a picture. It was a start. As they shared a word, for example one time Randal shared the word ‘grace,’ I recorded it in our family journal and after everyone shared, I prayed again and thanked Him for speaking the words to us or showing us pictures. Gradually we increased the waiting time and when they were old enough to hold crayons or pencils, they got their own journals. In time it went from one word to several, from a snapshot to a scene. Sometimes what they saw and heard was silly – but I never disregarded or ignored it. The key in this exercise was teaching them to listen. Discernment would come.
“…be careful little heart what you love….“
Third…Soak in His presence. Soaking time was another strategy we started young. I knew what it meant for me personally in my quiet time – to literally lay still and ‘soak’ in the presence of God while listening to worship music or an audio Bible, but I was not sure how this would work for Randal and Alathia as they were young. I was fortunate to find a resource produced by Bethel Church in Redding CA – it was a children’s soaking CD. The CD started with brief instructions and an invitation to participate. The leader on the CD spoke scripture while soft music was played. It was short and easy to use – we just had to have the discipline to play then lay still. Once the soaking time ended, I would ask what God said to them or showed them and we would return to our journals. This resource was life changing for both me and for them.
“…be careful little hands what you do…”
Fourth…STOP. I still remember where I was standing in our home in Tyler when God gave me the idea of “STOP.” I had been frustrated with training Randal and Alathia in obedience and asked God for wisdom. He responded by speaking one word to me – stop. Stop? Yes, Stop. He gave me an incredibly simple, yet profound acronym: STOP – Stop, Think, Obey, Please God. It was so simple even a child could remember it. I printed out blank stop signs and colored them that night. The next day, I introduced it to them over breakfast. Both of them recognized the stop sign from the neighborhood. I explained what each letter meant – S – Stop, T – Think, O – Obey, P – Please God. We hung up several around the house and each time we hung a new one up, we repeated what the letters meant. And, because I am an interpreter, I taught it to them in ASL. Simple enough. It was very exciting at first, as is true of most new things. As the newness wore off, consistency was the key in teaching the principles hidden in such an obvious and simple word. Think about it – you and I see a Stop sign multiple times a day. The red, octagon shape is recognizable even for people that cannot read. When Randal and Alathia needed redirection, I held up my hand, said “Stop,” repeated “Stop, Think, Obey, Please God,” then asked them what choice they should make. When they began to argue over toys, I would calmly say “stop” and repeat the words – then ask them to try again. On and on this went. Eventually I would say “stop” and have them repeat the acronym. Sometimes they would even say it to themselves or each other without my prompting. And today, 10 years later, when asked what “stop” means, they repeat it with ease. The principle of stopping before acting is crucial to walking in obedience to God and His Word.
No matter the age of us or our arrows, it never hurts to be careful with what we see or what we hear. May we all be encouraged today to guard our hearts a little more closely so can love God, our families, and our communities more deeply and authentically.
“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” ~Proverbs 4:23
~Marci