God is present in every moment, relationship, and circumstance of life. But when we share the events of our day, we rarely include God in the narrative. In order to share our story with God, we need to reshape the way we look at life and our relationship with God. Perhaps we could consider taking pauses throughout day—giving thanks when things are going well, asking for strength and wisdom when we are struggling, praying for others, and treating those we meet as children of God. It’s not that we fail to share stories, but that we fail to acknowledge God’s place in them.
Here are three suggestions on how to revive stories of faith.
Sharing stories at home
Review the day together and include the ways you were thankful for God, God made you see something differently, you were aware of God, or you sought after God. Your stories could also include fulfilling the will of God through acts of selflessness, like being a good listener, sharing, providing comfort, or helping someone. This daily ritual can be done in the car, at the dinner table, or at bedtime. It’s a way of noticing the presence of God and our need to rely on God.
For an extra visual incentive, you could include a jar of small blocks at the breakfast or dinner table and make a stack by adding one block for each part of the story that includes God.
Sharing stories at church
First, faith stories don’t have to cover your entire life. A more active ongoing approach to story telling reminds us all that God is constantly at work in our lives. Stories can be told live or via video in a variety of settings. If we regularly develop and share story in children’s ministry, youth ministry, small groups, and retreats, the body will then be prepared to share in worship. Worship is a key setting for story-telling as it’s a tangible way of acknowledging the reality of the living Gospel. Stories can be told during offering in place of music, they can be added during a sermon or to launch into a sermon, they can serve as a launching point for prayer, and children’s sermons could actually be a time when a child shares their story.
Sharing stories with others (BLESS)
If we don’t encourage the sharing of faith stories at church and at home, we cannot expect that faith stories will be shared with anyone else. The BLESS resources for children can help to prepare children and families to share and live out their stories of faith.
B: Just as we begin with prayer to seek out who God might have us share our faith, we begin our story by being attentive to God and looking to God for direction.
L: Just as we listen to others, we listen to what God is telling us through the Word to help us find our place in God’s story.
E: Just as we share experiences with others, we can share and tell of our experiences with God.
S: Just as we serve others, we can share how God is helping us to serve and how God and others are caring for and helping us.
S: This helps us to get to the point where we have a story to tell.
God is present in every moment, relationship, and circumstance of life. We are good at sharing the biblical story but sharing our ongoing stories of faith will help us to deepen our relationship with God, share our story with others, and live into the reality that the gospel is active and alive today.
