5 Practical Ways to Prepare Your Heart For Holy Week

Sister, brace yourself because Holy Week is just around the corner! 

And let’s be real, my heart is starting to race like a caffeinated rabbit. The last thing I want is to enter this sacred time on autopilot, doing what’s expected of me without truly engaging with the beauty of it all. 

It’s not difficult in this current culture and these achingly tumultuous times to get distracted by all the noise of the world. (And, lets be honest – the volume of this moment in history is turned way up!)

So, I’ve been pondering, praying, and uncovering ways to help me and my family prepare our heart’s and uniquely celebrate the beautiful beginning to glory that is Holy Week, versus just going through the motions. Today I am here to spill the jelly beans on 5 ways you too, can prepare your hearts for Holy Week.

So grab a cup of tea and get ready for 5 suggestions that will help you to discover ways to slow down and truly anticipate, reflect, and embrace the eternal promise of Easter.

1. Daily Devotions

As Holy Week approaches, it’s important to not only prepare our homes and calendars, but also our hearts. One practical way to do this is through daily devotions.

Whether you use devotion cards, a book, or simply open your Bible, carving out time each day to focus on God’s word will help prepare your heart for the significance of Holy Week. 

And if you have little ones at home, try engaging their busy hands as you read and discuss together. Not only will they learn and grow in their faith, but it’s an opportunity for you to model the importance of spiritual discipline and devotion.

Here are some of our faves and where to get them!

(In case you’re wondering or maybe just for my own anxiety to stay authentic – these are NOT affiliate links.)

• 31 Days of Prayer Cards

Why I love this: Simple, rich, and efficient – because we all know that its hard to hold little ones attention.  The cards are a perfect hand held size, bright in color, bold illustrations.

I whole punched in a corner of each card and attached them to a binder ring so that they hang in our kitchen for an easy reminder to go over during or after breakfast. 

Website Description: “Designed to be used as a tool to encourage prayer throughout the month, each card highlights a different topic to pray for. Choose one that corresponds with the day of the month and pray for that request. Each card includes Scripture and three prompts to guide your prayer. These are perfect for family devotions, mornings over breakfast, or even the carpool line.

Cards include prompts to pray for family, friends, neighbors, wisdom, contentment, unbelievers, missionaries, and more.”

Link to purchase: https://thedailygraceco.com/products/31-days-of-prayer-kids-verse-card-set

• Beginners Bible 365 Days of Devotions for Kids

Why I love it: Again, simple and efficient , but still packed with theological grit is a huge deal for this mama of a 6, 4, and 2 year old! We have a much older version that gives a brief devotion, bible story, and memory verse or activity also.  

Website Description:  This was the closest I could find to what we use, but it still looks great and is now in my lists on amazon. “Featuring original content based on the bestselling The Beginner’s Bible—a favorite with young children and their parents since its release in 1989—The Beginner’s Bible 365 Devotions for Kids is filled with exciting, full-color artwork and easy-to-read text. Perfect for children 6 and under, each of the 365 devotions also has a theme clearly connecting the Scripture to the story to the art.

Link to purchase: https://a.co/d/90EUsxT

• Bible

And please hear this – you don’t need beautiful cards or a special book just for devotions when you’ve got the real deal – the good old-fashioned physical Bible!

Even my young kiddos love flipping through their own copies. Sure, they may only focus on one verse at a time, just peruse the images in their Storybook Bible, or even the two year old will journal (read: draw) but that doesn’t stop them from getting curious about the bigger picture. Sometimes we keep it simple, musing on a single scripture as we go about our day.

Other times, we get scholarly and dive deep into historical context (this Bible majors favorite). No matter the approach, our crew knows the value of spending time with the written Word – page by tangible page.

2. Worship

Another practical way to prepare our hearts for Holy Week is to engage in worship. Whether it’s through singing, prayer, or praise, worship allows us to focus on God’s majesty and goodness. In doing so, we become more receptive to the Holy Spirit’s leading and can enter into a deeper understanding of what Holy Week represents.

There is nothing quite like hearing my kids belting out worship music with me.  Tasha Layton, Anne Wilson, and Meredith Andrews are a few of our faves (with some Thrice mixed in just for good measure (#millenialmusicsnob)! We are in our car pretty much daily and love listening to audiobooks throughout our journey, but the tunes have been for sure tuning our hearts more towards the Lord.  

Here is my current playlist on repeat. Get on Spotify and create your own or save this one!

3. Conversations

I cannot be the only one who has toddlers and little kids who LOVE to talk. I also can’t be the only one who gets short and slightly annoyed by the fifth time they call your name in unabridged excitement to ask you the same thing they did five minutes ago. 

So, lately, I have been trying to really embrace these moments and give them my full attention.  Maybe its because I am trying to be more intentional about my response and really choosing to listen to them but we have had some amazing conversations lately and I want to keep fostering them as much as possible.

When you really stop to think about it, almost every question, suggestion, statement or shout, can be traced back to a way to reference the Bible because every story is relevant in some way, to some one.

Don’t let those gospel conversations scare you off – we’ve got just the thing to make it easy peasy. I am linking these beautiful Gospel Cards that will have you spreading good vibes (and good news) in no time. And while you’re at it, do yourself a favor and check out the Daily Grace Co. – talk about eye candy!

Gospel Conversation Cards

Website description: This set of 12 Gospel Conversation Cards for Kids includes a memory verse as well as two questions to ask your children to encourage gospel-centered conversations.

Link to Purchase: https://thedailygraceco.com/products/gospel-conversations-for-kids

4. Creating or Engaging in a Tradition or Activity

Holidays are the perfect chance to create moments that will become family stories to be told for years to come. And if you ask my kids, Easter takes the cake as the ultimate tradition. As soon as my first little one was born, I became the mastermind behind an epic egg hunt.

Picture me late at night, under the cover of darkness, sneakily hiding treats and treasures all over the house. And no, these weren’t your run-of-the-mill eggs – some had candy, some had coins, and some had nothing at all (cruel, I know). It was like my own Resurrection Eggs, but with a personal touch.

But really, creating traditions doesn’t have to be just about the egg hunt. The sky is the limit when it comes to finding ways to celebrate together as a family. Maybe it’s taking a nature walk, reenacting the Last Supper, or attending services as a unit. Regardless of what you choose, it’s those special moments spent together that truly make the holidays unforgettable.

Our family loves arts & crafts so this year I created Holy Week Coloring Pages – perfect for the whole family to get stuck in with colouring pencils and a side of scripture. You’ll be egg-static to know that with each page, you’ll deepen your understanding of each day’s significant meaning. 

And guess what? You can get your hands on these pages for FREE! Yup, you heard that right. Click Here to download your FREE copy now!

If that’s not enough, hop over to my Etsy shop for an egg-sclusive Resurrection Eggs Coloring Book – complete with cracking designs. 

5. Praying Together

The most practical and powerful way we can prepare our hearts for Holy Week is by praying together.  Whether as a family at home, communally in corporate worship, or with friends over Easter celebrations – prayer is our God given communication line that connects us directly to our Savior. 

Open the Bible and let the living and active word speak to you.  And then open up your heart and give all your cares, anxieties, praises, and prayers to the one who carries the world.  

My prayers lately have been full of a lot of surrender.  Attempting to quiet my anxious heart amidst the chaos and allow the Lord to speak what is true, to let go of things I cannot control and make room for the Lord to work His will within my life.  

Here is my prayer for you;

Lord, I pray for my sisters reading this right now.  I pray God that you would saturate their mind with things of Heaven, that as we approach this incredible week, we wouldn’t be weighed down by the weight of the world, but instead, Father, that we would take heart, believing and accepting that you have overcome the world.  God may our hearts ache the way yours did in the garden as you prepared to give up your life to save ours.  May we rejoice at the reconciliation that we gained with your resurrection.  And God may we celebrate the eternal glory we will experience if we have put our faith in you!  Bless this week Lord, and may the residual joy radiate throughout the rest of the year.  In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN!

---

Now that we have explored the five practical ways to prepare our hearts for Holy Week, I hope you have been inspired and equipped with the tools needed to become more spiritually equipped this upcoming Holy Week.

Take a moment, take a breath, and journey with us throughout the year by gaining access to weekly encouragement in your inbox!

While this Easter season may look drastically different than in years past, God has promised He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). Remember, by keeping your focus on Jesus instead of your current circumstances, you’ll be able to experience the beauty of the season and its transition from darkness to light just like the first Easter morning.

May you continue to be humble before God’s mighty power and His everlasting grace!