Brandon & Brittany Lake Team Up to Write Children's Book About Worship

There comes a time in everyone’s life where it is important to diversify. The ability to experience new adventures, take on different challenges, or step outside your comfort zone becomes an essential part of defining who you are as a person.

Grammy and Dove Award winning singer/songwriter Brandon Lake has developed a reputation over the years for calling followers of Jesus into a posture of freedom and confidence through his music. His desire is for people to boldly explore truth and expect the miraculous.

But beyond the music, Lake desires nothing more to see families experience everything that God has called them to be as a collective unit. Not just mom and dad, but the kids too.

For this reason, Lake and his wife Brittany have crafted a children’s book called Little Lion Lungs. In its 36 inspiring pages, the Lakes’ hope to serve the home by helping them to discover the powerful weapon of worship and gratitude. 

I recently sat down with Brandon and Brittany to discuss why it is so vitally important to introduce worship to children at a young age, how gratitude can shape a child's perspective for a lifetime, and why they chose a lion to be their main character.

If you were trying to convince a friend or family member to take the time to read Little Lion Lungs to their kids, what would you say to encourage them? What would your sales pitch be?

Brandon Lake: I feel like a lot of times we're intimidated to worship God because we don't feel like we have something worthy to bring Him. And the truth is, God, more than anything wants just what's inside your heart. Think about how good it feels to hear the words, thank you. It's as simple as that. I think God's the same. We're made in His image. I think He just loves to hear the words, thank you. And so, this is a story about the gift of gratitude and how that correlates to what worship is. If you want to be a worshiping family, this is an amazing resource to get your kids to understand what worship really means. Worship can sound churchy, it can be kind of heady for a child.

This book tells you what hallelujah means, which if you don't know, get the book. It will tell you and it will educate your kids on what it means. And it's really simple. If you want to be a powerful person with the gift of gratitude to those around you and to your God, I think this is a great starting place for a young one to understand what that means.

For every writer there always seems to be a trigger, a tipping point, a moment, where you say to yourself, “I have to write this book!!” For Little Lion Lungs what was that moment for you?

Brittany Lake: Well, I think we've been talking about it for a few years. And I think he was drawing one day and I had the idea of a little lion on a journey to bring a gift to his king. And he was drawing a lion. And I was just like, Brandon, I think it's time. I think it's time to do it.

Brandon Lake: It was like a kids' t-shirt. I was making a kid's clothing line. And then it was like, we have to have a kid's book, especially with the height that the song “Gratitude” has experienced and influenced millions of people across the world.

Brittany Lake: We have a 9-year-old, a 7-year-old, and a 1-year-old, and I wanted the resource for our kids. Especially with our little 1-year-old who is just like a little lion. This little guy reminds me of our main character (Levi the Lion) so much. And just how the older boys now can help teach our younger one. And so it's giving our boys tools to teach the others how to worship, which is exactly what Levi does in this book.

Brandon Lake: I want our whole family to be known for being a resource that gets families worshiping together. We have so many kids coming to my shows. We have 80-year-olds coming to my shows and everything in between. And so, if we can be a family that inspires other families to worship together, that’s a pretty good thing.

For me, the overarching theme of the book seems to be discovering the powerful weapon of worship. Why do you think it is so vitally important to introduce worship to children at such a young age?

Brittany Lake: Going into my boys' school, I have noticed that these kids desire to worship more than I could have ever thought at such a young age. It's in them and we have to ignite it. It's been so beautiful just to see what Brandon's songs mean to these children. The children have such pure hearts. And so, if we can help ignite this from a young age, I think it's going to be a lot easier when you're 16, in front of your friends, to raise your hand. This is because if one's doing it, then the other one will do it. And just this freedom that we can ignite in our children. I did not grow up in a worshipful culture. And so, it's something I had to teach myself to do. To be uncomfortable, to be bold. And gosh, if our kids can get ahead of that, what that can do for the future of the Church and for God's people. I just really believe that we’ve got to start young.

Brandon Lake: Worshipers in the Bible are the ones who go first. Yeah. And we want to teach our kids that they are leaders that they need to lead the way and not just be followers of Jesus, but be leaders in the world. We want them to be worshipers that are on the front line. And I think that the generation that might be the most attacked, this next one, the youngest one with all the social media and it's only getting worse. And with all of the technology, the enemy is really at work. Not everything is an evil tool, but can be used as one. I think the best tool to fight warfare is worship. I've actually not really thought about this before until right now. We were created to worship.

Also, a very large theme is the gift of gratitude. Why is it so important to express this message and ideal to kids?

Brandon Lake: Worship isn't something that we find out we should do later. When you're a kid, you were created in the image of God. You were created to worship. But what the world does, what sin does, is it makes you worship something else that's not God. And so, if we can protect that, and help them understand more and more, they will grow in their worship of God and their understanding of God. I'm 33-years-old and I'm still learning how I can worship God even more purely, genuinely and in different ways by loving other people. Worship isn't just the songs we sing. I think that's why it's important to do this at a young age to where it's not like they're discovering what worship is, and by that time they're 15 or they're 20, and they think worship is just a music genre. It’s so much bigger than that. I think gratitude will not only bless the one who's getting it, but it will heal your own heart. I think gratitude is also a weapon in that it makes you realize what you do have instead of what you don't. 

I've got to see it firsthand as I've got to sing this song (“Gratitude”) in front of hundreds of thousands of people the past few years. And then to see it affect millions and millions of people across the world, I think that speaks for itself. When you're abandoned and your hands are open, and you're surrendered, you're just saying hallelujah. Praise the Lord, thank you. I have so much to be grateful for. Thank you. My words fall short, everything falls short. But man, if this one act of worship could just be an act of gratitude. Wow! I've watched it literally change people's lives. 

After people have had a chance to read Little Lion Lungs, what would you like audiences to get out of the experience? What is your greatest hope for the book?

Brittany Lake: If you follow the story, I think it's so sweet how it's a journey with Levi. He's trying to bring something great and grand that he thinks is worthy. I just kind of put it in perspective of like, we're never going to have enough. We're never going to be good enough. We're never going to hit this level that then God's like, ‘Okay, now you can come to me.’ I think for kids especially, it's so tangible that they don't have to figure it all out before they go to God. God is waiting. He wants the mess and the imperfection. And I think that's something I definitely struggled with as a kid. I’ve got to get my life right first before I can really be a worshiper or really live for Jesus. But like kids, I think it would be really good for them to understand that God wants to meet you right where you are in your sin, in your mess, or in whatever your situation looks like.

Brandon Lake: God doesn't have grandkids. God has kids and He wants to talk to His three-year-old kid, his eight-year-old kid, and his 89-year-old kid. And so I think teaching these children that you can talk to God, you can bring your hallelujah, you can find something to be grateful for, is essential. This king obviously represents Jesus and this is the kind of king that you serve. He takes care of all in the kingdom and He wants our hearts. I think reading this book is really fun. The last page is my favorite. It's interactive and I think it's going to be a moment of intimacy for the entire family. I just love that this is going to provide those kinds of moments that we live for with our own kids.

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