Growing up I was thankful for the times we sat down to eat dinner together. Sunday’s with my grandparents was often a special time. It was church and then Sunday lunch at the dining room table with the good china. Grace was a staple at these meals and it modeled for me how to pray as well. This came in handy years later when the girl who I really liked in college, finally agreed to let me take her to dinner. Thankfully I had said enough grace during meals to know what to say. I wasn’t a christian at the time, so I can remember being embarrassed at the thought of praying in public. Thankfully, years later this girl became my wife and now we sit down daily to pray with our kids.
What I am advocating here is more than saying grace occasionally , although that is important. As families we need a rhythm of family worship that starts on Sunday and extended into the week. if you look back over the past six months how many family meals have you shared together? For us, family meal time means no cell phones, TV or distractions. We often use our family meals as a time for family worship and connecting. The great thing about family worship, it can be done in a variety of ways, doesn’t have to take long and can be done by anyone. Family worship should simply consist of praying, scripture and a focus on the Lord. If you desire, singing can be included as well. We are talking 5 to 7 minutes. Yet, the key is consistency in order to develop a rhythm of family worship.
Family Worship is part of the discipleship of the entire family. I would argue both the Father and mother are needed to have a full robust time of family worship. While Fathers in the home lead the charge, mothers play a vital role as well. Throughout this blog series the underlining truth has been, God has given both the Father and Mother in the home to raise godly children and glorify God in all that they do.
Family Worship impacts the family in several ways. First, it forces you to slow down. Think of the last time you and your family took a breath together? We live in the American system at a hurried pace. Adults and kids are overly stimulated, often not having time to simply be bored where their minds can think. Second, it shows your children that Jesus has value in our lives and not just on Sunday’s. Think back to the children of Israel, they were told to speak of the Lord and his law, in their every day life, in their coming and going. So, this is how it should be in our lives as well.
Now, I am sharing a model, not the model. My hope is this may help you as you seek to implement family worship in your home. Even if you find yourself as single parent, family worship needs to be part of your home rhythm. Our family worship or devotional time generally starts with one of our family members praying. For us having this time during or directly after dinner works well. You may find a better time and by all means run with it. Prayer is followed by the question what was your high and low for the day. This give our kids a chance to share what went great or not so good during their day. For my wife and I, it is an inside look at what is going on in their hearts and lives.
As part of this, my wife and I share our high and low as well, including prayer request we have. I then read a passage of scripture. If you are more a planner and are following a Bible reading plan a passage from there is great. Another option is to go through the Gospels or key Old Testament stories. The next part is key, share a brief insight on the passage in context.
You dont have to be a Bible scholar to do this. Read ahead before devotional time. Read the verses before and after. If you have a good study bible this is a great resource for insight of the passage. Remember this is not preaching or preparing a sermon. This is meant to be direct and to the point. A great follow up question to ask your family, how does this passage apply to you?
Sometimes you hear some powerful truth from the mouths of your kids other times, they leave you scratching your head. Yet, that is the point, this is an instructional and training time. Our family generally ends this time covering catcheism questions. This may sound way more fancier that it is, but a catcheism is simply question and answers that teach the foundational truths of the Christian faith. Our family has used the New City catchesim for kids by the Gospel Coalation. Since the questions and answers are so short, you can cover one question a day. We end our time praying for the prayer request and we are all done.
The first time you try this, it may seem no one is interested. However the name of the game is faithfulness and consistency. Just as Sunday’s are the day we worship, you can also make this a daily rhythm in the life of your home. This takes the Bible and moves it from the shelf and into the daily life of the family.
What is one step you can take to implement family worship in your home?
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Praise God just keep him close and praying every day things will change