Three Simple Steps
Every Christian family is able to show that God deserves to be worshiped daily in our homes. The essence of family worship is simple. It requires no preparation. It can take as little as ten minutes. It consists of three single syllables: read, pray, sing.
READ
The heart of family worship is hearing God’s word through reading the Bible. Focus on Bible stories if you have young children. Some use a good story Bible at this age. As children get older, move to the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, with a goal of eventually reading all the Scriptures. Briefly explain terms your family may not understand. A study Bible can help here. You may want to ask questions during or after the reading to improve everyone’s understanding.
PRAY
The husband/father can pray, he can ask someone to pray, or everyone can pray. To avoid saying basically the same things every time, I’d recommend the simple practice of praying about at least one thing you heard in the Bible.
SING
I get more responses of “Seriously?” on this one than with any other element. But in the short list of activities the Bible tells us to do in worship, singing is prominent. Some of the activities the Bible requires of acceptable worship are congregational by nature, such as preaching and the practice of the ordinances. But three activities on that list can be done whether the worship is congregational, individual, or familial: Bible reading, prayer, and worshipful singing.
This can be as brief as the Doxology, or as long as an entire hymn or chorus. Although this is a great time to utilize family musicians or Internet helps, my observation is that most families sing without musical accompaniment. I’d suggest getting songbooks for each member of the family. Consult the pastor or worship leader at your church for other resources.
If Time Permits
Beyond the essential read, pray, and sing elements of family worship, here are some ideas to enrich the experience while your family is together.
Catechize. This question-and-answer method of teaching biblical truth has been employed by the church since her earliest days. If you’re unfamiliar with a good catechism in your own church’s tradition, ask your pastor for recommendations. Discover why, along with family worship, catechizing is being rediscovered as a valuable family discipleship tool.
Scripture memory. Family worship is an ideal time to review verses your family may be learning in other settings, such as church or school. Even if you learn just one verse a month, that’s twelve verses a year and more than most Christian families are learning together.
Other reading. If time allows, you might start your time together with some general reading, after which you read, pray, and sing. Or afterward, take advantage of the time together to read a Christian book or biography with your family.
Growing Oaks of Righteousness
Every family is a beehive of busyness. Making the time — even ten minutes — for family worship is a challenge for everyone. And most families are tempted to think their schedule or circumstances are unique, at least when it comes to making family worship a regular priority. The truth is there’s almost no barrier to family worship that has not been addressed by Christians for centuries. Where there’s a desire for family worship — and some flexibility — there’s almost always a way.
Don’t expect immediate results. In fact, most nights it may seem that more family chaos occurs than family worship. That’s normal, even when you’re leading well. We’re raising families to be “oaks of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:3), and even in ideal conditions an oak develops very slowly and over a long time.
Starting Today
Perhaps your family, like many others, has not yet begun regular family worship. If you’re a wife reading this, consider showing it to your husband. Husbands, consider saying to your wives, “I’ve come to believe that the Bible teaches that I should be leading us in family worship, and I want to start today. I have a lot to learn about it, but I want to do what’s right. Will you join me?”
Regardless of what anyone else does, let every husband and father — indeed, every Christian — reading these lines commit to this: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” in family worship (Joshua 24:15). Isn’t this what you really want to do?
My little book Family Worship goes into more detail about what I’ve written here, including answers to some of the most common questions about family worship, as well as other practical tips. Today is the day to read, to pray, and to sing your family into eternity.
This article originally appeared here.
