If the phrase ‘family worship’ sounds odd, then this may be because whilst the church practiced family worship for 2000 years, ours is the generation to have departed from the discipline. Family worship is simply the gathering of the family on a regular, preferably daily basis to worship God.
My husband and I have always acknowledged the importance of gathering as a family to learn about and worship God, but it took us a while to get going. As with many other elements in our home educating journey, we began small. Ten minutes on a Wednesday evening was our first foray into whole family worship. (Anybody can find ten minutes once a week right?) We learnt the hymn ‘Our Hope is Built on Nothing Less Than Jesus Blood and Righteousness’, read a Bible passage, prayed and put the children to bed. Wednesday evenings were soon followed by gathering on Sunday mornings. Over time we added a daily catechism and now a number of years down the home educating road, we kick off our lessons with a ten-to-fifteen-minute time of family worship. There are periods where we might miss a few mornings, but essentially the habit is there. The children expect it, we expect it, and to launch into the day without communal prayer and Bible reading would leave an awkward taste in our mouths. As an aside, while we gather in the mornings, other families might gather at a different time of day. It is not the timing that is important, it is the getting it done!
First and foremost, we see family worship as an act of obedience to the Lord, but we benefit from it in a variety of ways. Family worship sets the course of the day. It reminds us who we are serving and why we are serving him. It demonstrates to the children that we are all accountable to God and under his law. It also takes the awkwardness out of talking to our children about God and praying together with them at different points in the day. They are not ‘wierded out’ by me asking them about their relationship about God, nor by me praying with them when they are distressed. It is a response as natural as breathing.
If a family has not learnt the discipline of family worship, it can be awkward and humbling to get started. I just want to encourage you that while there is no specific command in the Bible regarding family worship, the teaching is implicit. Consider these few examples (there are many):
1. Genesis 18:17-19: When the Lord appears to Abraham and Sarah, verse 19 says, “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Remember, there was no local Church at this time and Abraham was one of only a few people in the world (besides Melchizedek and Job etc.) who worshipped the one true God. Consequently, the only way that Abraham could have done what God had chosen him for was to teach his family at home. Abraham was to lead his family in the worship of the Lord.
2. Deuteronomy 6:4-7: Verses 6-7 say, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Moses was telling families to teach their children the commandments of God.
3. Joshua 24:15: Joshua’s resolution “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Part of serving the Lord would have been the worship of the Lord. Remember this is at the time of the tabernacle, and for some people to come to the tabernacle to worship the Lord would have been a trip of several days. They would not have been able to do this very often, especially in an agricultural economy. The way they would have experienced worship most frequently would have been at home.
4. Ephesians 6:4: Paul writes, “and you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” While some of this may be done by example, it is also done by intentionality and purpose. Children are not brought up in the training and admonition of the Lord unintentionally and incidentally. There may occasionally be those unplanned, teachable moments, but it should also happen purposefully. Consistent family worship is one of the best and steadiest ways to bring children up in the Lord.
5. 1 Peter 3:7: Peter writes: “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honour to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.” Notice here it does not say “fathers” but “husbands”. When people think of family worship they tend to think of dad, mum and the young children in the home. But family worship is also for couples whether newly married or once children have left home. These are not just the prayers of the husband since it is speaking of mutual prayers. Peter assumes that it should be normal for Christian couples to pray together.
(Some of these thoughts come from Donald Witney’s book ‘Family Worship: In the Bible, in History & in Your Home)
Taken as a whole, these Scriptures strongly infer that we should be worshipping as families and the fact that the Bible prescribes family worship is why confessions such as the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (22:6) state: “God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in private families daily…”
Since we want our children to recognise the centrality of Christ in our home, it makes tremendous sense to us to gather and worship at the point when we are … kicking off our day!
