If someone were only to eat once a week, they would quickly become malnourished and very weak. That would still be true even if they were to eat two meals on that particular day and both of them were feasts. In fact if they were to try to consume a large, rich, meal, they would probably be able to digest very little of it simply because their systems were utterly unprepared and unable to handle the sudden influx of food.
In the same way, if worship is something we only participate in once a week, then more likely than not we will be Christians suffering from spiritual malnutrition, barely receiving enough sustaining grace to keep us spiritually alive. For that reason we will need to “spiritually feast” throughout the week on the readily available means of grace that Christ has appointed for us: Prayer and Bible Reading. We should not only be doing this privately, but as we gather together as families.
Family Worship, can be an intimidating prospect for many Christians. Many either do not know how to get started or how to keep going on a daily basis once they have. Therefore here are a few simple tips that may help you as you seek to glorify the Lord in your homes:
1) Have a Fixed Time: Pick a time during the day when the entire family is usually together, such as after dinner.
2) Keep it Short and Simple: Many attempts at establishing a family worship routine fail simply because they are too exhausting for everyone involved. It’s far better to spend 7 minutes in family worship every day, than to try to worship for 45 minutes and fail to keep it up. A good family worship session really only has to have prayer and a short bible lesson.
3) Get Started: Gather together as a family; make sure the kids don’t have any distractions (yes the TV will have to be off!) Here is a suggested starting format:
a) One Parent Opens in Prayer b) Father reads the Bible or a Bible Devotion (Tabletalk, etc.) and asks questions and makes application to the kids c) Other Parent Closes in Prayer
Later as your practice gets regular, you can add hymn singing at the beginning and end, and asking Catechism Questions or reciting the Apostles or Nicene Creed, but don’t add things until you are consistently doing the basics!
A couple of good starting resources are: A Year With Your Children in the Bible, A Book for Family Worship, and the One Year Book of Family Devotions all of which are available at: http://www.cvbbs.com
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