How do I best practice family worship? Dr. Charlie Wingard shares practical advice and encouragement for families seeking to study God’s Word together.
I’m always delighted to have the opportunity to talk to people about family worship. It’s every pastor’s desire that the church be filled with families that, day-by-day, are worshiping together. That’s part of my heritage. My father led family devotions in the morning and then again in the evening, and I’ve been the beneficiary of his faithfulness in leading my family in worship. And I want the fathers in my congregation and the mothers in my congregation to provide that kind of heritage for their precious children.
Prize
It’s every pastor’s desire that the church be filled with families that, day-by-day, are worshiping together.How do you best do family worship? Well, first of all, you have to prize it. You have to cherish it. This is time when you bring your family around the word of God to be nourished by it. You want to cherish that time in the word, knowing that it’s building up your family and faith, and love, and hope. It’s the time where you teach your children to praise the Lord, and to intercede for others as they learn to worship in the home and to prize that worship. They’ll learn to prize the public assemblies of worship in God’s church. How do you best do family worship? First of all, prize it, and then prepare for it.
Prepare
Prepare for it prayerfully. Pray that your spouse, your children, will receive the word of God in faith and love, that they’ll treasure it in their hearts, and that they’ll practice it in their lives. Think carefully about what you’re going to do each time you lead family worship. You want to be realistic about your expectations. I think ordinarily it’s best to keep family worship brief. 15 or 20 minutes will be plenty for most families. You want to prepare the time when you’re going to gather your family together. You don’t want it to be too late in the evening, where children are fussy and need to be put to bed. You want to use the best time that you possibly can to gather your family together. For many families, that’s right after supper. That means gathering your family together for supper, making family meals an important part of your family’s life together.
Persevere
Don’t get discouraged if you begin the practice of family worship, and then that practice falls by the wayside for a time.So you want to prize family worship, you want to prepare for family worship, and then you want to persevere in family worship. Don’t get discouraged if you begin the practice of family worship, and then that practice falls by the wayside for a time. Don’t become discouraged. Just pick up and start again, and do that over and over again. And as you do that through the years, it’ll become an invaluable part of your family’s life together. I want you to enjoy your time together as a family in your home around the word of God.
