Five Reasons for Family Worship

1. The scripture is clear that our delight is to be directed to God. He is to be worshipped in all places. If this is true, is He not to be worshipped in our home? Are parents not to assist children in their worship of God just as a pastor assists his congregation? It would be shocking to enter a church that did not have its primary purpose the worship of God. A church that does not express itself by worshipping God is a contradiction in terms. It should be just as outrageous to enter a home in which God is not honored and glorified as a family. A non-worshipping family is just as inconsistent as a non-worshipping church. The family is the smallest of all groups. If there is to be any worship of God in a group setting, then it is most natural that it occurs in the family.
2. Family worship is the means to instruct and nurture our children in the Lord. The primary duty and delight of every parent is raising a child to know and love God. How can this happen if there is no worship of God in the home? Certainly, there can be no spiritual instruction of children if they are not afforded the opportunity to worship with the family. Family worship is how we transmit the Gospel, sound doctrine, wisdom, and the fear of the Lord to our children. It provides children with the freedom to express thoughts, test ideas, and have questions answered.
3. Family worship trains children how to worship God in larger settings. What is learned in the home is transferable to the sanctuary at church. Habits are best taught by practicing them. Limiting God to Sunday morning often makes worship at the church unnatural and difficult. When children worship God in the home, it becomes normal and routine. Francois Carr, in the book Lead Your Family in Worship, asks “Could it be that the decline of many churches is linked with the death of family worship and not cultivating an intimate relationship with God?” Bringing worship into the home communicates much about our priorities and passions.
4. Worship in the home creates unity in the family. We cannot be an enemy with those we pray for. Meeting together, in light of the scripture, gives us the opportunity to restore relationships and not allow the sun to go down while we are still angry. This helps us realize the needs of other family members. Family worship has been known to bring about unselfishness, encourage communication, limit anger, and produce the fruits of the Spirit. Family worship will help to promote harmony in your family.
5. Family worship leaves a legacy through the generations. We can make no greater contribution into our children and grandchildren’s life than to bless them with a time of gathering before the throne of grace on a daily basis. A family, with worship at the center, will produce great fruit for the generations to come.

Family worship is a means to help your child know and love God. I find that nearly every Christian parent deeply desires to see their child walking with God. Family worship is the best step towards achieving this desire. Joel R. Beeke, a pastor and professor, remarks how his brother was touched through a time of family worship, “Dad, the oldest memory I have is of tears streaming down your face as you taught us from Pilgrim’s Progress on Sunday evenings how the Holy Spirit leads believers. At the age of three God used you in family worship to convict me that Christianity was real. No matter how far I went astray in later years, I could never seriously question the reality of Christianity, and I want to thank you for that.” Children will be influenced by what they hear and see in family worship and may be spared from much sin as they recall the lessons of their childhood.

If you are not gathering as a family to focus on God you are either too busy or your priorities are out of order. Carl Henry, in his book Church in the Home, agrees, “The child you gave up to God to be dedicated to Him, and admitted a member of Christ’s visible church, was in God’s name given back to you, with the same charge that Pharoah’s daughter gave to Moses’s mother, Take this child, and nurse it for me.”

Through birth, children receive a sinful nature from parents. For this reason, parents are highly responsible to arouse the work of God in a child’s life. Parents must urge children to repent and follow Christ, and when he does, our work does not stop there. The most important duty that God has placed on your shoulders is the salvation and discipleship of your children. It is my prayer that you spare no effort to this end. If your salvation and growth in Jesus is important, then you must rank that of your children to be equal in worth. What a painful source of grief it would be to see your children show no sign of affection for Jesus. How it would torment you to see your child live only for his own desires. Today, dedicate yourself to the worthy task of family worship.

Josh Mulvihill is the Executive Director of Church and Family Ministry at Renewanation. He served as a pastor for nearly 20 years, has a PhD in Family Ministry, serves on the board of Awana, and is the author or editor of ten books on parenting and grandparenting including Biblical Grandparenting, Preparing Children for Marriage, Biblical Worldview, and his latest 50 Things Every Child Needs to Know Before Leaving Home. He is married to Jen, they have five children, and live on a family farm in Minnesota. Josh blogs at GospelShapedFamily.com, enjoys camping with friends, reading a great book around the bonfire, and catching big fish in Minnesota lakes.

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