The Beginnings of Family Worship

“Let the morning and evening see God worshiped in thy house.” – Cotton Mather

I am writing this as a record to look back on and see the faithfulness of God in the midst of our attempt to make much of Him in our family. Hopefully, this can also serve as an example and encouragement for those who are considering such things. May our families be centered around the sole purpose of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

Our Reason for Family Worship

“Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, and the head of the family is to act as a pastor in instructing and praying with them.” – Jonathan Edwards

Earlier last year, I stumbled upon a teaching session that Joel Beeke gave at a Founders Ministries conference on the topic of “How to Grow in Doing Family Worship Effectively”. This really struck me because I had never heard of such an example of a household fully worshiping God together in the home in a regular, orderly way. It sounded too good to be true in the moment because, at the time, I knew no one who had done this or was currently doing this. I never had such a thing modeled for me growing up, which, to be fair to my father, he didn’t have a Christian model either growing up. But it does have to start somewhere, and after hearing Joel speak on the topic, I was beginning to be slowly convicted of it. As I began studying more of the Puritans and the history of our faith, it seemed to me that family worship played a crucial part in the lives of some of the strongest believers and faith-driven communities. After asking around, I later stumbled across a few families who had been practicing family worship regularly, and they spoke to the blessings it brought to their family. This continued to fuel my interest and passion in the topic of worship within the home.

But the true breaking point for me was reading Voddie Baucham’s “Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God”. In his book, he went into great detail on the importance of family worship, especially regarding cultivating a biblical worldview—one that is established and nurtured over years of worship conducted at home. He emphasizes how it is commanded that we, the parents, are to read and teach the Word in our homes to our children¹. It is our job, first and foremost, not the youth pastor’s or the Christian private school’s, as the responsibility belongs to the parents. We cannot defer this responsibility onto others; Voddie mentions that this is why the lack of family worship is one of the main reasons we see such a drop-off in faith among the youth once they leave the home. This fully convinced me that if I truly care about being obedient to God and desire to see my entire family faithfully walk with Him by honoring the covenant He has made with us, then I must start living like it in the form of family worship.

“The great duty of parents is to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and this cannot be done without constant instruction in the family.” – John Owen

This was not a solo decision either; my wife read the very same book and came to the very same conclusion (which you will find in a section below, where she shares her thoughts). We both wonder what it would look like to have a family known for being centered around the Word of God daily². Neither of us experienced this in our upbringing, but there is no excuse for that because there is no better time to start than now. So, we set out on this journey to start family worship.

How We Started

“Family worship should be conducted reverently, earnestly and simply.” – A.W. Pink

After having read Voddie’s book, studying the Puritans for their example of family worship³, listening to friends’ experiences, and watching many of Joel Beeke’s videos on the topic, we felt equipped enough to set out on putting together a pattern and design for our worship as a family. We knew three simple core things had to be at the center of it: prayer, reading of the Word, and singing of praise. Along with the reminders of why we are doing this, which in its simplest form is nothing short of the first question of the Westminster Catechism, which states, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” How do we apply this and imprint it upon our family? The answer is family worship.

“Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church, wherein God is worshiped, His Word read, and prayers offered.” – William Perkins

Prayer – Thomas Watson once said, “Families should be little churches; every house should be a house of prayer.” We must set an example of prayer. This means that for us Southern folks, we shouldn’t have to go through adversity to pray regularly. We shouldn’t need a meal in front of us to go before the Lord in prayer. We must not require a special occasion to give thanks to the Lord in prayer. Paul tells us to pray without ceasing⁴, be constant in prayer⁵, and continue steadfastly in prayer⁶. Why is it that many of us have grown up as Christians with little to no example of ongoing, common prayer? This is such a blessing to behold, that we have the ability to go before our Heavenly Father through Christ, that He hears our prayers and even tells us to pray. May we not neglect this but rather set it as an example of our close union with God during our time of family worship.

Reading of the Word – Many of us are guilty of owning dusty Bibles, not because they are old and worn, but rather because they are never used. As Christians, we are to be known as people of The Book, which is the Bible, for it is the very will and mind of God, profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness⁷. At the center of our family should be the word of God; it should affect how we live and view all things. Not only should we be reading the Bible, but we should also be teaching and memorizing it with each other. The Puritans and many others have found catechisms to be the best and simplest method for clear instruction and memorization of the word of God. This is a great way of applying the word to our hearts, minds, and hands so that we might better remember them and live them out.

Singing of Praise – This is a tough one for the less musically gifted people, such as myself. It is also difficult for those who are not great at expressing themselves, which is also me. Nevertheless, we are told to sing⁸ with joy, psalms, and praises to the Lord⁹. This can be done by singing together with a pre-recorded song or straight from a hymnal book. This allows our children to find joy in the Lord and express their feelings of praise towards Him.

“Reading and memorizing Scripture and the catechisms of the church [as a family together at home] results in incredible development of children, both spiritually and intellectually. What families regard as important is evidenced by the manner in which they spend their time. Therefore, regular family worship shows the children that their parents believe that Jesus Christ is central to all of life. This practice leaves a legacy that will benefit thousands in generations to come.” – Voddie Baucham

How it is going

“Daily worship in families is a special means to bring down blessings upon them.” – John Flavel

After having done it faithfully for nearly a month, we can truthfully say it has already been well worth it. We have noticed multiple fruits that have revealed themselves to us from our short time doing family worship. However, this was not evident in the first week or so, as it was a very rough time. It was rough in the sense that we chose to start family worship early, with our first son only being 20 months old. As you can probably guess, he wasn’t quite sold on it yet, as he screamed through multiple sessions and would never sit still for us. We did not want him to be distracted during it either with toys, snacks, or even his own books, so this also did not give us any extra help in the matter. But this is okay because we were ultimately doing this for the Lord, not for our own ease; we wanted no distractions or compromises to happen during this time. Now, saying this would paint a false picture if I didn’t explain that we did make a few changes at the beginning. Since we were doing this early, our son wasn’t quite ready to spend 20 to 30 minutes doing family worship with his current attention levels. During our first and second attempts, I tried the full lineup of prayer, reading the Bible, worship guide, praise, and prayer. As you can guess, we came to find that it was a bit much for him at this stage. Ultimately, I believe we will get there in the near future, but currently, we had to simplify it a little to meet him where he is, while also still encouraging him to hang in there without distractions. So we currently just allow time for prayer, reading a chapter of the Bible, and prayer (maybe 10 minutes). We do end up reading the worship guide thoughts on the chapter we just read afterward, but this is more for us parents to enjoy at the moment.

“Many Christians live and work in this world, as if their Christianity was a low priority in life, and this world and its pleasures were all important; when indeed the things of this world are fleeting and Christianity is the one thing we need most. — John Bunyan

Like we said above, we have already noticed many blessings in this short period of time doing family worship. We have seen that there are more godly conversations happening around the Word of God between my wife and me. We have observed a particular joy in our son when we mention it is time for family worship. He loves to run into the living room and grab Mommy’s Bible to bring to her; then he proceeds to jump in my lap during our reading and praying. His attention span has increased, along with his ability to sit still and remain mostly quiet during our time of family worship (most of the time, aside from the rough days). My wife and I have found that we usually have greater sense joyfulness, kindness, and patience towards each other when doing worship daily. Along with reading a full chapter comes a better practice of reading orderly through the Word of God instead of jumping around; this means addressing the difficult and duller chapters, such as genealogies and numbers. The key to all of this is to Strive for Regularity, Not Perfection.

Baucham confesses:
“I must admit that arriving at a consistent commitment to daily family worship was not easy for our family. We, like every other family, have so many things to do that the time often gets away from us. However, once we decided that our time in the Word was more important and would have a more lasting impact than anything else we could possibly do, we decided to make our family devotions the immovable object in our family life. If school or meals or free time or anything else has to move, it can. However, when we rise (or at least right after breakfast) and before we lie down in the evening, we will spend time together around the Word of God.”

Our hope is to one day have many children who are excited to know God and make much of Him within our home, because our sole purpose is to glorify and enjoy God in all that we do. Hopefully, this has encouraged someone to pursue the family worship model as well. Below, you will find some helpful resources and videos on the matter. May God be with you and your family for generations to come.

“He that is negligent in his family is not likely to be faithful in the church.” – John Flavel

My Wife’s thoughts pertaining to Family Worship

The topic of family worship was almost completely foreign to me until about four months ago. I was raised in a family that attended church on Sundays and participated in church events whenever they fit into our schedule. Occasionally, we had family prayer nights where we gathered together and each person prayed out loud. Those moments were meaningful, but honestly, I can count on one hand the number of times I remember us doing that during my childhood. I had heard of a few families doing weekly devotionals together, but only through the example of two or three families we knew.

My husband, began reading Faith Driven Family by Voddie Baucham, and as he worked through the book, he occasionally mentioned ideas about family worship. Some of what he shared resonated with me immediately, while other parts challenged my thinking. After he finished the book, he encouraged me to read it for myself, and I am so grateful that I did. Reading it aided in my understanding of family worship and even reshaped how I view the role and structure of the church.

As Baucham explains in his book, there is an alarming number of young adults leaving the faith during their college years because parents have given up their God-given responsibility to diligently teach their children the commands of the Lord. For generations, many parents have handed that responsibility over to the local church, and I have come to realize what a grave mistake that is.

As I write this, my mind takes me to Luke 12:48: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.” my Husband and I have been entrusted with little souls to nourish, teach, guide, and point toward Christ, not to outsource that responsibility to our church. That realization carries an incredible weight, but also a deep sense of purpose. We find comfort in knowing that regeneration comes from the Lord and that the Holy Spirit alone changes hearts according to the Father’s will. However, we also recognize that we are the primary instruments God has given our children to show them their need for a Savior and to teach them the truth of His Word. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

With my Husband’s leadership, it was time to begin putting it into practice. Our goal in the beginning was to gather at least three evenings a week: Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. My Husband organized a simple structure for our time together: begin with the first question of the Westminster Catechism, pray, read a chapter of Scripture, and sing a hymn.

On paper, it sounded wonderful.

Our expectations for our twenty-month-old son was to sit quietly and respectfully the entire time. Unsurprisingly, he whined, cried, and resisted nearly every moment of it during that first week. It felt chaotic and discouraging.

I called a friend who had been practicing family worship longer than we had, looking for encouragement. She gently reminded me why perseverance mattered and gave us practical ideas for helping our son engage during that time.

We’ve made a few adjustments along the way. We decided to remove the hymn for the time being and instead added a second prayer after reading Scripture, focusing specifically on what we had just read. From there, we allow our son to play with his toys, while my Husband reads the Family Worship Bible Guide that corresponds with the chapter of scripture we read. Over the next several weeks, there were many interruptions for correction and discipline as we consistently reminded our son that this is a time to sit quietly and listen reverently while God’s Word is being read.

It has been incredible to witness the Lord’s faithfulness. Our son now sits mostly still and quietly in my Husband’s lap. As a family, we are consistently spending time together in God’s Word, and although our son is still very young, he genuinely looks forward to it. Family worship has now become part of our nightly routine. He eagerly runs to help dad gather the Bibles and folds his hands expectantly when it is time for us to begin in prayer.

Watching the Lord work in our family through something so simple has been deeply encouraging. We certainly do not have everything figured out, but our goal has never been perfection. It has simply been starting in obedience. We want to begin somewhere and continue adjusting as our family grows, as more children are added, and as different seasons of life bring new challenges and needs.

One thing, however, remains certain: My Husband and I are committed to not handing off our responsibility to teach our children about the beauty and glory of our living God to someone else. And it has been a joy to watch the Lord honor that commitment for His glory and for our everlasting enjoyment of Him.