As we think about family worship, we should note up front that there is no verse of the Bible commanding Christian families to gather together each evening to worship. However, there are plenty of commands making it clear that Christian parents are to teach their children the faith, read the Word, and pray. In essence, they are to worship.

Family worship. I know your reaction when you read those two words. I used to have the same response! Whenever that term or one like it was mentioned, I would inwardly cringe. Similar to the reaction many of us have when the word evangelism is uttered. Guilt begins to creep in, our shoulders begin to ache, and our spirits sink. We know that we don’t practice family worship as often as we should. On some days we are not sure why. On other days we have a bag of ready excuses.

But let me suggest that this shouldn’t be our reaction. Family worship is not meant to be some kind of guilt inducing torture established by divine decree. Rather, it is a means of grace. It is a gift from God to His children. It’s not a weight. It’s not a burden. It’s not a box that we have to check, nor is it a merit badge we have to earn. It’s a gift. A gift that is accompanied by many blessings.

What is family worship? It isn’t complex. It doesn’t require a doctorate, ordination, or even an extended period of time. It is simply a gathering of those living under the same roof for a time of worship. This may be a single mother and her two children, two sisters living together, or mom, dad, and their eight children. Regardless of what the makeup of the home is, it is all the individuals of that home gathering together to read the Scriptures, pray, and sing to the living God. It doesn’t have to be long, rigorous, or particularly profound. It can be as simple as ten minutes of reading the Scripture, praying a short prayer, and singing a good hymn. And yet these ten minutes of sowing seeds and offering worship have eternal benefits.

Last night was one of those nights that it didn’t quite feel like we were doing something that had eternal benefits. Frankly, it was one of those nights of family worship that I would like to forget. We wandered off topic yet again. My son had somehow managed to begin talking about My Little Ponies during our family worship time. I am not sure how this connected with the Bible passage we were reading, but in his five year-old little mind it made perfect sense. Of course, his mentioning My Little Ponies stirred my daughter’s affections and she quickly began to add to the conversation. There was no getting them back. My erudite commentary upon the passage and the winsome probing questions I had formulated were obviously not as good as I thought and in no way were they more appealing than Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.

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