No matter what your family looks like, whether you have a lot of children in your home or whether it’s just you and your spouse, beautiful things can happen when you spend intentional time in family worship. First Thessalonians 5:11 reminds us to “comfort each other and edify one another,” and consistent family worship is a perfect opportunity to do just that.
It is also a powerful way to guide the next generation in their spiritual journey. “Train up a child in the way he should go,” Proverbs 22:6 says, “and when he is old he will not depart from it.” This training happens with consistently modeled worship. In Genesis 18 God speaks of Abraham and his way of living and bringing up children. “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice” (verse 19). The best way for children to learn God’s righteousness and justice is through following their parents’ examples and guidance.
For families without children in the home, worshipping with each other is still a blessed opportunity to grow together in God. “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). While personal time of prayer and worship is important, there is something special that happens when we join others in worship.
Ellen G. White wrote about the importance of family worship, as well as specifics on how best to employ it in the home. “There is no reason why the hour of worship should not be the most interesting and enjoyable hour of the day,”1 she said. She advocates for two set times of family worship for the household every day: one in the morning and one in the evening.2 With such a frequency of worship, some may fear that family worship might grow stale. For those who have not yet made a habit of gathering the household together for worship, it may be difficult to know how to start.
Here we will share ideas that you can incorporate in your own home. You know your family best, however! Prayerfully and intentionally consider what methods will speak to your children’s hearts the most for however old they are. Above all, remember that this is your family’s opportunity to connect with your Lord.
Ingredients for Family Worship
There are many different types of ingredients you can utilize in your family worship. We recommend considering four primary elements upon which you can build the rest of your worship experience: Bible engagement, prayer, music and singing, and ministry and mission.
Bible Engagement
There are many exciting methods that your family can use to engage with the Bible in a meaningful way to build faith. Scripture engagement in family worship means reading, understanding, discussing, and applying what you’ve read. To start, always make sure that the portion of Scripture you are reading is an appropriate length: remember that family worships should neither be so short that they feel pointless nor so long that they feel exhausting. Perhaps take turns reading the passage together or have a designated Bible reader for each day. You might choose to read the Bible thematically or chronologically with Ellen G. White’s accompanying writings—whatever works best for you!
Look for the meaning of Scripture as well as how it can impact our lives today. Don’t shy away from serious or hard questions children may ask. Rather, demonstrate to boys and girls that God and faith can handle difficult questions and that it is through asking that we learn and grow. The whole family can then study and learn together.
For families with younger kids, Bible story skits or drawing a Bible story together are appropriate. You might also use children’s Bibles with pictures to illustrate stories that are told. Scripture memorization can also be fun to do together as a family. You can make crosswords and fill-in-the-blank activities to practice and solidify your family’s Scripture memorization. Remember, the more your family engages with God’s Word, the more likely they are to let it guide them in life.
Prayer
Like reading Scripture, prayer is an important component of all worship. In fact, the Bible tells us we are to be in a constant prayer posture (see 1 Thess. 5:16-18). Prayer is so important that we are called to do it all the time!
Prayer is communion with God, a conversation that allows us to connect with our Creator. There are many different types of prayer, such as prayers of praise, confession, thanksgiving, and petition, and there are plenty of different ways to pray, too. You can connect what you read in the Bible to your prayer—perhaps paraphrasing a portion of the Scripture you read earlier or praying for the ability and opportunity to apply what was read. You can take turns in your family, praying for each other. You can have different prayer themes for each day of the week: for example, pray for missionaries on Monday, believing friends on Tuesday, nonbelieving friends on Wednesday, world events on Thursday, etc. You can also utilize “popcorn” prayers, during which family members take turns offering a simple sentence prayer one after another.
The best way for children to learn God’s righteousness and justice is through following their parents’ examples and guidance.
Music and Singing
The book of Psalms is the longest book in the Bible, and it is a songbook comprised of 150 psalms. With the Bible filled with so many songs, it makes sense to incorporate music and singing into our lives. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16; see also Eph. 5:19).
Spiritual songs retell the love, grace, and goodness of God, as well as the great doctrines and theology of Scripture. Songs also allow for important truths to be more easily learned and recalled. “Song is one of the most effective means of impressing spiritual truth upon the heart. Often by the words of sacred song, the springs of penitence and faith have been unsealed.”3
If someone in your family plays an instrument, your family can sing songs with accompaniment. If no one plays an instrument, you can still sing together a cappella. You can incorporate praise songs at every family worship, or you can have designated music days. Your family could select a worship theme song each week or month and sing it to open or close your family worship. Praise songs have a habit of creating an atmosphere of joy, so however your family would like to incorporate music, enjoy the experience together.
Ministry and Mission
Ministry is any activity done to serve God, serve others, and expand the kingdom of heaven. We are told in Scripture that we have been given gifts and abilities in order that we may serve and minister to others (see 1 Peter 4:10, 11). God is glorified when we use our talents and abilities in ministry. A family that serves together worships together.
There are many ways your family can minister together. You can serve at a soup kitchen or shelter. Together you can “adopt” a family for Christmas and pick out gifts that you know they will enjoy. As a family you can minister together at your church, perhaps leading the congregation in singing or leading out in Sabbath School. If you notice a neighbor who needs some yard work done, your family can help rake leaves, pull weeds, or shovel snow. When you start looking through the eyes of ministry, there is no end of possibilities for how your family can serve!
Couples Without Kids
Often when we think of “family worship,” we imagine parents and children gathering together. But there is power in gathering your family for worship, even if your family is just you and your spouse.
While it is important to have personal worship time, there are some additional benefits to worshipping as a couple. It helps us grow closer to God and closer to each other. Through worshipping together with your spouse, you can learn how to better honor one another (Rom. 12:10); build one another up (Rom. 14:19); care for each other (1 Cor. 12:25); forgive each other (Eph. 4:32); bear patiently with each other (verse 2); comfort each other (1 Thess. 4:18); and encourage one another (1 Thess. 5:11).
You can keep a prayer journal together, including answers to prayer, or spend time appreciating various character traits in one another and then see what the Bible says about these traits. Whatever you do, be sure to agree with one another on how you would best like to worship together.
Closing Thought
However you choose to hold your family worship, the key is consistency. Take time to worship with your family throughout the day as you notice and reflect on the goodness of God. Above all, ask God to guide you in how to best make your home a place of worship where you can grow closer to Him and closer to each other.
1 Ellen G. White, “The Hour of Worship,” Pacific Union Recorder, May 22, 1902, p. 1.
2 Ellen G. White, Child Guidance (Nashville: Southern Pub. Assn., 1954), p. 520.
3 Ellen G. White, “Freely Ye Have Received, Freely Give,” Review and Herald, June 6, 1912, p. 198.