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NIGHTLY FAMILY WORSHIP
By Pastor Jira Albers
Everyone knows that God is with us more often than one hour a week on
Sunday morning. God is with us at all times. So why shouldn't we worship
God more often than one hour a week?
Worship is a natural expression of our love for God. One place that worship
fits naturally is in the home. If you are like most people, however, you
may be hesitant to start such a family ritual.
 Thankfully, one family has
overcome the hesitancy. By inviting other people to participate in their
family worship, many of their friends and family have discovered that
family worship is a wonderful time of bonding and fun.
Before the nightly worship began, the couple explained that they had always
wanted to include God in their family life. Talking about God in the home
was not something that they experienced while growing up. They did not want
their children to grow up with the same experience.
The following worship pattern is what they started as soon as their first
child was born.
Nightly family worship was held in the living room after the children had
gotten ready for bed. It began with a Bible story from an age-appropriate
Bible, one with colorful pictures and easy-to-understand language. (As the
children grow older, the type of Bible will change.)
 One of the children was asked to
choose the story to be read for the night. As the family read the story
together, the children naturally asked questions about the story. These
questions led to great faith discussions.
Following the Bible reading, it was time for singing. The songs were
familiar children’s church songs; however, the family made it a time for
bonding by adding action and bouncing (lots of bouncing!). The songs
usually fell apart with laughter, and that was the point. Numerous times
the kids climbed up on the lip of the fireplace (as if it were a stage) and
taught the family a new song that they had leaned in Sunday school. (It is
true that children can teach the faith to adults.)
The evening always ended with this prayer: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I
pray the Lord my soul to keep, guide me safely through the night, and wake
me with the morning light. God bless Mom and Dad and Tim and Chris and Mark
(the three children) and Grandma Paula and Aunt Kim and Spot (the family
dog) and...” The children were allowed to include additional people in
their nightly prayers. After finishing the prayer with the Lord’s Prayer,
the children were ready for their goodnight kisses.
The children weren’t always happy about having the worship time, but
worship was done anyway. “God deserves to be worshiped whether or not we
feel like it,” the children were told. Besides, what is a ritual if it does
not happen consistently?
Hopefully this family's example is helpful to other young families. And for
older adults, please do not forget to invite and teach these things to
younger parents. Remember, the faith is “caught” more than it is “taught.”
This family understood that well. They allowed others to catch their faith
by inviting them to be a part of their nightly family worship.
Family Web Page Worship
Resources for the Home
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Good Family Worship
Songs
-Jesus Loves Me
-He is a Peach of a Savior
-Go Tell it On the Mountain
-The Sunbeam Song
-He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
-Do Lord
-Seek Ye First
-Pharoah, Pharoah
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