Family Worship and Prayer- a Biblical example.
Here at Equipping the Children, we are all about equipping YOU for family worship and prayer – what we call the Family Altar.
Here is a Biblical example of the Family Altar in action.
“At that time there was a Roman military officer, Cornelius, who was in charge of one hundred men stationed in Caesarea. He was the captain of the Italian regiment, 2 a devout man of extraordinary character who worshiped God and prayed regularly, together with all his family. He also had a heart for the poor and gave generously to help them.” Acts 10:1-2 (TPT)
Here’s Cornelius. He’s a busy guy with weighty responsibility, and yet he makes time to worship and pray with his family. This guy doesn’t even know Jesus, but he’s pursuing God. Not just a solitary pursuit, but one that is extends to his entire family. They are going after this thing together, seeking God the only way they know how.
And how does God feel about that?
“One afternoon about three o’clock, he had an open vision and saw the angel of God appear right in front of him, calling out his name, ‘Cornelius!’
4 Startled, he was overcome with fear by the sight of the angel. He asked, ‘What do you want, Lord?’
The angel said, ‘All of your prayers and your generosity to the poor have ascended before God as an eternal offering.’” Acts 10:3-4
An ordinary day was interrupted in an extraordinary way as God sent an angel with a message for this faithful man. God broke in to tell Cornelius that ALL of his prayers counted. Not just his private ones, but also the ones offered at his family altar. The ones he prayed with his children. Perhaps his children were older and his family altar time was less “messy” than my own, but this gives me such encouragement.
All of my prayers ascend before God as an eternal offering.
All of them.
The ones I pray in the privacy of my bedroom. The ones I pray on a microphone in public. And the ones I pray amidst the chaos of children running around, dancing, singing, often fighting. They are loud. Our family altar times are not proper and polite. And yet..
Those prayers ascend before God as an eternal offering.
He sees. He hears. God takes note. And his heart is pleased.
Those prayers – that offering- lasts forever! The incense will continue to rise even after my children are grown.
How’s that for significance?
Dear Mama, Dear Daddy, YOUR PRAYERS COUNT!
How many times might Cornelius have felt like a failure in those family prayer times? He was praying to a God he didn’t fully know. Did he struggle with how to lead his children into this thing? And yet what He couldn’t see was the eternal significance that those prayers had. They literally shifted things in the supernatural realm.
You may not have been visited by an angel at 3 p.m. – yet- but I guarantee you that you will reap a heavenly reward if you do not give up. Your prayers are not in vain. Cornelius’ prayers resulted in the salvation of his whole family (read the rest of Acts 10). What might your family worship and prayer times accomplish?
Keep going. Don’t give up!
For more inspiration, check out this video of the Family Worship and Prayer Seminar.
