How to Do Family Worship

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Daily, intentional, conscientious, biblical family worship led by a godly father, or, in his absence, a godly mother, has fallen on hard times. It needs to be revived.

Given the importance of daily family worship as a potent force in winning untold millions to gospel truth throughout the ages, we ought not be surprised that God requires heads of households do all they can to lead their families in worshiping the living God. As Joshua declared, “As for me and my house, we will serve [or worship] the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).

Family worship will require some preparation. Have your Bibles ready and a Scripture passage selected. Catechisms and books of questions and answers for children are very helpful. Sometimes you might read through a book like John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and discuss it together. Set times for family worship, then carefully guard those times like a precious jewel. If you worship twice a day, try ten minutes in the morning and fifteen in the evening. Be consistent.

Lead family worship with a firm, fatherly hand and a soft, penitent heart. Speak with hopeful solemnity. Expect great things from a great covenant-keeping God.

According to Scripture, God should be served in special acts of worship in families today in the following three ways.

1. Daily instruction in the Word of God

God should be worshiped by daily reading and instruction from His Word. Through questions, answers, and instructions, parents and children are to daily interact with each other about sacred truth (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). When reading and teaching the Bible as a family, consider these suggestions.

Have a reading plan

Read ten or twenty verses from the Old Testament in the morning and ten to twenty from the New Testament in the evening. Or read a series of parables, miracles, or historical portions. Just be sure to read the entire Bible over a period of time. A whole Bible makes a whole Christian.

Involve the family

Every family member who can read should have a Bible to follow along. Set the tone by reading Scripture with expression, as the living, “breathing” book it is.

Assign various portions to be read by your wife and your children. Teach your children how to read articulately, reverently, and with expression.

Be plain in meaning

Be plain in applying scriptural texts. If a sin is rebuked in the Word, call the family to keep watch against it; if a duty is commanded, press it upon them; if a promise is offered, urge them to trust it and receive its comfort.

Discuss

Encourage family dialogue around God’s Word. This practice is in line with the Hebraic procedure of household question and answer (cf. Exodus 12:26–27; 13:14–15). Use a resource, like the Family Worship Bible Guide, to help you. Read aloud with your family the thoughts for each daily Bible passage. Dialogue about the thoughts expressed. Answer the questions asked.

Be pure in doctrine

Don’t abandon doctrinal precision when teaching young children; aim for simplicity and soundness.

Be relevant in application

Don’t be afraid to share your experiences when appropriate, but do that simply and concisely. Use concrete illustrations. Ideally, tie together biblical instruction with what you recently heard in sermons.

Be affectionate in manner

Proverbs continually uses the phrase my son, showing the warmth, love, and urgency in the teachings of a God-fearing father. When you must administer the wounds of a friendly father to your children, do that with heartfelt love. Tell them you must convey the whole counsel of God because you can’t bear the thought of spending eternity apart from them.

My father often said to us, with tears: “Children, I cannot miss any of you in heaven.” Tell your children: “We will allow you every privilege an open Bible will allow us to give you—but if we say no to you, you must know that flows out of our love.” Remember that the love of the soul is the soul of all love.

Require attention

Proverbs 4:1 says, “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.” You must demand a hearing for God’s truths in your home. Don’t allow children to leave their seats during family worship.

2. Daily Prayer before the Throne of God

Does not the command to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) include when we are with our families? Again, let me offer some specific guidelines for leading the family in prayer.

Be short

With few exceptions, don’t pray for more than five minutes. Tedious prayers do more harm than good. Don’t teach in your prayer; God doesn’t need the instruction. Teach with your eyes open; pray with your eyes shut.

Be simple

Be simple without being shallow. Pray for things that your children know something about, but don’t allow your prayers to become trivial. Don’t reduce your prayers to self-centered, shallow petitions.

Be direct

Spread your needs before God, plead your case, and ask for mercy. Name your teenagers and children and their needs one by one on a daily basis. That holds tremendous weight with them.

Be natural yet solemn

Speak clearly and reverently. Don’t use an unnatural, high-pitched voice or a monotone. Don’t pray too loudly or softly, too fast to be understood or too slow to hold attention.

Be varied.

Develop variety in prayer by remembering and stressing the various ingredients of true prayer, such as calling upon God to hear your prayers, adoring God for His titles and attributes, declaring your humble dependence and need, confessing family sins, asking for family mercies (both material and spiritual), interceding for friends, churches, and the nations, giving thanks for God’s blessings, and blessing God for His kingdom, glory, and power.

Use a prayer list

Thins will help you remember different persons and organizations on different days. Mix these ingredients with different proportion to get variety in your prayers.

3. Daily Singing the Praise of God

Psalm 118:15 says, “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles [or tents] of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.” That is a clear reference to singing. Every Christian family should own a few copies of a good psalter (psalms set to meter and music) and hymnal from which to sing.

Sing doctrinally pure songs

There is no excuse for singing doctrinal error no matter how attractive the tune might be.

Sing Psalms and hymns

Sing Psalms first and foremost without neglecting sound hymns. Remember that the Psalms, called by Calvin “an anatomy of all parts of the soul,” are the richest gold mine of deep, living, experiential scriptural piety available to us still today.

Sing heartily and with feeling

As Colossians 3:23 says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” Meditate on the words you are singing. On occasion discuss a phrase that is sung.

Conclusion

Pray each night with your spouse that God will bless your feeble efforts at family worship that day to the well-being of the precious children entrusted to you. Cling to God’s promise: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:1).

©2025, Joel Beeke. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.