Simple Family Worship
Lord's Day Exhortation
In Deuteronomy 6, the Lord commands us to keep His Word in our hearts and to teach them diligently to our children, talking of them when we sit in our homes, when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up.
In leading their people to obey this command, the Protestant Reformers taught fathers to practice what we call “family worship” daily in their homes. This duty was so important to the Puritans that pastors would visit homes to demonstrate how it could be done, and a father’s persistent neglect of family worship could result in church discipline, for failing to raise his children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).1
So what does family worship consist of? Simple family worship has three components: Scripture, prayer, and song.
First, you should consistently bring the Word to your family’s ears and hearts. If your children are young, consider starting with a narrative book, like the Gospel of Mark, one brief passage at a time. Read, and then engage your family with simple observation and application questions. Additionally, a catechism can also be used alongside the Word to further teach them the truths of Scripture.2
Second, lift up your prayers to God. Praise God for who He is, and then lay before Him the needs of your family and this congregation. Give your children a moment to say their own prayers in their own words for the things that matter most to them.
And third, sing unto the Lord. Whether it’s one song or a few, cheerfully sing psalms and hymns that the whole family knows or can easily learn. While there is no set order that you must follow, the benefit of singing at the end is that songs tend to linger in our memories longer than readings or prayers.
These three elements—Word, prayer, and song—can be as brief as ten minutes, as you remember your children’s frames and carry them out with simple joy.
No father in this church will regret having led his family in this holy habit when his children were young and at home. Therefore, do not let shame or discouragement keep you from trying. Dedicate your household to the Lord again—for His glory and for their eternal good.
Prayer of Confession:
Most Merciful Father,
We confess to you and to one another that we have sinned against You by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
In particular, this morning we confess that we do not offer You the worship You deserve each day. Both within our own hearts as individuals before You, but also in our families. And especially as fathers we confess our failure in this as those who have been charged to lead in our homes, and to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
And so we ask that You would forgive us our sins, and by Your Spirit renew a holy desire to take hold of You through Your Word and prayer. Give a glimpse of Your glory this week as we seek You and encourage our faith. And help us lead our families with joy to Your throne of grace.
May a renewal of family worship in Your church lead to a reformation and revival in our land, fulfilling Your promises spoken through our father David, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.”
We know that if we in the church regard any iniquity in our hearts this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you know. And Selah.
This exhortation was given on February 22, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.
“The Assembly doth further require and appoint ministers and ruling elders to make diligent search and enquiry, in the congregations committed to their charge respectively, whether there be among them any family or families which use to neglect this necessary duty; and if any such family be found, the head of the family is to be first adminished privately to amend his fault; and, in case of his continuing therein, he is to be gravely and sadly reproved by the session; after which reproof, if he be found still to neglect Family-worship, let him be, for his obstinacy in such an offence, suspended and debarred from the Lord’s supper, as being justly esteemed unworthy to communicate therein, till he amend.” Directory for Family Worship (https://thewestminsterstandard.org/directory-for-family-worship/).
A great and free children’s catechism app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wsc-kids/id6455428454.