Advice On Family Prayer from Matthew Henry

From the NCIFC blog:

On April 16,1604, Matthew Henry preached an abundantly practical sermon to the families gathered in his congregation. One part of the sermon was for equipping them for prayer in their households. Here is what he said:

Five things especially you should have upon your heart in your family prayer, and should endeavour to bring something of each into every prayer with your families:

1. You ought to make family-Acknowledgements on your Dependence upon God and his Providences as you are a family.

give unto the Lord the Glory due unto his Name;

Give honor to God as the Founder of Families by his Ordinance, because it was not good for man to be alone; as the founder of your Families by his Providence, for he it is that buildeth the House, and setteth the Solitary in Families. Give Honor to him as the owner and Ruler of families…

2. You ought to make Family-Confessions of your Sins against God; those Sins you have contracted the Guilt of your Family…

How sad is the Condition of those Families that sin together, and never pray together, that by concurring in Frauds, Quarrels and Excesses, by Strengthening one another’s Hands in Impiety and Profaneness, fill the measure of Family-Guilt, and never agree together to do any thing to empty it.’

And even Religious Families, that are not polluted with gross and scandalous Sins, yet have need to join every Day in the Solemn Acts and Expressions of Repentance before God for their Sins of daily infirmity. Their vain words, and unprofitable conversation among themselves; their manifold defects in relative duties, provoking one another...

3. You ought to offer up Family Thanksgivings for the blessings which you, with our Families, receive from God.

Many are the mercies which you enjoy the Sweetness and Benefit of in common; which if wanting to one, all the Family would be sensible of it. Hath not God made a Hedge of Protection about you and your houses and all that you have…

4. You ought to present your Family-Petitions for the Mercy and Grace which your Families stand in need of.

Daily Bread is received by Families together, and we are taught not only to pray for it every day, but to pray together for it, saying ‘Our Father, give it us’. There are Affairs and Employments which the Family is jointly concerned in the Success of, and therefore should jointly ask of God Wisdom for the Management of them, and Prosperity therein. There are family cares to be cast upon God, by Prayer, Family Comforts to be fought for, and Family-Crosses which they should together beg for the Sanctification and Removal of.

5. You ought to make Family-Intercessions for others also.

There are Families you stand related to, or which by Neighborhood, Friendship or Acquaintance, …utmost Corners of the Earth, and to them that are afar off upon the Sea.”

8 Tips for talking to kids about the sermon

In this post, Joe Holland has written a brief guide on how to talk to your kids about a sermon, including 8 handy tips.

What I would also like to know is; how do you discuss a sermon that was doctrinally incorrect or misleading with your children, without undermining the authority of the preacher? Maybe I’ll give it some thought and write down my ideas…

Steve

http://joehol.com/post/3344217177

Joel Beeke on Leading Family Worship

 

At Desiring God’s recent 2011 conference for Pastors, Joel Beeke gave an extremely encouraging and practical address on leading family worship. To date, it is probably the most comprehensive message I have heard on the subject.

Topics addressed include:

• The Necessity of Family Worship

• The Duty of Family Worship

• The Implementation of Family Worship

• Objections to Family Worship

• Motivations for Family Worship

I heartily recommend this message to you: it can be viewed or downloaded (for free) at the link below.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/leading-family-worship

The only “youth program” your kids need

In this article, Rev. Michael Brown shares some thoughts on what he says is the only “youth program” your kids need; family worship and catechesis:

Coming to Reformed Christianity, my wife and I not only learned the sobering truth about the means of grace and what actually happens during the Divine Service on the Lord’s Day, we also learned about the vital importance of regular family worship throughout the week. Clearly, this was a practice far more biblical (and historical) than the compartmentalized, hustle-bustle of a busy week at church. The ancient paths God carved out for families to walk in long ago were new to us. We learned how he designed the family to be a worshiping unit, an entity that would engage in prayer, praise and instruction in the course of ordinary, daily life. We learned how Christian parents have the covenantal responsibility-both toward God and their children-of bringing up their little ones as disciples in the historic Christian faith. Suddenly, all those passages about training up your children began to come into color.

Read more here:

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2010/12/04/this-is-not-your-neighbors-youth-group/

The one parenting habit that changes everything

It's the way he was raised, the way his parents had been raised back in the homeland. You never leave the table without chewing the Real Bread. Even if there were cows to milk and you had to run, or you were late for prayer meeting at the church, or you had company for dinner. If you sat down to eat, you never left the table without eating Words.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/08/one-parenting-habit-that-changes.html

Practical Ideas for Family Worship

In this post for The Resurgence, Worship Pastor Tim Smith provides 7 practical ideas for family worship.

http://theresurgence.com/ideas_for_family_worship

A Family Scripture Memory Plan

In this blog post, Scott Brown outlines the 6 elements which form his family’ s plan for scripture memorisation.

http://www.ncfic.org/index.php?module=weblogmodule&action=view&id=520&src=@random493e73d2154bd

How can I make sure I am individually shepherding my children?

In this blog post, Brian Croft provides a great example of how a father can individually shepherd his children. I was challenged by the way that this role is given such a high priority, in terms of setting aside the time every night. 

http://briancroft.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/how-can-i-make-sure-i-am-individually-shepherding-my-children/

Scripture Memory: A Father's Perspective

Here are some great thoughts from Tyson Paoletti on leading your family in worship and using memory verses. I particularly like the verses he found, which speak about a father’s responsibility to lead his family in this area.

http://theresurgence.com/scripture_memory_a_fathers_perspective

The unchanging God gets a new attribute

During devotions the other night we were discussing Jonah and how futile it was for him to run away from God. I asked the kids which of God’s attributes made it impossible for us to run away from Him, and instead of Omnipresent, I got the answer Octurnal, which (apparently) means that He never sleeps :)

4 constants in family bible study from Pastor Mark Driscoll

In this post on the Mars Hill blog, Pastor Mark Driscoll answers the question, “How can we better study the Bible with our spouses and children?”

http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2010/04/19/how-can-we-better-study-the-bible-with-our-spouses-and-children/

How I Pastor my family

I enjoy reading how other families do devotions and Bible study together; it is encouraging and often enlightening. In this post for The Resurgence, Pastor Justin Hyde answers some questions he is often asked, like  "What do 'family devotions' look like at your house?" or, "How do you pastor your family?" or even more simply, "Do you pray or read the Bible with your wife and children?"

Steve

http://theresurgence.com/how_i_pastor_my_family

Catechism: Grounded in the Gospel

In the latest Whitehorse Inn podcast, Michael Horton discusses catechism with J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett, who are about to release a book titled Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old Fashioned Way. Like all of the WHI podcasts, it’s well worth a listen, which you can do using the player at the end of this post, or from http://www.whitehorseinn.org/.

We were inspired to use catechism after reading Voddie Baucham’s Family Driven Faith. The one we have chosen to use is a family devotional called Training Hearts, Teaching Minds, which based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It contains 6 short devotionals for each question, and as there are 107 questions, it is going to take us a while to get through! There are often times when we miss out on doing it after dinner, for one reason or another, but we are making reasonable progress and enjoying it at the same time.

I think catechism it is an invaluable method of teaching doctrine to the whole family, including ourselves. Check out the Grounded in the Gospel podcast, it’s great!

Steve