Several weeks ago in the Minneapolis area we had a men’s prayer breakfast between two churches there. It was on my heart to hold a meeting where we discuss leading our homes and being men of God. The subject is really burning in my heart. I spoke a message to them about husbands and fathers teaching their family of the great works and plans of God. This is a command tied directly to the old covenant, but continues under the new covenant where husbands are to bring up their household in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Teach Your Children

Genesis 18:17-19  And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;  18  Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?  19  For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Here we see that God says he will reveal his secrets to Abraham because he will command his children and household after him. God is so desirous to reveal himself to his people that he specifically chooses men who will teach their families and those around them to reveal himself through. Are you such a man?

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:  5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:  7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.  9  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

What an all encompassing task we have as husbands and fathers! First, we must hide the word of God in our hearts, this means we need to understand the Word and to memorize the Word. Secondly, we need to teach them diligently. The word diligently in Hebrews speaks of sharpening a sword. So, the way we are teaching our children the word of God is actually sharpening them for use in battle. Thirdly, the times we should teach our children are when we are resting in our house, when we are walking (driving) on a trip, when it’s time for bed and after waking up in the morning. Fourthly, we are commanded to attach the word of God to our hands and put it between our eyes, under the new covenant we know this word is written on hearts by the Holy Spirit. Fifthly, the Word should be visible in our homes, in the old covenant it was to be written as a reminder, but under the new covenant it shows that it should be manifested openly in our lives throughout our home and yard.

To demonstrate this is not merely an old covenant command, let’s look to the epistles of Paul.

Ephesians 6:4  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We want to emphasize in this verse that the job of teaching our children the things of God is not to be relegated to another. A father is to oversee this process and to ensure that he is personally teaching his child. Certainly, the mother has a great role as a teacher and example of the Gospel, but there is nothing can replace this work of the father in the life of his children.

Brother Branham prayed in the sermon Expectation in 1951, “God, I pray that You’ll mend up the broken homes, and—and make the ones that’s in homes that’s indifferent, fathers and mothers who doesn’t pray, give them an experience tonight that they’ll start a family altar at their home. Grant it, Lord.”

What Does This Look Like?

During our men’s meeting a brother asked, how do we do that? My children are young, but I need to know how to teach them beyond reading basic bible stories. This was a fantastic question and without being taught myself, I was completely unaware as well. I was just under the impression we should simply answer questions of our family and do some devotions, but as I began to realize that the fact is that I should be leading worship with my family on a daily basis, at least once a day.

Throughout all ages of the church, worship was performed in the house, led by the father of the family, on a daily basis. Prayer was uttered, songs were sung, the Bible was read and questions were answered or a short explanation offered. For families with younger children you can keep the length of family worship shortened. This will lengthen as they grow in age.

In my family every night before bed time for the children we worship together as a family. I open with prayer and then we have a song book and each of us select a song, then I read a chapter of the Bible and then we speak our prayer requests and we pray. Some families can do this in the morning and also in the evening. This would be a wonderful use of your time.

You should start this even before you have children, husbands and wives should meet together every day at least once to pray. When your wife is pregnant your unborn children will be a part of it in utero and then upon birth continue this family worship. As the children are younger they may not know what is happening, but they will learn about this very important family event that takes place everyday and it will become a rock for them.

The Benefits of Family Worship

In praying for revival brother Branham spoke of some of the benefits and results of revival…

Heavenly Father, You see those who put up their hands. You know all about them. Now, I pray, God, that this will be the moving and the breaking time, that there’ll be such a revival sweep this week, until homes will be reunited, Lord, and the power of God will come into every home: old fashion prayer altars, where dad and mother and the children are around the—the table a praying, and down in the bedroom, and in the living room, praying, and worshipping Jesus and making Him welcome.

55-1002 – The Unwelcomed Christ

If done with humility and love this sweet time of family worship will become the event that solidifies the Gospel in the heart of your children. They will be touched with the reality of your faith and drawn near to the presence of the living God on a daily basis. And it will cause your children to carry on the same family worship in their homes when they are grown.

Many of us did not grow up with family worship and were not taught how to do it. Now is the time for us to change, now is the time for us to step up and lead our families.

You fathers, you mothers, are you ready to establish an altar in your house, and take that television out? Are you ready to take that deck of cards off the table? Them comic books that your children’s reading, preparing their little mind for a blast that the devil’s going to give them. Are you ready to establish the old family altar again? Or do you just want to continue on the way you are? You want to continue on, you’re not in condition of coming yet; but I pray that you’re like Samson, you see the price and you’re ready, “Lord, let me die with them.”

63-0120E – Just One More Time, Lord