Influence of Family Worship on the Church (1)

In a certain sense, all advantages of family worship may be said to redound to the good of the church; but this is true also of influences which are more special and immediate.

Whatever may be the reflex and incidental consequences of prayer, these are second to its grand consequence, to wit, its answer in heaven. “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:8). The primary advantage of family prayer to the church is that it is answered. It is no small thing for any congregation to have daily cries for God’s blessing on it ascending from a hundred firesides. What a spring of refreshment to a pastor! The family devotions of praying Kidderminster, no doubt, made Baxter a better minister, and a happier man; and it is possible that we are reaping the fruits of them in his Saints’ Rest, and Dying Thoughts. We have all heard of the preacher who told his flock that he had “lost his prayer-book,” meaning their prayers; as also that good, quaint saying of the last age, “A praying people makes a preaching minister.” Such aid has been well compared to that of Aaron and Hur. Faithful and affectionate Christians never fail to remember their spiritual guide in their household supplications. Though we cannot trace the connection, such prayers are often answered in the house of God. Amidst the peculiar trials and discouragements of a laborious pastor, it is one of his chief restoratives to know that he is thought of by the family groups of worship in every part of his parish. This stimulates him to give all possible diffusion to the observance; and as his praying households increase, the strength of his arm is increased of God. Every considerate minister will rejoice in a stated service of so much simplicity, and susceptible of so easy enlargement, for keeping him and his wants and his sacred work every day before some portion, if not the whole, of his charge.

But the pastor is not the church, though he is an important member of it, and though his spiritual prosperity is an index of the prosperity of the church. Within the parish bounds there are other objects to be prayed for, and these cannot but arise before the praying household. Let us not be thought to give them undue prominence, when, among these we specify the poor and the afflicted. God has chosen them for separate regard, “he that honoureth Him hath mercy on the poor” (Prov. 14:31). And it is very remarkable that when Peter, James, and John came to an agreement with Paul and Barnabas about their respective fields of labor, the one additional point which had a distinct memorandum was (in the language of Paul), “only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do” (Gal. 2:10). The indigent members of a church are, in a special manner, committed to the love and prayers of Christian families who, while they have enough and to spare, will perhaps cause their prayers and their alms together to “come up for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:4). There are other trials of the fellow-heirs which are to be borne in mind. Such is the unity of the catholic body that we ought, at some seasons, to remember before God every brother and sister in Christ Jesus, throughout all the earth. It is a delightful part of fraternal intercession, which brings to our hearts more sensibly than anything else can do, the oneness of the body of Christ. There are scattered cases in different parts of the world of brethren who are so insulated, and so remote from any help, that they would have none to pray for them unless this spirit of expansive love prevailed in the church. Among the revelations of the last day, we shall possibly discover that some of the richest blessings we ever received have descended on us in answer to the prayers of brethren whose faces we shall first behold on “that day.”

What can be more beautiful than a whole church, with all its members, daily praying for one another!

If there is any case of extraordinary affliction in a particular church, it will be brought to remembrance in the hour of family-prayer. Such references touch the heart. They educate youthful sensibility and train up the Christian child to “rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” (Rom. 12:15).

Intercessory prayer is a part of devotion which is much neglected. The late excellent William Romaine of London has a treatise on this subject, which is deserving of perusal. His own practice was most exemplary. He kept a list of friends, ministers, afflicted persons, and others, whom he made the subjects of special intercession by name. At first he devoted to this work of love a single afternoon in each week, but his catalogue increased so much that he was at length constrained to devote to it an additional evening. In our letters and our partings we are accustomed, often too formally, to ask the prayers of our friends. Such requests are apt to be forgotten. Family worship brings them to mind. Here we can relieve beloved brethren whom we may be unable to help in any other way. And what can be more beautiful than a whole church, with all its members, daily praying for one another! The judgment day will bring to light unnumbered benefits conferred in answer to the requests of devout families.

Dr. James W. Alexander (1804–1859), eldest son of the renowned Archibald Alexander, wrote many volumes on practical Christian themes, including Plain Words to a Young Communicant (1854) and Thoughts on Preaching (1864). This article is drawn from his Thoughts on Family Worship (1847).

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