[Jan. 25 – Jan. 31 : Family Worship in My Life]
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:10.
If ever there was a time when every house should be a house of prayer, it is now. Infidelity and skepticism prevail. Iniquity abounds. Corruption flows in the vital currents of the soul, and rebellion against God breaks out in the life. Enslaved by sin, the moral powers are under the tyranny of Satan. The soul is made the sport of his temptation; and unless some mighty arm is stretched out to rescue him, man goes where the arch rebel leads the way.
And yet in this time of fearful peril some who profess to be Christians have no family prayer….
The idea that prayer is not essential is one of Satan’s most successful devices to ruin souls. Prayer is communion with God, the fountain of wisdom, the source of strength and peace and happiness. Jesus prayed to the Father “with strong crying and tears.” … “Pray one for another,” James says; “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
By sincere, earnest prayer parents should make a hedge about their children. They should pray with full faith that God will abide with them, and that holy angels will guard them and their children from Satan’s cruel power….
How appropriate it is for parents to gather their children about them before the fast is broken and point them to the heavenly Father, who so liberally gives them the bounties of His providence! How fitting for them to thank Him for His protection during the night and to ask for His help and grace and the watchcare of His angels during the day! How fitting, also, when evening comes, to gather once more before Him and praise Him for the mercies and blessings of the day that is past!
