Influence of Family-Worship on the Church
In a certain sense, all the advantages of Family -Worship which are indicated in this volume, 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.”* 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
* Matt..vi. 8.
“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 qnaint 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 connexion, 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 hi charge.
* Exod. xvii. 12.
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 ns not be thought to give them nndne prominence, when, among these we specify the poor and the afflicted. God has chosen them for separate regard; “he that hononreth Him hath mercy on the poor.”* And it is very remarkable, that when Peter, James, and John, came to an aorr cement with Paul and Barnabas about their respective fields of labour, 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.”t 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.”t There are other trials of the fellow-
* Prov. xiv. 31. t Gal. ii. 10. y Acts x. 4.
heirs, which are to he 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 any thing 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.”
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. xii. 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.
Besides the direct consequences of family-prayer, in blessings on the church, th.ere are others which must not be overlooked. Not to repeat that the whole tone of piety in a congregation is* elevated by household devotion, the interests of the religious community, as such, are kept continually before the mind. Those who pray for a blessing on the word, will be most apt to expect a blessing, most ready to mourn over barren ordinances, most earnest in longing for revival, most compassionate to the souls of impenitent hearers, and most active in admonition, and other efforts, for the saving of souls. Family-prayer is prayer for more than the family; it is prayer for the church: thus it seconds the preaching, and cultivates the spirit of love for the whole society. Now that the ancient Puritan usage, of repeating in the house the sermon which was heard in the church, has fallen into neglect, it is useful to have such prayers offered on the Lord’s day evening, as may keep up the impression of divine ordinances. On the eve of sacramental services, the daily request of many families for the special presence of Christ is a means of edification to all concerned. In times of awakening, when multitudes are under the pangs of conviction for sin, there is unspeakable preciousness in a daily exercise
14 which presents their case before CtocI, and which tends to diffuse the healthful influence on every side.
All these incidental advantages derived by the church from Family- Worship, may be referred to a single principle: the interests of the body are brought home to the house. “Now are they many members, yet but one body.”* The views of the humble private Christian are enlarged, to take in, first the particular church of which he is a member, and then the whole assemblage of Christ’s ])eople. Surely this is -no unimportant contribution to catholic unity.
We live in an age when, through divine grace, evangelical Christians all over the earth are awakened to a new zeal for the propagation of the gospel, and for general charity, by means of associated effort. Towards this grand result millions of gold and silver are bestowed; but no gift of the church is equal to her prayers. It is not enough that these enterprises should have a place in the sanctuary, they must have a place at the fireside. As the spirit of missions, and the desire of Christ’s appearing, increase among us, a
* 1 Cor. xii. 20.
change will be recognised in our family devotions. The diffusion of God’s word will form a theme of daily supplication. The missionary, the Sabbath-school teacher, and the agent of public benevolence, will be solemnly and affectionately commended to God by praying households. Now this cannot be continued for any length of time wdthout a manifest influence on all who are thus employed. The most experienced of the circle will find their public spirit, their philanthropy, and their zeal for Christ’s house, augmented by this repeated utterance of benevolent desires. The children, youth, and sojourners, of the house, wdll learn to view these works of charity as an essential part of religion, never to be out of sight even for so much as a day. No agency will do more to extend, and render universal, the participation of all our church-members in the great aggressive work of the church. A due application of these truths to the prayers of our families, would put an end to those mortifying and fearful revelations, made from time to time, of whole congregations, and even whole presbyteries, which contribute nothing to the spread.-of the gosp in foreign lands.
Prayer would lead to action, and new energy would be infused into our missions, foreign and domestic, our education of pious youth, and our circulation of Christian books, throuorh the lenoth and breadth of the land. It is respectfully suggested, that pastors and elders may conduce to this end, by timely counsels, as to the mode of conducting family-prayer, and by their own example, when called upon to lead in the prayers of a household. The people at large need to be encouraged to enlarge their petitions for these great objects, and to bring them constantly within the circle of their household devotions.
We have reserved for this place a point which appears to us to be second to no other in its bearing on this branch of our subject; we mean family-prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church. The duty and privilege of such prayer, in general, are acknowledged by every pious heart. We desire to call attention to the necessity of such prayer, as a part of daily household worship. A church is already in a state of revival when all its praying families are thus engaged in siicerity. But in the coldest times, those that fear the Lord should make conscience of bearing this matter on their hearts before God, amidst their families. Immense power is thus added to the public ministry of the word. It is lamentable, that so many live as if the whole weight of responsibility was with the preacher, and as if they had no sort of concern in the success of his work. Periods of great awakening, ever since the day of Pentecost, have been commonly preceded by united and earnest prayer for this particular blessing, on the part of “the multitude of them that believed.” That professing Christian who truly longs for such an awakening as shall bring into the church his children, his neighbours, and all that are afar off, can in no way more directly contribute towards the blessed result, than by deliberately and uninterruptedly making it enter into the prayers in which he leads his household. Where this is forgotten, it is no marvel if religion declines, and if the unconverted members of the family draw the natural conclusion, that, after all, their impenitent condition is an evil too unimportant to be presented before God.
Why should there not be a union of fami- 14* lies in such prayers, by an agreement, one day in the week, to regard this with especial earnestness in their domestic worship? This would at once be a concert. in prayer. The history of those measures which led to our existing Monthly Concert of Prayer, (as it is called) is full of instruction and encouragement. In October, 1744, a number of Scottish ministers adopted a method, for a hmited period of two y ears, namely, to set apart some time on Saturday evening, and on the Lord’s day morning, and more solemnly the first Tuesday of each quarter. Great numbers in Scotland and England fell in with the proposal, and some in America. In Edinburgh alone there were as many as thirty praying societies, some of which consisted of upwards of thirty membyers. The details are not here given, because our intention is only to recommend the principle, as applicable to domestic prayer. But there are some judicious remarks of Edwards, on the Scottish memorial respecting this subject, which are worthy of insertion, as intimately connected with the very topic in hand.
‘’ Union is one of the most amiable things that appertam to human society, yea, it is one of the most beautiful and happy things on earth, which indeed makes earth most like heaven. God has made of one blood all nations of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth, hereby teaching us this moral lesson, that it becomes mankind all to be united as one family. And this is agreeable to the nature that God has given men, disposing them to society; and the circumstances God has placed them in, so many ways obliging and necessitating them to it.” — ‘’As it is the glory of the church of Christ that she, in all her members, however dispersed, is thus one holy society, one city, one family, one body; so it is very desirable that this union should be manifested and become visible, and so, that her distant members should act as one, in those things that concern the common interest of the whole body, and in those duties and exercises wherein they have to do with their common Lord and Head, as seeking of him the common prosperity. It becomes all the members of a particular family, who are so strictly united, and have in so many respects, one common interest, to unite in prayer to God for the things they need; it becomes a nation, in days of prayer appointed by national authority, at certain seasons visibly to unite in prayer for those public mercies which concern the interest of the whole nation; so it becomes the church of Christ, which is one holy nation, a peculiar people, one heavenly family, more strictly united in many respects, and having infinitely greater interests, that are common to the whole, than any other society, I say, it especially becomes this society visibly to unite, and expressly to agree together in prayer to God, for the common prosperity.”
There is nothing in such a proposal which may not be carried out in its principle, by an agreement among Christian brethren in regard to their Family- Worship. Thus, minding the same things, they would be drawn together by a tie of peculiar tenderness, and would feel all the binding influences of Christian friendship increased in strength.
In regard to the education of children who have already been dedicated to God in their baptism, no salutary influence can be considered small. Such children ought to grow up in the midst of prayers which may teach them how to pray. They should learn, from the beginning, to look, not on their own tilings only, but every one ‘’ also on the tilings of others;” and to regard the church of the Lord Jesus Christ as the great object of their affection, even from their earliest years. All the sentiments which, as we have said above, are cultivated by Family-Worship, are brought into the warm and ductile affections of the youthful heart, among the most favourable circumstances. So that we are justified in expecting a marked difference, in respect to largeness of soul, and expansive benevolence, and attachment to the church, between one who has passed his childhood in a house of prayer, and one who has lived through that period of momentous interest among neglecters of God.
Can the church wdllingly forego an instrumentality which promises these results? Can professors of faith in Christ deny themselves and their little ones a means of grace which God so blesses, or remain among the dangers of the ‘’heathen, and the families that call not on his name?”