Family Worship: Prayer

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” ~Colossians 4:2

In our series on family worship, we've talked about reading Scripture and singing God's praises in the home. Today we come to the final element of what our Reformed tradition has always taught belongs to family worship: prayer. Perhaps we should pause to first ask the question: What is prayer?

The Westminster Larger Catechism (Q. 178) asks that very question. The answer is simple, yet remarkably profound: Prayer is “an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.” That's a lot happening around your dinner table when you pray with your family. We come to God as Father, through Christ our Mediator, by the Spirit's help — the same weighty, Trinitarian act that happens in corporate worship, just spoken at your own table instead.

Notice, too, that our prayers are an offering — the Shorter Catechism adds that they're to be for “things agreeable to His will” (Q. 98). Just as corporate worship follows God's own instruction rather than the worshiper's preference, our prayers are shaped by what God has revealed, not merely what we happen to want. That is exactly why Christ gave His disciples a pattern to follow — the Lord's Prayer shows us what's agreeable to God’s will.

One thing the Lord’s Prayer teaches us is that prayer is not principally a solitary exercise. When Christ taught His disciples to pray, He didn't hand them a private formula. He gave them “Our Father,” not “My Father.” Both catechisms pick up on this directly, teaching that the preface of the Lord's Prayer instructs us “to pray with and for others.” Two different things are happening there, and both matter for your home.

First, praying with one another. Your children's first exposure to what prayer even sounds like will likely be your voice praying out loud in family worship — confessing your own sin, asking for God’s help, giving thanks for His mercies. Long before they're able to understand the depths of what prayer is, they're learning what dependence on God sounds like by hearing yours. You get to be the first voice your child ever hears talk to God in humble confidence.

Second, praying for one another. This is where family prayer becomes more than devotion done in proximity — it becomes the place you carry each other before the Lord. Your spouse's hard week. Your child's unique struggle. A grandparent's illness. The needs of your church family. Praying by name, night after night, is how a family learns to bear each other's burdens at the throne of grace.

And yes, it may feel repetitive. The same handful of requests, evening after evening. But Paul doesn't call us to novelty in prayer; he calls us to continue steadfastly. Faithfulness, not freshness, is the goal.

So gather your family. Confess your sins. Offer up your desires. Pray with them, and pray for them. And do it with thanksgiving — for the God who invites you to pray never tires of listening to your prayers.

Rev. Kyle W. A. Lockhart, Pastor