A Family Altar is a time and space dedicated to spending time with God as a family. It is generally more in-depth and longer than a morning devotional or bedtime Bible reading and prayers. Perhaps we are familiar with family meetings or family games nights as ways of strengthening bonds between family members. Well, building a Family Altar is a way to strengthen the bonds between our family and our faith in God. God does not love us more if we do it and God is always faithful to His promises to us. We, though, need to find ways to be faithful to God and to put our love for Him into action. Building a Family Altar is one way to do this.
Abraham is our biblical example. Abraham responded to God by building altars. Altars exist for sacrifice. They represent sacrifice whether or not anything is slaughtered on them. Abraham understood that the appropriate response to the blessing of the Lord is sacrifice. He was even willing to sacrifice his beloved son. We do not need to make sacrifices on physical altars because Jesus sacrificed His life for us once and for all. Our response to this blessing is to willingly sacrifice our time and effort in His honour, and we can train our children to do the same. As well regularly build altars in our homes we dedicate our homes and our families to God.
We may understand the importance of personal devotional time; family devotional time is equally important. The Family Altar can encapsulate every one of The PARENT Principles. At the Family Altar, we pray and teach our children about the love of God and how to relate to Him. We can teach our children what it means to revere God. Our children may know that we have a devotional time but they get to experience an extension of it when we do it together. We provide them with an example they can carry on when by themselves in the future. We nourish and nurture them with the Word of God, our time, our prayers, and our attention. We demonstrate the importance of living our faith together.
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near - Hebrews 10:25 NLT
It is helpful for me to think about it as building something. I want my family and the lives of each member of my family to be built on Jesus Christ. Every time we spend time with God in prayer, praise and the Word we are building our lives on the Sure Foundation.
Building a Family Altar Starts with God and You
In Matthew 6:6, we can read about Jesus telling His disciples to pray to the Father in private. If you are not having regular personal devotion, start there. Sometimes it can feel easier to focus on trying to get our children to meet with God while we neglect developing our relationship with God. God does not prioritise our parental role over us as individuals. We can only effectively teach the God we know. Our leading must be authentic or eventually our children will recognise us as fakes and may consider the God we serve to be the same. We do not need to know everything or be perfect, we just need to be genuine. So, if need be, start (or re-start) spending time with God yourself. After a few weeks, begin to talk to your children about what God is talking to you about and from there you can build towards a regular and consistent family devotion time which many call a Family Altar.
Building a Family Altar
It can be helpful to have a prescribed format so that we do not neglect any area or flounder part way through. It may take some trial and error to find a regular time but it can be beneficial to schedule a set day and time for this as children benefit greatly from established routines; they find security and comfort in knowing what to expect. We need to remember not to get comfortable with a format, holding on to it religiously. We need to be flexible day by day and willing to change things up or let go of what once worked. Above all, we endeavour to be led by the Holy Spirit on how the time should flow.
Having children of different ages means that we have to be a bit more creative about engaging everyone in the process. Below are some ideas for building a Family Altar. No one is expected to do every activity on this list!
Building a Family Altar with Singing and Dancing
The Bible tells us to enter God's gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (see Psalm 100:4). This suggests singing and movement. Sometimes it can feel silly, but God loves children and families enjoying themselves in His presence. Perhaps the children can select the song they know if one to learn. Everyone can sing along with an online video or audio, or sing with their voices only. Children (and adults) who do not sing and dance for God at home may be more likely to be self-conscious about doing it in church.
I have been introducing my children to worshipping God with flags and want to talk to them about the bodily postures of prayer and worship that reflect and direct the posture of the heart. It is important for children and adults to not think singing to God is for church alone. Singing is a vital part of spiritual warfare.
This time is for the whole family to worship through singing and dancing. Make sure you get involved if you are physically able. Lead by example and, together with your children, dance like David danced! (See 2 Samuel 6:14-22).
Building a Family Altar with the Word of God
Reading the Word
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up - Deuteronomy 6:5-7 NKJV
The Family Altar is a perfect time to introduce our children to the Bible. Bible-based videos online can follow up the reading of a Bible passage to help younger children understand and engage. The YouVersion Bible App has a useful daily reflection and a version for children called the Kid's Bible Experience is at the bottom of the home page.
I have asked my teenage daughter to select a portion of Scripture for us during this time and tell us why she chose it. She is old enough to prepare to share something from her daily reading when we meet as a family weekly.
I may ask my younger daughters to talk about the Bible verse from Sunday school or about something they or we have read in the week.
Meditating on the Word of God
We have been meditating on Psalm 23. I anticipate that we will learn it by heart, but this is not my focus. I want my children to learn to meditate on the Word of God and hear the Holy Spirit speaking to them through it. Memorisation for me, at the moment, is not the end goal but a beneficial byproduct of meditation. To help us all know the Lord as our Shepherd we usually listen to all or some of Psalm 23 and discuss the meaning of a verse. We may draw or write about it while listening to it play. We may discuss what it means for our lives.
Studying the Word
We might look at what Scripture says about a topic or issue that has come up at home or elsewhere. We could look deeper at something from a devotional we have been reading at other times.
I aim to focus on a different theme or Word from the Bible each month of the year. This takes a bit more preparation on my part, but it will be more than worth it.
Decreeing and Declaring the Word
It is so important to decree and declare the Word of God over ourselves and our children and to introduce them to this discipline.
Building a Family Altar with Prayer
We Prioritise Prayer and there are lots of ways to pray together as a family. Here are a few ideas and tips about incorporating prayer into building a Family Altar. They do not all need to be used in one meeting.
GLAD
The GLAD acronym can be used to help us think about what we want to pray about. It stands for Grateful, Learned, Accomplished, and Delighted in. It was created to help people think more positively about life, but I have co-opted it to encourage us to pray about a breadth of things and to notice God's hand in our day. Each family member could pick or be assigned a different or the same letter and use it to inspire their prayer.
Prayer Books
One of my children especially enjoys using a children's prayer book. She appointed herself to read from it at the end of any kind of family fellowship and we have agreed she can select one or two prayers to read. I, too, have some treasured prayer books that I use in my personal devotional time and sometimes use them during this time of family fellowship.
Prayer Journals
Prayer journals are a way to record prayers. As we write down or draw our prayers we have a record to go back to. We can be encouraged to thank God as we review past prayers that have since been answered. We can also learn about ourselves as we consider who or what we pray about the most.
One Minute Prayers
Sometimes younger children, in particular, can pray long wandering prayers with no end. To help us get to everyone and stop others from becoming impatient or distracted we sometimes use a stopwatch and ask for one-minute prayers or, I will tell the child they have one minute left. You may be amazed at how much can be covered in just sixty seconds. This does not encourage them to whizz through the prayer as quickly as possible; instead, it helps them to focus on what they want to pray about. When the time is up, rather than being cut off mid-sentence, they are encouraged to finish up. I will sometimes discreetly pause the timer to give them more time if it is needed. The purpose is not for them to finish but to focus.
Breath Prayers
I love using breath prayers to meditate on God's Word or a Biblical concept. They are a good way to start or end this time of fellowship or to bring everyone back to focusing on God if things are going off track! Here is an example of a breath prayer using Psalm 23:1: I ask the children to close their eyes, relax and take a few deep slow breaths. I instruct them to say in their mind, "The Lord is my Shepherd" as they slowly breathe in, and "I have all that I need" as they slowly exhale. We might do this 3 to 5 times before moving on. It could take a few tries for children to get the hang of it, but with patience, they will get there.
Building a Family Altar with Holy Communion
This time can also be used to take the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion. I do not believe children should be excluded once they can understand that some things are serious, some are silly and some are somewhere in the middle. A parent can explain to a young child that Holy Communion is very serious because of what it represents. They may not fully understand the significance but they can learn how to treat it. I have and will continue to speak to my children about the significance and meaning of the bread and the wine (we use water or juice) and, like them, I will continue to learn about it. I also encourage my eldest to lead it from time to time.
Building a Family Altar with Christian Meditation Apps
I have a couple of apps we sometimes use to meditate on the Word of God. It can be a pleasant and relaxing way to transition into or out of this time.
Screens and the Family Altar
We may use technology during our time at the Family Altar. I have mentioned playing Psalm 23, using a Christian meditation app or watching a Bible-based video. We tend to use a tablet or laptop which will not ring or have other distracting notifications. We can then all put our mobile phones in another part of the room or house. I try to keep the use of screens to a minimum and to use them to enhance the time and not to entertain. It is quite possible to have a screen-free and device-free Family Altar.
What would you include when building a Family Altar? Comment below.
Think-Pray-Pause: Building a Family Altar
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it - NLT
Read the Scripture then think about it, use it to pray, and pause to listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say. Do this in any order or configuration that you like.
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