The title "family
altar" simply means
family Bible study
and worship time.
Every Christian
family should have
such a time daily.

It is amazing how few families really
take this seriously and practice this
routinely. It is the best guarantee to
have Christian children with good
moral standards that do not drift
through the teen years, to have a
family that has a witness for Christ in
the community, and to have a family
that takes the church seriously and
enjoys going to all the services.



It is well to remember the great
command that the Lord gave to
Israel.


Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is
one Lord: And thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy
might. And these words, which I
command thee this day, shall be in
thine heart: and thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children and
shalt talk of them when thou sittest
in thine house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou
liest down, and when thou risest
up" (Deut. 6:4-7).



Worship of the Lord is first of all
vertical and then horizontal and
begins in the home and takes in the
whole family.





I. What Is the Purpose of the Family
Altar?



A. To worship God together and learn
more of His ways. What could be a
better purpose. Children should learn
to worship God in their early years
that they might have respect for Him
in the later years. They need to learn
how to regard Him and to realize that
He is the Creator, Holy, and to be
honored in all that we say and do.



B. To honor God's Word, develop
respect for it, and to live by it. James
says, "But be ye doers of the Word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves" (James 1:22).
Remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, "Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of
God" (Matthew 4:4). Home is a good
place to practice the exhortation, "Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly
in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to
the Lord" (Col. 3:16). In these days
when we have put the Bible out of
our schools, we need to put it back
in our homes and teach our children
from it.



C. To establish the family in the faith,
personal convictions, and doctrine.
Children and young people need
convictions to stand up against their
peers. They must understand their
faith and know something of good
Bible doctrine so they know what
they believe and why. The home
makes a good Bible school where the
children can be grounded as they
face the humanistic, evolutionary
philosophy of [our modern society].




D. To pray over family problems and
needs, burdens the children may
have, and that they may have
confidence in the God that answers
prayer in the everyday things of life.
All the members of the family have
personal needs. It would be good if
they could learn to share them
openly and take them before the Lord
together. There are school needs,
boy and girl friend problems,
problems with play mates, character
problems such as timidity and fears
of all kinds, questions about
amusements, finances. Teenagers
have deep needs and hate to express
them for fear of being misunderstood
or embarrassed. Their problems are
big problems to them and must be
considered. Mom and Dad have
needs of all kinds. Financial needs,
Dad's work needs, the car, moving,
and all kinds of things can be prayed
through with God. All the family
needs to know they can have
confidence in Him and that He will
hear and answer prayer.




E. To pray and intercede for others
such as the pastor, missionaries,
sick folk, unsaved loved ones, the
neighbors, fellow believers in need,
the church, our president, the shut-
ins, those who are in trial or going
through persecutions. Children who
can learn to pray openly at home will
have no problem praying publicly in
the church weekly prayer meetings
as they grow






Why is it that so many household don't have family altars today



This question was one of the question raised by a youth which people found it difficult to answer.





Why is it that so many household don't have f
prayer altars Nowadays ?