The Family Altar

Since I believed in Christ and asked Him to become my Lord, I understood one important thing: with Him, one can have fellowship. When I read the Bible or other books written by God-inspired authors, my Savior speaks to me through these works. And then I decided to talk with God through prayer. I used to think that there were special prayers that had to be memorized and recited like mantras in case of need, which I did, but later I understood that I could pray in my own words and express what was relevant to me and what troubled my heart. Over time, I learned to turn to Jesus for every reason, for any little thing, with every question, or simply to tell Him about my joys and blessings. My prayers carry a different spirit: they may be prayers of thanksgiving, informational, containing requests and questions, or a thirst for wisdom for one task or another. I became accustomed to consulting God on many matters, and each time I would receive interesting thoughts and ideas for solving the issues that arose.

Starting a family is a time for fasting and prayer. Choosing a life partner is the most responsible decision, upon which the entire future life depends. Eyes may see the face and the beautiful figure of the chosen one, but the Lord reveals the heart. That is why prayer is vitally important and necessary in the matter of choosing a spouse. The Lord reveals much in response to my prayers, but the final choice remains with me.

A wife must be a believer from the same denomination as I am, otherwise conflict is unavoidable. From the history of other people's lives, I know that religious disagreements inevitably cause wars, enmity, and opposition, and it would be completely wrong to invite such a spirit into the home. It is important to understand before marriage what the person you wish to join your life with lives by—what and how they pray, what they read, what they watch, and what they believe in. The Lord reveals these questions in fellowship.

I did not know what a family altar was; no one gave me this example in childhood. But I often read about it from other authors and heard many testimonies that this is the most important family practice, through which the Lord pours out special blessings upon all members of the family.

An altar is a place where sacrifices were offered to God and where people worshiped Him in spirit and truth. I decided that in our home there should be such a place where our whole family could gather for prayer and spiritual fellowship. At first, we did this wherever we wished and knelt in any place when the need arose. But over time, I realized that if we had a special place set apart for this, it would bring abundant blessings. We did not know exactly how it should be, so we asked advice from other brethren. It turned out that many did not have it either, and so we decided to do everything our own way, as the Lord put on our hearts.

The living room was the best fit for this service. The sofa and two chairs seemed to invite us to their company, and in the middle we decided to place a soft carpet on the floor so that it would be comfortable to kneel. If guests came, we could place a table and chairs by the sofa.

We decided to gather at this place for our worship in decent clothing, suitable to the room’s temperature. At first, we had no fixed rules regarding the time and order of this service, and we decided to find out what and how was best to do.

From the Bible, we learned that sacrifices were offered to God morning and evening. Therefore, it was decided to gather for worship of our Lord after rising and in the evening before sleep. On the days when we had family councils, we would bow in thanksgiving prayer before holding all our activities.

Since we did not have a fixed schedule, we decided ourselves when and how to hold our meetings.

On Friday evenings, we gathered shortly before sunset to enter into rest together. The two of us sang our favorite hymns, read spiritual works, and thanked God for all the blessings we had throughout the week.

If we had to receive guests, we invited them to join our family altar as well, casually acquainting them with our family tradition of worshiping God. And when we were guests ourselves or at camp meetings, we followed the rules of that house or place. If we stayed overnight, we tried to pray together when the opportunity arose. Our God is always with us, wherever we go, and we can worship Him in spirit and truth in any place and under any circumstances. And even when circumstances separated us so that we could not be together, we agreed to continue praying for one another at all times, especially morning and evening. And if we had a connection, we would hold our service together over the phone.

It was not difficult to establish the family altar, nor was it difficult to maintain it. God condescends to our abilities and accepts from us what we do wholeheartedly and sincerely. We agreed to organize our family worship with love and joy, leaving all other tasks aside at that time. We knew that different circumstances would always interfere in this matter, but after all, everything depends on us, and we can agree on everything.

We also decided that if for some reason we could not gather or gathered at the wrong time, we would not blame ourselves for such exceptions but would look for an opportunity to correct it. We did not want to worship God under the lash of our own whip or in stress.

All this so naturally entered our family life that we did not even think about how best to organize it. Everything was decided as if by itself. And we did not need to spend much time preparing or holding the service. Sometimes our meetings were very quick, and sometimes they lasted until midnight. In good weather, we preferred to pray briefly at home and then continue fellowship during a walk. We were our own masters and together decided how best to arrange things. Every opinion went through a trial period, and then was approved or replaced with a better decision.

In the matter of faith, we gave each other absolute freedom to worship and to understand everything as conscience and reason prompted. But we exchanged our convictions and found much in common, and we tried to bring this into our gatherings.

We also had a common enemy—our laziness, which constantly called us to do nothing, and we had to resist it all the time, saving one another and ourselves from its deadly embrace. The struggle was fierce, but we always won.

We noticed that our order in holding worship brought us great blessings in all areas of our lives. We ourselves, our health, our property, and all our affairs were under God’s protection, and in everything, we felt God’s presence. It is difficult to describe this in words, but it can be experienced.

If we do not give time to God, it will be filled with something else. And whether this other thing will bring blessing to us and our union, we do not know, nor do we want to know. It was decided that I and my house will serve the Lord. For one person this was possible, but for two it became right, interesting, and beautiful.

1. Please read Ex. 29:39,42; Num. 28:3; 1 Chr. 23:30; Josh. 24:15; John 4:23-24; 1 Pet. 2:1-5,9; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Jer. 31:33-34; Ezek. 9:4; Acts 10:1-2; 16:32-33; 1 Tim. 3:12; 1 John 2:15-17; Eph. 5:15-33; Col. 3:14-21; Ps. 55:18; 119:40; 143:6; Eccl. 4:5 in the light of this lesson.

2. What did you understand from this topic?

3. What other Bible verses came to your mind?

4. What is the purpose of family worship?

5. Should you be concerned if there is no such service in your home because of your spouse’s unbelief?

6. Does the Lord expect families to hold spiritual gatherings to worship Him?

7. Is it possible to worship God alone if your spouse does not support you in this matter?

8. Do you find in the images of the Old Testament an example for holding family prayers?

9. Should family worship be planned in your home?

10. What blessings await those who worship God as a family in spirit and in truth?

11. What should I do if only I believe in God in my family?

12. Is there a certain order for home worship, or may each family establish its own rules?

13. Should we judge those who believe in God in their own way and do not organize anything in their home?

14. Does joint worship of God influence family happiness?

15. Should family members be forced to come to common prayers if they do not want to?