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Fire-side Piety, Or, The Duties and Enjoyments of Family Religion
Fireside Piety Or The Duties and Enjoyments of Family Religion Author:Jacob Abbott Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE DUTY OF FAMILY PRAYER Chapter II. TO THE PARENTS. " As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Family prayer has perhaps more influence than a... more »ny other one thing in bringing a household under the control of christian principles. Every one whose heart has been touched with love to God, will feel this to be his most delightful privilege. Sometimes we hear even professing Christians ask, Where is family prayer enjoined in the Bible ? Point me to the chapter and the verse, they say, and then I will obey the command. What a state of heart does this show! Here is a man who pretends to be a Christian, and yet regards family prayer as an irksome task, which is only to be endured when imposed by rigorous and unrelenting authority. He has no heart to come with his children, and bow around the altar of God, commending himself and them to divine care. If God imperiously and positively requires it, he will submit, but he refuses unless you point out to him the direct command. This is not the spirit of genuine piety. The sincere Christian would rather give up a portion of his daily food, or deprive himself of necessary rest, than not have God recognized in his family. Nothing would give him greater pain than to be debarred from this privilege. He is resistlessly impelled by his own feelings to go to the Lord and implore his blessing upon his household. THE MODE OF CONDUCTING FAMILY PRAYER. I Was once passing a few days in the house of a devoted Christian, who had a family of small children. Every morning they were assembled, and the father read a long chapter from the Bible, together with all the notes and practical observations of a voluminous commentary upon the passage, and concluded the exercise with a long prayer. A little reflection might have taught this parent...« less