“Family worship is a non-negotiable essential for the Christian family. Several years ago, I read a statement from Dr. John MacArthur about raising children. I cannot quote him word for word, but the central truth that I remember was this: Teach the Scriptures to your children daily, discipline your children consistently, and love your children unconditionally. If you do these things, you will have acted biblically. This truth has been a foundation stone to my family life and the raising of my children. Usually five times a week, my family meets in the evening for devotions and prayer. I have three children, aged twelve, nine, and six. During our devotion, we study through books of the Bible, and we pray. Each night, we advance a few verses in Proverbs and a few verses in whatever other book of the Bible we are studying. For example, at this moment, we are studying in Proverbs 16 and Luke 11. We do line-by-line exposition. One child will read the verse, and I will teach. Then the next child will read the following verse, and I expound upon it. In the midst of this, there are also comments and questions by my wife and children. We are now going through Proverbs for the third time, and we have gone through the following other books: Matthew; John; Romans; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; I & IIThessalonians; I & II Peter; and I, II, & III John. Usually, we spend about half an hour in study each evening. However, at times when the children’s interest has been peaked, the devotions have lasted an hour. I am careful to follow what is happening with my children during the devotion. Devotions should not be drudgery, but the highlight of the day.”
~ Paul Washer
Taken from an interview by Tim Challies
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