“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 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 sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”           Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Testimonies of Family Prayer

 (Implemented in a single congregation / Timeframe:  Approx. 6 months – 1 year)

• Marriages Restored

Marriages brought back from the brink of divorce.  Couples testify that there is a depth of spiritual union that never existed prior to the development of a family prayer altar.  One couple in England that started a prayer altar in their home (admittedly nominal in their faith at that time) has been so transformed in their individual and family life that doors have now opened for them to share their testimony in cities across the nation.  Many are hungry to experience what God has accomplished in them.

• Children & Youth Encountering God

– Small children passionately worshipping God without being prompted by an adult

– Teenagers/young adults spontaneously having times of seeking God’s Presence (outside of the official “altar time”)  One testifies, “I was so angry at my dad.  I walked in and my siblings were praying and I just couldn’t hold onto the hurt.  I had to forgive.”

– Those who have begun family altars testify there is now less need for discipline in the home as God’s Spirit begins to convict and instruct their children.  One woman testifies that her teenage daughter recently came in and asked if she could throw out the videos that God was convicting her about.

– A young child was physically healed of an illness as she cried out to God in prayer.  Prior to this healing she was about to be taken to the emergency room.

– In a home where they were having just one night of family altar a week – Their 18 year old son said, “Can we have two or three family altars a week, because I think we’re just scratching the surface of what God can do here.”

– Several young children (ages 5-7) have approached their parents asking – at times even begging – to have the Bible read to them

– Approx. 30-40% of the youth group in the church is now considering or has already begun the process of entering into full-time ministry.  Seeing their parents seeking God in the home.  Modeling a lifestyle that is lived solely for the purposes of God – is having an impact on the long-term dreams of their children.  “I want to be a missionary” is increasingly becoming the refrain of many.

• Doors open to the unchurched

Example: 9 year old reading his Bible caused his unchurched 9 year friend to start reading his Bible.  The confused family is eventually admonished by their 9 year old “we need to go to church.”

Doors open to establish prayer altars in workplaces, among the homeless, among university students etc… – where the church previously had no ministry presence.

Conclusion: 

If this is what God is doing through a single congregation seeking to implement family prayer altars – How much more could be accomplished if Christian families did this across a neighborhood, a city, or a nation?

Want more Resources to start something like this in your marriage/family?  Go to the “Family” section of our website by clicking here.