Passing the Baton – The Family Altar
August 14, 2025 | 3:04 am
I recently had an interesting discussion with my kids over why we pray at home and why we need to pass the spiritual baton to them so they can pass it on to their kids. According to Barna (2003), “fewer than one-twentieth of churched households ever worship God outside of a church service or have any type of regular Bible study or devotional time together during a typical week.” This should not be our story.
The Bible not only gives us models of family worship but also commands it. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Moses told Israel: And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and whenyou rise.”
In Malachi 2:15, God’s desire for marriage is to bring up a godly offspring. This is evident in God’s promise to make Abraham a great nation and to bless all the families of the earth through him. A key aspect of this promise involved Abraham teaching his children and household to keep the way of the Lord. 
I grew up in a single-parent family. My Mum gave us two important gifts: the way of salvation and dependence on God. First and foremost, she led us to Christ, read the word for us every day and became our Sunday school teacher by default. She even went and trained with Life Ministry Children’s ministry just so that she could know how to teach us the word!
Secondly, she taught us how to have strong faith in God in a way that before we asked her for anything, we would inform her that we had already had this discussion with our Father in heaven in prayer. A typical mother-daughter conversation in our household would go like this:
Me: (Coming from school and with a teary face) Mum, I need new shoes.
Mum: Really?! What’s wrong with your current shoes?
Me: (Holding up a torn Bata ‘ngoma’ rubber shoe that had a big hole at the bottom for her to see) See!
Mum: Yes, you look like you do need a new shoe (looking unconcerned but turning away to hide her tears from me). Tell me?
Me: (Looking up to her expectantly)
Mum: Have you asked your daddy in heaven?
(I knew she would ask me this question)
Me: (hanging my head) Yes, I have. He’s very quiet. Am not sure he heard me (balancing tears).
Mum: (With her hand on my shoulder) You go and ask Him again and I will help you ask him as well (she quickly wiped her hands as we walked together to the bedroom to pray).
Once in the bedroom, we both pray.
Me: Dear Lord, I need a shoe. My friends are laughing at me in school. Please give Mum money to buy me shoes. Amen.
Such prayers developed and helped me grow in faith especially when I saw the prayers being answered. After a few days or weeks, God would remain true to his word and I would see my mother walk home with shoes. Never minding that most times they were second-hand shoes but they were mine and in good condition. I knew God answers prayers!
There have never been more resources published on the topic, more study bibles available, more kids and teen devotional guides than right now, in English. And yet, in the history of the church, we seem to be the generation with the fewest homes engaged in family worship, and with devastating effects on the next generation ( Crabtree, 2024). We risk a Judges 2:10 situationship if we don’t turn around!
Judges 2:10 (NIV) After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
God desires us to bring up a godly offspring. It does not matter whether you are a single-parent family or a double-parent family. If God has entrusted you with a child or children, then we have the responsibility to teach them and bring them up in God’s ways.
We do this by building a ‘Family Altar or devotion time’ in our home. What is that? Do i hear you asking? It’s a daily time and place of prayer and the teaching of the word in your home. Perhaps you are challenged on the when, where and how to do it. Or you started and got discouraged a long the way. Please hear me out!
What are the components of our Family Altar?
- A specific place where everyone can gather comfortably- the family / seating / lounge room
- Have a specific time of day that takes precedence over everything. Ground every other activity to a halt, preferably before the kids start to fall asleep .
- Make a leading rota to include everyone in the house. Let everyone take turns to lead.
- Invite everyone in the house at that moment, including the visitors
- Take time to pray, praise and worship and read the word of God together. Use the songs that everyone can sing.
How do we conduct our Family Altar?
- Keep it simple and to the point -as much as everyone can bear
- Have a start time and end time in mind and stick to it
- Select a Bible story/verse and read it or use a bible-based devotional- choose a Bible version tha
t is easily understood by all - Talk about how the scripture/story can be applied to your family’s life.
- Engage everyone in the lesson, without forcing or coercing them.
Please note that the Family Altar should not be:
- An opportunity to judge and criticize each other
- A time for the parents to do all the talking.
- An unspecified time so they only know when it starts and never when it ends.
- An opportunity to compare your children with others since you know they cannot stand up and leave.
- Perfect
The family altar should grow as the people of the household grow. Incorporate family prayer days for prayer and fasting, share holy communion, have testimony days to celebrate the doings of God, bible quizzes, movie nights and family fun days and outings. Celebrate achievements such as birthdays, graduations or passed exams and mourn job losses, failed exams or deaths. Share what God is doing in your life and let the children see your honest appeal to God in prayer.
A family that wants to stay together must pray together, eat together, laugh and cry together and share a common vision to reach the world for Christ. We parents, like Abraham, should teach them practical love and obedience to God. Like Job, we must rise early and call upon God for them and like Joshua map out a vision of serving God and humanity. Create a family mission statement that reflects these values and goals.
In response, God commands a blessing, unity and protects us from the evil one (Psalm 133:1-3).
Do you need to ask your Daddy in Heaven for some help as a parent? Do you need to surrender and give Him full control of your parenting? We must worship God in and with our families. Are shouts of joy and victory resounding in your house (Psalms 118:15)?
Let’s invite God in.
Let’s build God an altar in our homes!
Let’s pass the baton to the next generation!
Rev Anne Odoyo