Family Bible Time: Getting Started

Family Bible time. Family worship. Family devotions. Family discipleship.

There are many things you can call this time together as a family and each term might lead you to a certain understanding of what it means. In our house, we use the term “Family Bible Time,” but really, it doesn’t matter what it’s called!

To us, family Bible time is the time each night when we gather in our living room to read God’s Word aloud as a family, discuss it, and pray together. In my last post, “Discipling Children: Where Do We Start?”, I talked about this being a great tool for discipling our children. But why is it so helpful and how do we get started? Let me tell you a little bit about how our family got started.

Looking back to when our first child was born, I can remember my excitement to pass along the truths of scripture and a love for God to him. I eagerly asked friends for their favorite children’s Bibles and found ones that shared the big picture story of redemption in the Bible, that accurately presented the stories, and that pointed us to loving God and others. (Don’t worry, we will get to which are our favorite ones later!). We began the practice of family Bible time before we put our son to bed each night and it began this habit of reading the Bible together each day as a family. We would read and pray together, and eventually, our son would learn to pray a couple words along with us as he began talking.

Over time, our evening time together morphed and grew as our children got older. We wanted to be reading and discussing the actual words of scripture together, and we wanted to teach our kids how to read the Bible for themselves as we were doing this. So, we moved from reading children’s Bibles and began reading the actual Bible together. I remember being a little nervous. Would they be bored without any pictures? What happens when we get to the genealogies or laws or other sections that can be hard to read? Will we lose their attention and excitement for our nightly family Bible time together?

Thankfully, our kids were the exact opposite! They never complained about a lack of pictures and they seemed to really engage with what we were reading. They began asking so many more questions because, well, there were a lot more things they didn’t understand along the way!

Now before this sounds all dreamy like a perfect little discussion each night, let me tell you that is far from accurate. Many nights, there are kids rolling around on the couch while we read or sibling spats over who kicked who. Other nights they are in la-la-land and have absolutely nothing to contribute to the conversation. But some nights, they ask questions that I’ve never thought to ask or make insights that absolutely blow my mind.

All of these nights are nights to cherish as we dive into the Word of God together and learn from one another. Whether it goes exactly as I hoped or falls flat on its face, it is still an opportunity to worship God as a family, disciple our children through all phases of life, and have fellowship with one another.

Why begin the habit of Family Bible Time?

I believe that having this time set aside each day as a family is an incredible opportunity to worship God together. It is in this time that we can model how to worship God, how to read His Word, pray, and have fellowship with God and each other.

As we model these spiritual disciplines to our children, my prayer is…
-that my children will develop a desire to grow in their relationship with Christ and to know Him more.
-that it will pass on to them a passion for diving deep into God’s Word, will grow in them a heart of prayerfulness, and a desire to share this great news with others.
-that they will have a deep, personal faith in God and will be equipped to follow Him all the days of their lives.

I also strongly believe that discipleship should be a WITH THEM approach. As we make disciples, we are walking alongside those we are discipling, showing them how to worship Jesus, read His Word, pray, etc. by doing these things WITH them. As you do so, you lead by example and you learn together as you go. Yes, your children will teach you too as you spend time worshipping God together!

While we don’t have the ability to save our children (that is the role of the Holy Spirit!), we do have the responsibility to faithfully teach the Word of God diligently to our children (Deuteronomy 6:6) and to “tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” (Psalm 78:4). As we do this, we pray that God would work in their hearts and transform them to follow Him and be more like Christ.

How do you get started with Family Bible Time?

Getting started is really easy!! You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to disciple someone and pass along the truths of God. All you need is your own faith in Jesus, a Bible, and a desire to grow deeply in Christ together. Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

1. Firstly, this is exciting! Get your family excited about this!

This is God’s big story of redemption and it’s exciting, not boring! You set the stage in this, so make this something exciting to pursue together. This might look different depending on the age of your kids, but talk to them about why you want to start this routine as a family and what it will look like, but make sure they know the privilege of this time and that it is an exciting journey to be on together!

2. Choose a time, place, and a plan for your time together.

We like to do it before bedtime, but it could be in the morning at breakfast, at the dinner table, or any time that fits for your family. It’s important to choose a time you will be faithful to stick to, a place so that everyone knows what to expect, and a plan of what you’re going to read so that you are ready to go when you sit down together!

3. Loosen your expectations.

We can tend to have expectations that our kids will sit perfectly still and have great insights to share every time we sit down together. These expectations leave us disappointed when our kids are just being kids. There are times that will go really well and there are times that may seem like a waste. But every time is worth it, so keep pressing through the harder times and keep being faithful. It will be worth it in the end!

4. Keep it simple.

It doesn’t have to take a long time or be anything too complicated. Every family is different, so see what fits for your family and the ages of your kids. Open God’s Word together, everyone share some insights, questions, and applications from the passage, and spend time praying together.

5. Make it age appropriate.

I am a firm believer that the youngest ones can understand much more than we think they can and that we should pour the deep truths of the gospel in little minds from the beginning. That being said, there are still many resources out there that can be helpful for them to understand these truths and may come alive for them differently at different ages. So, don’t be afraid to share big truths with them, but also don’t be afraid to use the incredible resources we have available to us to help as well!

When our kids were young, our two favorite children’s Bibles to use were The Jesus Storybook Bible and The Big Picture Story Bible. The stories kept the big story of redemption in Jesus at the forefront and did a great job engaging little minds. (And ours, let’s be honest!) As our kids have gotten a little bit older, we began reading the real Bible together and they love it!

What could this practically look like?

Every family is different, so talk together about what you would like to include in your family’s Bible time. For us, we:

Read a passage of scripture together. Not sure where to start? The book of John is a great starting point! Or if you have tiny ones, read one chapter of a children’s Bible.
Discuss the passage. Ask questions like: What was this about? What questions do we have? What do we learn about God from this story? How can we apply this to our lives?
Scripture Memory. This looks different at different times for us, but we are usually memorizing a verse, passage, or catechism together, so this is a great time to learn and review these.
Pray. Spend time praying together. Pray over the passage you just read, ask one another how to pray for each other, pray for missionaries you know/support, pray for family and friends. Pray as you each feel led to praise God.

That’s it! Keep it simple and focused on Jesus. It is never as neat and tidy as it sounds, but it is worth it every single time. Some families add other things in such as singing worship music together or acting out the story. Make it fun and build your own family traditions. One we have is that after each person prays, they get to choose who prays next. Simple, but builds memories and family culture.

One last note. As you then go about the rest of your night and your coming days, these truths should transform your hearts. This is not just time to teach your kids, it is time to learn together and then pray for God to work these things out in our lives. Our lives must match what we teach and be transformed along with our kid’s lives. It’s not perfection, but having a humble, repentant heart that loves and praises God and extends forgiveness and grace in our everyday lives.

I pray this will be helpful to get you going in worshipping God regularly as a family. Let’s go out and declare what an awesome and mighty God we serve to our children, families, and to the ends of the earth!

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.” Psalm 145:3-7