by Pastor Daniel
 
What really binds us together as a family?  What really keeps us together?  What  will hold a family together?  There are a few obvious answers such as, eating together, playing together or going on holidays together.  Rightly so, and may I  add one more - Praying together.
 
“The family that prays together, stays together.”  May be aligned with Amos 3:3 that says, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”
 
Praying together
What better place to agree than in the place of prayer.  I find that so true.  Try having an argument when you are in prayer.  It seldom works.  It never works!
 
When we are humbled in the presence of God, We find that we begin to be humbled towards one another.  When we are in the presence of God, we will have to agree that we are sinners.  We have to agree that we are helpless.  We have to agree that we have done each other wrong.  We have to agree that we need help from above for each other, for our children and for our life together. 
 
That is why we pray.  In prayer as a family, we experience the power of attachment.
 
Ruth Graham Bell: “I seriously doubt if there would be many divorces among Christians if they took time to kneel in prayer once a day and pray for each other.”
 
Norman Wright: “Each time you forgive your partner you are involved in creating a new beginning in your marriage.”
 
King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT) “By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.”
 
A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer.  Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
 
When all is said and done, I have come to realize that prayer is the bond that keeps family together.  Show me a family that prays together genuinely and break up.  I think there is none. However, many broken families are the result of not having a time to pray together.
 
Perhaps we should humble ourselves right now and ask - “Am I getting out of touch with my busy husband?  Have I failed to understand my tired wife each day I come home?  Have I lost a connection with my teenage son / daughter who is in a world very different from mine?  If your answers are all Yes!  Then it is time to re-evaluate the time for prayer.  Perhaps God is saying, “You need to pray as a family.”
 
There are always needs and threats
We pray constantly for our children.  We pray from colds to chicken pox to stomach cramps.  We pray from homework to exams to which college to go?  We will soon be praying about careers and boyfriends and girlfriends?
 
It shows something - we are in need and we therefore need to pray.  There are so many situations in life that actually could break us apart.  From where to eat to how to pack for a vacation, a marriage can face problems.  Anything can cause a conflict in a family. What do we do then?  We can fight or we can pray and pray.
 
How many of you as children pray for your parents?  It is time to stop criticizing them but love them and pray for them and pray with them.  Pray for wisdom for your parents.  Pray for them that they would have the joy and pride of becoming your parents. 
 
Sometimes it is difficult for couples to begin the time of praying together because each has his or her reason for not doing so.  They are tired, they are too preoccupied with many things, they are too distracted, furthermore one is an owl and the other is an early bird, etc
 
Conclusion
David and Heather Kopp:”Praying is the sound God’s family makes when we are in right relationship with our Lord.”  Let us make some good sounds to the Lord.  May families in FCC rise in prayer.